First day of Fall: New ingredients for old friends.

Buonasera.
First day of fall: the season of cool air, warm spices, and the start of life indoors. Shorter days lie ahead, rain perhaps, and the sense of doom of having to find a costume for Halloween or a destination for the Thanksgiving feast — not to mention navigating the vegetarian/vegan main course options if you’re hosting. Yet the turn of life toward home also means we have our friends over more frequently, to enjoy those long evenings over full-bodied red wine and hearty meals. So I want to take this opportunity at summer’s end to remind all of you (and myself, are you listening Marco?) that in moments of change, seasonal and otherwise, we crave things that are consistent and fulfilling. Cooking for friends and loved ones is just that.

You don't need an occasion. Just make a phone call, and put a pot on the fire. It doesn’t have to be a big production. A couple of steps above chips and onion dip, and you're set. In these short days when time is our most precious commodity, always racing the fading daylight, an invitation to unwind over dinner is most welcome. In time we may forget what we ate, but the warmth of feeling remains. You know what I'm talking about.

It’s also time to reconsider our menus, to incorporate these warm and savory flavors in everyday dishes. I’m adding nuances to breads and muffins with different flours, molasses, ginger, nutmeg and vanilla. My baked goods are relinquishing fresh fruit, and embracing the pungent spices that will be with us until spring. Cinnamon and cloves are coming out of their jars, staking their claim to the most-used spots on the kitchen shelf. Shy saffron threads have come out of hiding on the spice rack, having heard shitake mushrooms might be in the house.

Back home we have a term to describe going to Rome in October, so lovely it is: Ottobrata Romana. The air is crisp, brisk, pushing towards cold, and our sky is a serene, brilliant ultramarine blue — a striking contrast to the browns and reds of our natural stone and the chaos of the bustling Romans, who have a hard time resisting the appeal of the crowd, cold and traffic be damned.

Here in San Francisco, where the seasons are sometimes too mild-mannered to state their arrival above the hum of daily life, I count on the market to give me a subtle yet unmistakable nod. Aside from the different crispness of the air and the cooler tone of the light, I noticed the first pale-seeded pomegranates, fragrant mushrooms, orange-hued squash, and satisfyingly sweet Fuji apples on a few farmers' stands. So take notice, welcome the shift, and don't forget to share. We all gain from it.

A presto,
Marco Flavio

Comments

[Peter D.]

Hello Marco,
thanks for that reminder. I've been feeling like something was changing. Not sure what. I forgot to look up and realize Fall is here. I guess I should look up from the screen once in a while and make sure that what matters to me is included in my daily routine.
Grazi,
Peter