{"id":241168,"date":"2023-12-14T11:31:25","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T10:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langhe.net\/241168\/autumn-langhe-food-resilience\/"},"modified":"2023-12-14T11:42:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T10:42:16","slug":"autumn-langhe-food-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langhe.net\/en\/241168\/autumn-langhe-food-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Autumn in the Langhe: history of food in peasant resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The farmyards overrun with hazelnuts. The vats filled with fermenting must. The garden overflowing with squash<\/strong>, leeks<\/strong>, thistles<\/strong>. The fig-scented orchards and, among the leaves beginning to fall, the unmistakable orange patches of ripe persimmons. In the countryside, everything happens in the fall, all at once.<\/p>\n\n

The season that the burghers cloaked in mists<\/strong>, boredom and sadness was (and still is) the most hectic of the year in the Langa hills. Autumn is augere<\/em> in ancient Latin etymology: meaning “to increase,” “to enrich.”<\/p>\n\n

The time of year when every summer effort came to<\/strong> fruition, every fruit indulged<\/strong> at the peak of ripeness, and every prayer for harvest turned into survival (or hardship) for the pressing winter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Autumn begins in the vineyards<\/h2>\n\n

Announcing autumn was the veraison of the grapes, the change in their color. From green to golden yellow<\/strong> for white varieties such as Arneis and Favorita, the first to be harvested in September.<\/p>\n\n

From yellow to blue<\/strong> for Barbera, Dolcetto and Nebbiolo whose harvest could proceed even in late November, amid the mists complicit in its slow ripening<\/strong> and its very name.<\/p>\n\n

Then all the work was focused on preparing for the harvest<\/strong>, organizing the men and women for the harvest, the logistics of transporting the grapes to the markets<\/strong>, the cursing about bad weather.<\/p>\n\n

\"Manual
Manual press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Well beyond the postwar period, most farmers did not produce wine<\/strong> but conferred to large city wineries<\/strong> or social cooperatives. It was there that the crushing<\/strong>, racking<\/strong>, and long aging<\/strong> took place; that workers swarmed night and day to turn grapes into must.<\/p>\n\n

And it was from the backyards of the large farms that the middlemen decided the prices<\/strong> at which they would buy the grapes, establishing, more or less consciously, the happiness or misery of peasant families.<\/p>\n\n

In Cascina<\/h2>\n\n

In the countryside, people gave away everything that could be sold fresh and kept just what they needed for the winter<\/strong>. Any excess was turned into preserves<\/strong>, jams<\/strong>, sausages<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\n Fruits<\/span>\n in a jar<\/span>\n <\/h2>\n <\/div>\n <\/header>\n
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