. EAT&DR|NK
honestly may not survive till spring. need to be protected (from relentless damp as much as by frost) while cloves of garlic will soon be planted out (using bulbs reserved from this summer‘s harvest).
Seems like a lot‘.’ I haven‘t even
addressed the blackcurrants. raspberries (both summer and autumn varieties). or greenhouse crops. from sweet basil to fiery jalapefios. This is grown in space that is about six by 14 metres. which also has to allow room for compost bins. an Eglu (and chicken run) for two hens. and the clothes drying poles.
It's hardly a huge space and I‘m not making grandiose claims. either. My wee plot is not going to save the earth. I‘m very much a hobbyist.
But it is just about the most satisfying endeavour I can imagine. From nursing seedlings to harvesting crops. saving seed to putting out beer traps to catch slugs. mulching or sowing: working even a modest bit of soil is gratifying and therapeutic. as well. Plus. it was all done organically. I'm not smug. but believe me. that feels good. too.
For more info see www.soilassociation.org or www.whyorganic.org
To win a Rocco Maxi Veneto Hamper worth $2225 send your name. address and email address to promotions@|ist.co.uk or ‘Hamper Comp’, The List, 14 High Street. Edinburgh, EH1 1TE by 15 November. Usual List rules apply.
100 THE LIST 2-16 Nov 2006
The immigrants
Valvona & Crolla’s Mary Contini has written a moving account of Italian-Scots history entitled Dear Olivia, writes Donald Reid.
his is a significantly
different book to Dear
I’raat'est'a. Mary (‘ontini's
successful ‘gift‘ to her elder
daughter. which mixed anecdotes from fatnily history with classic Italian recipes and useful kitchen tips. Through the snippets about the Crolla. Contini and DiCiacca families it was clear that the story of Valvona & Crolla. Iidinbttrgh's landmark delicatessen. wasn't just about great food. It is also the fascinating history of Italian emigration to Scotland. Contini. who today rttns the deli with her husband (and. coincidentally. a very distant relative) Philip. is just the person to relate the tale.
There aren‘t any recipes in Dear ()Iit‘ia. though there is plenty of
food in it. for there is a lot of food in ltalians’ day-to—day lives. The book is almost a novel. being a fictionalised history focussing on two of the first Italian families to settle in Iidinburgh.
In I913. Alfonso (‘rolla was a shepherd working in the hills above the hamlet of liontitune between Rome and Naples when he heard of opportunities in Scotland. Six months later he was able to send £5 notes sufficient for his wife Maria and baby son to join him. Life wasn't easy in cold. unfamiliar Edinburgh. but they
grew and
worked hard. the family they made a life.
Meanwhile. (‘esidio I)i(‘iacca. (‘ontini‘s grandfather. had left another tiny village not far from liontitune and ended tip in (‘ockenzie. east of the capital. where he set tip a shop selling fish and chips and ice cream. Both families gradually established their businesses. adapted to life in Scotland and endured the hardships of illness. war. homesickness — and racism.
The book doesn't shy away from the tremendous impact that the rise of Mussolini (in the not-long unified Italian state) had on Italian emigrants in Scotland. This cannot be an easy hit of family history to delve into. but (‘ontini honestly details how Italian Iiascism was seen as an inspiring and noble
CONTINI
HONEST LY DETAILS HOW ITALIAN FASCISM WAS SEEN AS AN INSPIRING AND NOBLE CAUSE IN THE 19305
Chm sufléred ' Italian endger V
in See If
FISI PM“
m n "ma
cause in the l‘)3()s. and not just by the Scots-Italians (remember Miss Jean Brodie).
It was a spell harshly broken when Mussolini entered the war on Hitler‘s side. Riots broke out in Iidinburgh. with mobs ransacking and looting Italian businesses. including the now hallowed Valvona & (‘rolla. The tmprepossessing shopfront of the delicatessen with its metal shutters are a legacy of the hatred and violence the Scots-Italians suffered at that time. Italian men. regardless of their political sympathies. were rounded up and sent to internment catnps. Yet the community emerged. scathed bttt intact.
It can't have been easy to write so intimately about family members and treasured family history. Mary Contini has given her ancestors words and tears and awkward relationships. fear and love and hope. She has done so with remarkable tenderness. skill and bravery. While someone with no experience of a Scots—Italian ice cream shop or restaurant is unlikely to embrace the book in quite the same way as a regular customer of Valvona & (‘rolla. Dear ()lii'ia has more than done
justice to a great family story.
This engaging and moving book is in itself another notable chapter in g)“, 3'45"“ that story. - . .. Dear Olivia is out now published by Canongate.