As to another of this area's great products, we were excited to discover that Ruth McVey, an old friend and professor from undergraduate days, had retired to South Tuscany where she farms an olive oil estate. At Il Picciolo, Ruth's farm just outside the walled town of Montisi, a classic two-story Tuscan farmhouse rears up through rocky fields surrounded by short, stubby olive trees. Sheep, Ruth's natural form of weed control, graze peacefully beneath their boughs. Come harvest time, the olives from Ruth's gnarled old trees are picked by hand and taken to the local press. It is a modest harvest, averaging 1,000 kilos a year.
Half goes to the pickers by way of payment.
After setting aside what she needs for herself, Ruth sells the remainder directly to her neighbors and townspeople who drive up and fill their jugs. Though we had expected to find great wine and exquisite olive oil in this corner of Italy, we were totally unprepared for its cheese which amounted to the greatest culinary discovery of our trip. Cheese in South Tuscany is synonymous with pecorino for the dairy animal of choice is the ewe. This is not the sharp grating pecorino romano we purchase in the US, but a mellow table cheese. With their nutty flavors, South Tuscan pecorinos range in age from four to 18 months.