Pear crostini

My dad always quotes an old Tuscan saying that was often used in conversation between a landowner and the supervisor of the land: Al contadino non far sapere quanto è buono il formaggio con le pere. The beautiful Italian melody unfortunately doesn’t carry through to the English translation: To the peasant dare not tell how pears with cheese taste so well.

As well as revealing something about the class structure in the Italian countryside and about the existential anxieties of