{"id":2523,"date":"2011-08-13T18:38:26","date_gmt":"2011-08-13T17:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=2523"},"modified":"2011-08-13T19:21:53","modified_gmt":"2011-08-13T18:21:53","slug":"ull-diary-and-kitchen-life-in-tuscany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=2523","title":{"rendered":"Full Diary and Kitchen Life in Tuscany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday 13th<\/sup> August 2011<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t had a moment: Peter Ainger, Virgil Grayson\u2019s architectural historian (also of Michelangelo and Borromini), came up from Rome for two nights and produced two greatnesses from New York (oh, high, high in the museum world) with whom we lunched at Le Logge in Siena (soy sauce now in Italian cooking).\u00a0 Tomorrow, we\u2019re to be used at Volterra. Now\u00a0 Sonny Hammond, of the Australian Poor Little Rich Gays, has gained, also from Rome: we\u2019ve been picking over Princess Diana by the pool.<\/p>\n

Not a minute to make that spinach omelette cake with tomato sauce (and does it also have a bechamel? I last made it in 1976 and the recipe book was in that villa at \u00a340 a week with the water supply washed away) nor even to get the beans in soak for the Tuscan bean soup. But at least Angus Willis, international food stylist, has texted through the recipe.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite new for me, to be diarised abroad. I’m radiantly on the up escalator.<\/p>\n

Peter Ainger knows everybody, including, it turns out, Beatrice and Flint Cantor and Seth Vaughan.<\/p>\n

Tiny world when you\u2019re at the top, as I always say.<\/p>\n

And now I find there’s another floor.<\/p>\n

Where to begin: so many aspects. Arjan Bose and I have been in the twin, so the extra guest has their own room. This is to practise for kitchen life, although of course, Arjan is only a pseudo-kitchen (see glossary). He shakes his head emphatically and for slightly too long and has a certain way of eagerly looking up (he\u2019s quite small) which recalls a very young person. But, next thing, he\u2019s saying, all doctor: \u2018You need to get your calcium levels checked.\u2019 Soon he\u2019ll be a GP with a vast salary which will be very convenient for Robert Nevil and myself.<\/p>\n

In our strict twins we discuss small domestic improvements: should the shower curtain be differently managed? Did anyone remember to water the basil plant? Arjan is often asleep during most of this.<\/p>\n

In Siena on Thursday (we took it two days in a row) I attempted the proper manner of the kitchen-lover: this is the Palazzo Publico, it\u2019s the 13th<\/sup> century (hoping for the best). Not even sure if it is called Palazzo Pubblico, let alone how to spell it. But Arjan would<\/em> linger in the less important rooms: \u2018Who\u2019s St Bernard?\u2019 he asked.\u00a0 No idea. \u2018Who\u2019s that with a baby on his shoulder?\u2019 I say: \u2018He\u2019s holding a fish. It must be St Peter. That baby\u2019s the Baby Jesus.\u2019 (Well, I was fairly sure there). We buy a postcard of the fresco: it\u2019s St Christopher. After lunch, I launched into an elaborate explanation of how porcini mushrooms are dug up by special pigs: \u2018You\u2019re thinking of truffles,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m not going to give up on kitchen life at the first hurdle.<\/p>\n

In Siena we saw a restaurant where I lunched in the pouring rain with Anthony Mottram, now estranged, in 1976 and again in 1992 with Robert Nevil and Sebastian Archer.<\/p>\n

So I trip down memory lane as well.<\/p>\n

\"Not

Not St Peter: Arjan Bose Made Naughty Remark about What Baby Jesus Might be Doing <\/p><\/div>\n

\"You

You Could Unite with Your Kitchen Here: The Marriage Room in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena <\/p><\/div>\n

\"Arjan

Arjan Bose: Too Hot to Iron in the Laundry Shed: Iron in the Twin Instead <\/p><\/div>\n

\"My

My Favourite Section of the Campo in Siena: These Shutters Have Been Shut for 35 Years <\/p><\/div>\n

\"Rare

Rare View of Siena Cathedral: Get Rid of That Tree, Arjan Said <\/p><\/div>\n

\"Le

Le Logge Siena, Also Going Back Many Years in Poor Little Rich Gay Life <\/p><\/div>\n

\"Modern

Modern Italian Cooking at Le Logge Siena: Stuffed Courgette Flower But Described as Tempura <\/p><\/div>\n

\"Restaurant

Restaurant in Siena Where Lunched with Anthony Mottram in 76 and Robert Nevil and Sebastian Archer in 92: 'Memories, Water-colour Memories...' Can't Remember the Rest of It <\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saturday 13th August 2011 I haven\u2019t had a moment: Peter Ainger, Virgil Grayson\u2019s architectural historian (also of Michelangelo and Borromini), came up from Rome for two nights and produced two greatnesses from New York (oh, high, high in the museum world) with whom we lunched at Le Logge in Siena (soy sauce now in Italian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adrain-edge"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2523"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2537,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523\/revisions\/2537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}