L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2018 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE W e hear Tus- cany and, of course, we think Flo- rence, Siena, the leaning tower of Pisa, Lucca's medieval walls. If idyllic settings and wine are your thing, then it's all about the region of Chianti, and the towns of Mon- tepulciano or Montalcino. Fancy a stint in the Italian wilderness, here's Maremma. There are at least a dozens names coming to our minds when we think about Tuscany before Massa-Carrara makes it to our lips. If it makes it that far at all, that is. The least populated of Tuscany's eight provinces, nes- tled between Liguria and Emilia Romagna, it is however the land of Lunigiana and of the Alpi Apuane, home to some of the most characteristic landscapes of the region, as well as of some incredibly tasty food (think of focaccette, testaroli and frittini). And who doesn't know Versilia, Thyrrenian sister in glamour of Adriatic Rimini, and her Viareg- gio, mother of all Italian Carnevali? Thinking about it, there are plenty of well known places in the Massa-Carrara province: we usually just don't associate them with it. And then, there's that regional capital, with that strange double-barrelled name which is not of one single town, but two, Massa and Car- rara, charming and rich and art and heritage both. Of course, Massa-Carrara - Carrara in particular - is synonym of one thing specifically: its pris- tine, snow-like marble, Italy's own white gold. Yet, it would be very limiting to think of these lands only and exclusively as immense quarries. There's a lot more to them to discover and if you bear with me for a few min- utes, the time to read this article while your have your morning coffee, perhaps, you'll see why. Physically speaking, the area is very reminiscent of its northern neighbor, Liguria: they share the same beautiful sea and a pen- chant for shrubs-covered moun- tains rising almost straight out of it. The difference lies in the thick brush strokes of white intercalat- ing the green of their slopes: we're in marble land, let's not forget, and the Alpi Apuane - which we call "Alpi" but in fact belong to the Apennines - are made of it. Their white marble, often enriched by grey, silvery streaks, was already known and appreci- ated by the Romans, as attested in documents recording how Car- rara's quarries were used to source material for the construc- tion of Rome's Forum. As it often happens in Italy, the way the Romans transported hunks of stone down to the valley, using wooden tracks and a sort of flat- tened vehicle sliding of them, kept on being used well into the 20 th century. As much as our imperial ancestors may have loved Carrara's marble, it's not to them though, for once, we think about while mentioning it, but to CHIARA D'ALESSIO The white gold of Italy: Massa-Carrara and its marble someone else, someone genial, temperamental, unforgettable: Michelangelo Buonarroti. His Pietà Vaticana, his David and his breathtaking Mosè were all carved off Carrara's finest, but- ter-like stone. It is known that Michelangelo would travel to the quarries and select personally specific blocks for each of his sculptures. Indeed, one could say Buonarroti may have been obsessed with the virginal beauty of the stone, so much so he had apparently this mad idea to carve another David directly out of Carrara's mountains. The quarries have been the heart and soul of the province for time unmemorable, bringing wealth and work to its people and marking important moments of their lives. Today, they can be visited with specific guided tours or, should you be more at ease within the comfort of a museum, they can be explored through their history in Carrara's own Museo Civico del Marmo, where everything related to the province's white gold is shown and explained. In case you're more interested in the artistic side of Carrara mar- ble, you should visit the town of Pietrasanta: even though it's not within the boundaries of the Massa-Carrara province (it belongs to Lucca's), it's never- theless an important stop for all those interested in the craft of marble carving: here, an ancient tradition is kept alive in many ateliers similar, we may like to think, to those where our Renais- sance artists would have learnt their craft. As important as its marble is, there is more to the Massa-Car- rara province than that and because we are in Italy, of course, we're talking about food. We Italians, you probably know, are obsessed with salumi and are proud to produce an enormous variety of them: no part of a pig goes to waste. One of our favorite, but possible least under- stood by people outside of the country, is deliciously rich lardo and the town of Collonata, in the Massa-Carrara province, happens to be home to one of its best vari- eties, the lardo di Colonnata. What makes it so special is the fact it's matured in Carrara mar- ble's containers that allow lardo, covered with a mix of spices and herbs including pepper, corian- der, sage, cinnamon, rosemary and cloves, to develop its flavor at a specific temperature and level of humidity. And here we are: this article - and your coffee, probably - has come to an end, with only a small handful of facts and stories about this little known area of Italy brought to light. Truth is, we'll need long days and thousands of words to describe it all: it's always good to begin some- where, though, and to learn there are still some little gems of beau- ty and tradition to discover in our country. White marble is the most famous product of the Massa Carrara province New technologies are used today, but Roman methods for marble transportation were common up to the past century

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