Soon
after I took ownership of the flat, I woke up to the smell of fire! I
jumped out of bed but couldn't detect where it was coming from. I
frantically called my real estate broker who arrived in moments to my
rescue. We followed our noses to the neighbor's flat. We figured it
must have been a residual fire in their fireplace. Luckily the
structures were made of stone so the danger of anything burning down was
impossible.
Later
that day, I found the door to my neighbor's flat was open and they were
busy inside stoking the fire in an antique wood burning bread oven. But
this time the smells were sweet and garlicky as they were cooking a
rich tomato sauce. They beckoned me in to watch as the woman put the
rich red sauce into large ceramic bowls as her husband carefully placed
them in the oven with a wooden plank. She showed me the garlic which
was hanging to dry on the stairwell and the fragrant basil which she
grew in her garden. It was all so simple and authentic and my heart
felt so nurtured from this experience. She invited me to taste the
sauce with my little finger. The flavors were tantalizing. The tangy,
sweet tomatoes balanced with just the right amount of garlic and basil.
In my broken Italian I told them how glad I was to find them making
tomato sauce and not burning down the house. Later that day, a jar of
the thickened sauce arrived on my doorstop. It was delicious over some
hot pasta.
