Truffle? Say what? Patience all will be revealed

A Bang, A Truffle And A Wind Spinner

It is so peaceful up our mountain. We watch the comings and goings of the olive farmers, the hunters, the animals. I enjoy the changes of the season, the light and shadow that falls on the landscape.

But we are generally chilled and just enjoying the clean air and bird song. Okay, the occasional dog bark or cat fight might spoil the moment, but you get my drift. Although it was a chilly start to the New Year there was blue skies and sunshine. A lovely day.

A Bang

I was warming my feet in front of the log fire and being even more lazy than usual, if that is possible. A small gray car suddenly appeared at the top of our drive, and then came down, driving far too fast. At the last minute the driver seemed to change his mind and veered off to the right – straight into one of the drainage ditches. There was an almighty bang!

The car was left with one back wheel in the air and the front bumper firmly wedged in the ditch.

“Happy New Year”, I said to the driver. He is someone we know and had come to ask us something. I asked him if car levitation was one of his skills. We stood laughing together as we tried to figure out how to remove the car from the ditch.

The Rescue

I went and got Barnet Boy and he and the driver decided that if two of us pushed on the back of the car, as the front lifted a rock could be put under the front tire. Three such manoeuvres and the bumper of the car was clear of the ditch. The car was in a rather perilous position teetering on a pile of rocks.

The driver leaped into the car and relatively easily drove out of the ditch to great applause from us.

The Truffle

“I must give you a gift for being so patient with me”, said the driver. He opened a metal box in the boot of the car and pulled out a cloth tied up with something in it. The cloth was full of truffles that he had collected. He gave us one and explained how to store it.

Before he left he said how dangerous the ditch was and that we should have a pole with a flag showing it was there. I said that in 23 years no-one had ever been daft enough to drive like that and end up in the ditch! And honestly all the roads around here are lined with ditches. You would normally assume there was a ditch rather than not in my experience.

Anyway we waved and he went on his way.

Coping With The Truffle

I HATE TRUFFLES! I hate the smell, the taste, basically everything about them. Barnet Boy, on the other hand, loves them, so this truffle was perfect for him.

I cleaned the truffle, wrapped it in paper and put it in a sealed container in the fridge. You have to make sure the container is air tight or not only will the fridge stink of truffle but anything else in the fridge will absorb it. They are pretty strong smelling little things. The paper has to be changed every day to keep the truffle dry.

Cooking

Barnet Boy went and bought some eggs and we put four eggs in the sealed container. The eggs soak up the truffle smell and taste of it when cooked. They need to sit with the truffle for a couple of days for the infusion to happen.

I made tagliatelle with thin slivers of truffle for Barnet Boy using about a third of it. A couple of days later he had a truffle omelette. Then another pasta with truffle meal (which finished up the little blighter thank goodness). There are two truffle infused eggs in a sealed container waiting to be used tomorrow for another omelette or scrambled eggs.

The Wind Spinner

I got to thinking about what the driver said about the ditch. It really is pretty obvious to anyone driving at a reasonable speed and looking where they are going. But it was a good excuse to think outside the box and spend some money on another wind spinner. I bought one that had simulated peacock feathers and reminded me of the peacock that lived with me many years ago.

The Wind Spinner now sits perkily at the edge of the ditch a warning to all comers. Well, at least it provides something for the driver to hit before he goes in the ditch next time.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Thank you for reading!