Picnic, cheeses, wine, rattan, happiness
The customs that we took for granted have changed so much that who knows if all this is not going to end in a back to the basics book: proximity product more time for the little things local agriculture, neighborhood walks, return to the field , routes through the interior and car trips with the house in tow. Let's go, the life my grandmother Soledad lived in the village farmhouse but with a Macbook close to the router I hope we all get out of here a little more Miguel Delibes and less Elon Musk : “modern man lives oblivious to those sensations inscribed in the depths of our biology and that sustain the pleasure of going out to the field”.
One of those pleasures as mundane as ancestral is the noble art of picnicking, that impulse to live calmly and glued to the ground, looking for the horizontal; away from the height of the bars and the rush but close to the sand, the moisture of the grass and some lost ant in search of a crust of bread : It calms me a lot to see them go from here to there with the paperwork as a backpack. Count ants, take a deep breath, pass me the bread, open another bottle: the essence of the picnic . So don't worry, that they have taken away the scales but not the rattan basket and the bakery on the corner , perhaps it is time to arm yourself with a map, a desire for the countryside and a good knife because we are going on an excursion.
Space. choose the where It is perhaps the most delicate moment, the crux of the matter, because in the field there is no room service and there are a million potential setbacks: patience, good excursion dealers and Google Maps. If the thing is to stay in Madrid, two timeless classics can be the Buen Retiro Gardens or Quinta de la Fuente del Berro Park in the heart of the Salamanca district, but also that great unknown of the forum that Juan Manuel Bellver always reminds us of, the only garden of romanticism that is preserved in Madrid: Caprice.
The Magdalena Peninsula in Santander, Cala Murta in Majorca or the infinite white sand of the Bologna beaches in the Independent Republic of Cadiz, capital of the world. What High Badia (one of the best places in the world for a picnic in the middle of the mountain) in the dolomites catches us a little out of hand, we can get to Mount of San Pedro in A Coruña , the Cristina Enea Park in San Sebastian, the Genoveses in Cabo de Gata or a newcomer: header in Valencia , where the riverbed loses its name and dogs run happily, walking their owners.
Eat and drink . Because here we have come to eat and drink, right? As for drinking, and now that we are going to get pastoral, I think that his thing is indulge in a couple of natural wines , free of sulfites. Free souls. Talked with Nicola Sachetta , heart of Anyora and one of the movement's most reasonable gatekeepers, "for me, a sparkling wine is as indispensable as a wicker basket e: the joy of the bubble pairs with the joy of the day, for example an ancestral Vi-Viu from Bodegas Cueva by Mariano, syrah disguised in a beautiful pink color... each drop gives us smiles and also the carbonic refreshes (due to the acidity) the palate making you perceive the drink a point colder than it actually is”. And a white to boot, Nico? “A very mineral one: Táganan from Tenerife by Envinate , a fresh and dry listán blanca (palomino) that will prepare the palate at the exact point to receive the fat from the cheese and sausages that you should carry in your backpack”.
I refuse to go on an excursion without cheese . Rather, I refuse a life without cheese so speak up Mademoiselle Training , yours is the microphone, Clara: “ Ossau Irati which, like a good picnic, is only produced in summer: this French Basque cheese is seasonal (like all productions that respect the natural cycles of livestock farming) and, furthermore, Iraty starts to be available in May/June , just in time. And one of here Puigpedros , because this washed bark from Ger (Gerona) tastes like grass from Cerdanya: it is sweet, salty and creamy ; for me, its best time is summer because that is when all its nuances marry perfectly and the balance is ideal. Definitely another summer picnic cheese."
the perfect anchovies (seriously, they're perfect) by Rafael Lopez dipped in extra virgin olive oil, which are " pure roe ”; some Bonilla potatoes and Joselito ham , because since we wear we wear, right? The croissants from the Mallorca pastry shop, white asparagus from La Catedral and the fruit from the neighborhood but that is sustainable, that is what I ask of you; and if not, we always have Huerta de Carabaña that you can never go wrong there. Hediard Rillette, confit piquillo peppers Y generous loaf sourdough bread , because the bread should never run out, brothers.
The devil is in the details . Let's see, there are those who will tell you that the important thing is the background and not the shape and all the bagpipes of what else will the wrapper give: lie . You have to arm yourself with a precious basket (look at this one from Zara Home), vicky table linen , nice plates, wooden cutlery and a book.
Because to be happy is to be lying in the middle of nature drinking syrah, eating cheese and reading leisurely until that magical hour of sunset.