L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE I f you read us regu- larly, you know we wrote about buchet- te del vino before, b u t w e m u s t t a l k about them again, because these little quirky masonry wonders went from being a rediscovered trend, as we reported a couple of years ago, to representing the ulti- mate solution to keep us safe during the pande- mic. L e t ' s n o t j u m p a h e a d , though, let's begin from a lit- t l e r e f r e s h e r a b o u t w h a t buchette are and what they were used for all those centu- ries ago. These one foot high wall openings are typical of Tuscany, where about 150 still exist, with Florence grab- bing the top spot with around 100 of them: don't be surpri- sed to see them around Pisa o r S i e n a , t h o u g h , t h e y ' r e there, too. In the 16th cen- t u r y , w h e n w i n e m a k i n g began being very profitable for many Tuscan noble fami- lies, it was common to see buchette appear on the faça- de of their city dwellings to facilitate direct sales from their cellars to the street. In truth, there was also another reason beside efficiency: by selling directly from their homes, wine producers could save a lot in taxes. Buchette were so popular and ubiquitous, that there were people, i cantinieri, who attended them all day long: this way, no knock on the s m a l l b u c h e t t a ' s w o o d e n door was missed and sales could soar. In the end, they became such a status symbol that all wine making families would have one. For three hundred years, buchette were integrant part of Florence's daily life, but with the rise in popularity of taverns and restaurants, they fell into disuse and walled up. I n 2 0 1 5 , t h e Associazione Culturale B u c h e t t e d e l V i n o was born and our wine holes got back on people's map: the a i m o f t h e a s s o c i a t i o n ? Protecting and valorizing this unique piece of Tuscan heri- tage. Fast forward five years and buchette become prota- g o n i s t , e s p e c i a l l y i n Tuscany's capital, Florence, where several businesses like cafés and restaurants have been using them again. But while, until a few months ago, getting served through a hole in the wall was a mere quirk, something you'd talk a b o u t a t w o r k a f t e r t h e weekend, in today's Covid-19 world it turned into an excel- lent health and safety measu- r e . A c c o r d i n g t o L o n e l y Planet, plenty of wineries, bars and gelaterias across Tuscany have been using their buchette as a way to keep social distancing and l i m i t c o n t a c t b e t w e e n workers and customers. Famous Florentine restau- rants Osteria delle Brache and Babae have embraced their buchette to serve aperi- tivi to their socially distan- c i n g p a t r o n s . A l w a y s i n Florence, the Vivoli gelate- ria shares its ice creams and coffees with people in total respect of distancing, thanks to their buchetta. News of trend appeared o n t h e A s s o c i a z i o n e Culturale Buchette del Vino's webpage, in a very interesting post by Diletta C o r s i n i . To begin with, Corsini mentions that the first written attestation of the existence of buchette dates to 1634 and refers to that time in the 17th century when d e a d l y P e s t e N e r a h a d s p r e a d a r o u n d I t a l y a n d Europe, causing hundreds of thousands of dead: in those days, buchette turned out to be precious instruments to limit contact with other peo- ple and thus reduce conta- g i o n . I n t r u t h , C o r s i n i explains, they were not called buchette, but sportelli, which means opening. Francesco Rondinelli, a Florentine historian and scholar of those decades, wrote that wine sellers using buchette understood the way contagion worked, and that's w h y t h e y n e v e r a c c e p t e d money directly from their customers, not even through the buchette; they would use a metal pallet to collect it and would disinfect it with vine- g a r b e f o r e t o u c h i n g i t . Similarly, wine sellers were very careful not to touch the f l a s k s c u s t o m e r s w o u l d bring to be refilled: a small t u b e c o n n e c t e d a w i n e demijohn in the cellar to the outside of the buchetta, so that the customer only nee- ded to place his or her flaks underneath it to get a refill. As we said, this year — the year of Covid-19— the pro- tective role of buchette has been rediscovered: by serving drinks, coffees or ice creams through a wall opening, wai- ting staff does not get into contact with customers direc- t l y , a v o i d i n g t h e d a n g e r s associated with spending times in close proximity with other people. There is more, because with a thick wall separating the inside from the outside of the building, social distancing is maintai- ned at all time: no virus can pierce stone! Modern canti- nieri, of course, wear dispo- sable gloves and masks, so protection is ensured 100%. And so, we needed a pan- demic to make of buchette an even more interesting piece of our heritage and to, once more, come across the inge- nuity of our ancestors. If it's true they weren't created to cater to people specifically in t i m e s o f p e s t i l e n c e , t h e y nevertheless found an essen- t i a l u s e w h e n p l a g u e h i t Florence, potentially saving many lives: consider buchette were immensely popular in those years and a large num- b e r o f p e o p l e w o u l d u s e them, placing themselves and others at an incredibly high risk of infection. Today, as it often happens in the life of modern Man, we follow again the example of those who came before us and who, with less techno- logy but more street smart and, perhaps, common sense, understood how to protect the community through sim- ple steps that cost nothing. Buchette are just like that, a simple instrument created to make life easier and more e f f i c i e n t , t h a t e v e n t u a l l y became important for the s a f e t y o f t h e c o m m u n i t y . Forgotten for the good part of a century, then they were rediscovered culturally and, now, even from the point of view of our health. I have never received my aperitivo through a buchet- t a : I w o n d e r h o w i t f e e l s like… GIULIA FRANCESCHINI The buchetta at Babae restaurant, in Via Santo Spirito, Florence, with the Associazione Culturale Buchette del Vino's plaque (Photo courtesy of Associazione Culturale Buchette del Vino Firenze) Old fashioned creativity in the time of Covid- 19: the case of Tuscany's buchette del vino

• Cover