October: the month the land gives most

October splits the year in two. Until the end of September the tables are outside, salad is the biggest thing on the plate and the glasses are kept cold. From the middle of October the oven takes over: trays, meat that needs time, root vegetables.

The kitchen does not decide that. The land does.

From the olive groves

The olive harvest usually begins in the last ten days of October and runs into November. The olives are picked by hand and go to the mill the same day, the less time between the tree and the press, the lower the acidity of the oil.

New oil is green, thick, and a little bitter at the back of the throat. We want that bitterness: it is the sign the olive was still firm when it was picked.

From the vineyards

The table grapes are finished. What is left on the vine in October goes to raki, Shesh and Muskat, both native, both kept separate from the Cabernet and Merlot that make the house wine.

From the dairy

The alpine goats are still out at pasture and the milk is richer than it was in summer. October cheese has more to it; so does the curd.

We do not have a fixed menu. We have a garden, a farm and twelve months.

The full harvest calendar, month by month, is on the Farm page.