Flowers

The other day, we were painting views of Monte Oliveto from Chiusure. We noticed on the drive up there were still lots of wild fennel growing beside the road. We had been late getting our flowers this year and some of the plants that we had seen were well past their prime. Years ago, we met a man in a 3 wheeled Ape which was overflowing its cargo area with bushes of the wild finocchio. When asked what he would be doing with this harvest, he said that he would take the flowers and rub it on meat before grilling. Ever since, Maddine and I have been collecting our own bunches of flowers and found that it tastes particularly good on grilled pork steaks.


When we arrived at our destination there was a middle aged man in no shirt, beard, and straw hat making his way along the road cutting fennel. After we parked, and before I painted I began to search a previously visited field for any of the flowers. I found that not only our bearded harvester was tramping these open spaces for the uncultivated Foeniculum vulgare. Someone had collected here in mass.


Fortunately they missed some, plenty for me and the next five collectors as well. Bag filled, I went on to paint for the rest of the day. At the end of our painting session, we cleaned ourselves as best as possible and made it to town. Maddine had made reservations for dinner at Il Pozzo. After glancing at the menu I made my selection for my primo, fresh pici with a sauce of sausages, small fresh tomatoes and chopped fresh wild fennel.