A Meal for Women in Sunlight

Frances Mayes has written another ode to Tuscan living, this one fictional.  Women in Sunlight is her novel, written memoir style. It's the story of a writer living in Tuscany, in a lovely hillside village. (Sound like anyone we know?)  Mayes has also written Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany, Every Day in Tuscany and Sunday in Another Country, among others.

Mayes describes the locale so beautifully though, we'd all want to relocate given the chance. Possibly.  In this novel, the expat poet, Kit, meets her new neighbors, three older, retired women, also transplants from America, and they all become best friends forever, with lots of great meals, romance and good times along the way.  That's it in a nutshell.  However the individual stories are well told and woven together. They draw one in, each woman with  her unique character and history, so we want to know how things end up for them.

There is plenty of wonderful food described, as noted.  More than could be reasonably mentioned here. I happen to love a novel that incorporates what people are eating.  Suggesting reality really - we eat - not always a feast, admittedly, though often memorable.  If there's no discussion at all, you have to wonder about a whole, often delicious aspect of life going missing.  Do those people not eat, or is it just unimportant to them?  I know there are folks who consider food merely a necessity for survival.  And cooking an activity that must be got through.  Too sad.



One of the women, Camille, is an artist, rediscovering her talent after burying it for years, while she took care of others.  Another, Julia, just divorced, is a very enthusiastic cook, and wants to learn the Italian way, and the third, Susan, is an avid gardener and decorator.  All of them are able to bloom in their new environment, to relax and enjoy life more, doing things they love. Interestingly, Mayes notes that no Italian word exists for stress - it's imported from English - lo stress.

 I made a note when Julia, who was attending a local cooking class, learned to properly prepare wild boar, by soaking first overnight in a vinegar water solution.  I had been semi-avoiding a package of pork in the freezer, given me by my hunter friend, due to fear of gameyness, which has happened cooking wild boar in my past.  This particular pig had the nerve to invade a hunter's garden.  Ha. So, pork was on the menu for my book inspired meal.  Pulled then served with it's special braising sauce over polenta, which is mentioned several times in the book - once with sausage and mushrooms. 

This was a whiz of a stew in the slow cooker. My side was slaw of overnight pickled cabbage and carrot, with kim chee and some parsley added before serving.

Pulled Pork on Polenta

I just threw a few things together in the slow cooker with the pork.

Ingredients
2.5 lb. pork butt (not a lot of fat in a wild one) brined with 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup Kosher salt in 4 cups water in a large zip lock bag, overnight, then rinsed well
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 onion, chopped
1/2 (or more) Jalapeno chili pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teas. fresh thyme
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke
5 or so kumquats, cut in quarters, seeds removed
1/4 teas. ground black pepper

Stir together the ingredients and add pork, turn to coat the meat and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove the pork and pull apart with two large forks.  Mash up the sauce ingredients, or blend and add the meat back in.  Serve over polenta, noodles or on buns with slaw, or both as you'll have a good amount.

Pickled Cabbage and Carrot Slaw
  (serves 4)
Ingredients
4 cups cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
10 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup kim chee, sliced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

In a large mixing bowl, toss the cabbage and carrot with the salt and let sit for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the vinegar and sugar to a small saucepan and bring to a quick simmer, about 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and pour over the cabbage.  Toss to combine, cover and refrigerate overnight to pickle.  Drain the pickled cabbage mix and combine with the kim chee and parsley.  Mix well. A nice and tart contrast to the meat.

I'll be linking over to Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend cooking event, with Simona over at Novel Food, and with the Foodies Read Challenge for May, sliding in at the end!  Check them out for good book and food recommendations.