In Spello, Feting the Olive Harvest with Bruschetta

A tractor adorned with fiscoli – those discs used in olive mills during the pressing – stood alone near the medieval church of Spello, Santa Maria Maggiore, an olive tree standing tall on the tractor trailer above the fiscoli:

For the two days of Spello’s beloved oilve oil festival, that tractor and others would roll through the backstreets, locals playing instruments and singing on the trailer…and others singing and dancing in the street.

Those songs in Umbrian dialect – called cantarecchia (“sing by ear) – animated the festivities, celebrating the pressing of the olio nuovo (“new olive oil”), for mills all over central Italy were working long hours daily on pressing: mostly in November, though some pressing started in October this year. Early maturation was due to the extreme heat here this summer.

When Pino and I had harvested our olives in the late 1970’s, pressing was often in December…..and we sometimes lit fires in the olive grove while picking so as to periodically warm frozen hands….

We, too, harvested in early November this year...as you can see in this short video of our olive-picking

A trip to the olive mill for pressing followed the two days of harvesting, as you can see in this note.

At the end of November, we headed to Spello for that medieval gem’s celebration, la Festa dell’Olio e Sagra della Bruschetta. We arrived in late morning, hoping to find spots for the festa lunch in one of the three medieval taverne of the three districts of Spello called “terzieri.”

Near Santa Maria Maggiore, we headed to la Taverna Terziere Porta Chiusa (“Taverna of the Open Door Tertiary”) ….

…and although, in fact, the door was open – not closed – and we were warmly welcomed, the festa lunch was already sold out. All around, families shared the menu fisso of the festa:

That menu – for just 22 Euro – included antipasto, wines, a choice of polenta or a pasta dish, choice of snails or a pork roast with wild greens, a dessert paired with dessert wines – and more..

(I knew those snails would have tempted Pino..) The smiling gentleman who had not been able to seat us did allow me to pop into the kitchen where local elderly volunteers were cooking up the goodness:

Mamma mia, just those antipasti would have been a full meal!

We asked if there was any hope to find a seat – and were told, “forse piu tardi” (“maybe later”). We decided to wander a bit…hoping….

Just outside la taverna, un barbiere in 19th-c dress was trimming beard and hair for a client: one of many scenes that day linked to the festa.

While that barber snipped away at his beard and mustache, a smiling Signor Betti explained to us that in the past, the local barbiere ambulante (“traveling barber”) always prepared the local signori – in towns and in the countryside – for celebrations with a good trim. This barber’s equipment was on a bicycle nearby as local women watched approvingly:

A tractor which would carry singers in the afternoon events was parked nearby, olive tree enthroned in the center, ornamented with salami, capocolli and oranges hanging off the branches, wine flasks and water jugs there, too:

As I was taking Pino’s picture near the tractor, local singers and dancers passed adding a joyous note to the celebrations….

By this time, we were ready for at least a bite and headed for the stands in front of the nearby Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Bruschetta drizzled with that olio nuovo was offered for about a euro, accompanied with a cup of vino rosso….

……and how not to resist?

We’d arrived just in time as the stand was closing up…

Having enjoyed our antipasto, we returned to the taverna, hoping for a couple spots at the tables. Che fortuna – what luck! – as we too were soon savoring the goodness.

That abundant antipasto started us off…..