cartolina da Orvieto: formaggio con le pere / postcard from Orvieto: cheese and pears

Orvieto is a lovely town in my home region of Umbria. It is most famous for several reasons, including its gorgeous duomo (cathedral), its prized white wine (appropriately called Orvieto) and il Pozzo di San Patrizio (Saint Patrick's Well).

My husband and I visited Orvieto during our recent trip to Italy and we had lunch there in a place just off the square dominated by the cathedral (along the road to the left of the clock tower in the photo), whose name I cannot remember and have not been able to find out (if that changes, I will update the post accordingly). I ordered a simple plate of cheese and pears and enjoyed it a lot.

There is a strange Italian saying that goes like this: al contadino non far sapere quanto è buono il formaggio con le pere (literally: don't let the peasant know how good cheese is with pears). The explanation I knew for this discriminatory information-withholding recommendation was that if the peasant finds out the delight of pairing cheese and pears, s/he would stop selling those products and keep them for personal consumption. Prompted by a comment by Anna Maria of Pia & Co., I did some research and found an interview with food historian Massimo Montanari, who reads the saying in terms of social divisions. Cheese, historically a peasant's and shepherd's food, in the Middle Ages gets socially promoted and is appreciated by the upper class. At the same time, the perishable pear becomes a luxury food, associated with the upper class and therefore the lower class should not be allowed to partake of it. So the saying exemplifies class divisions that, in time, social evolution has fortunately changed. In any case, the saying is widely known, also in the variant that uses cacio instead of formaggio: al contadino non far sapere quanto è buono il cacio con le pere.

I am convinced that peasants have known for a long time that cheese and pears are a marriage made in heaven, so this is un segreto di Pulcinella (an open secret). It is interesting to look at the words. Cacio comes from the Latin word caseus, meaning cheese, while formaggio is rooted in the word forma, meaning shape and also mold, a reference to the shaping of cheese. To indicate a wheel of cheese, we say una forma di formaggio.

Il Pozzo di San Patrizio was my husband's favorite destination of the day. During lunch it started to rain and by the time we approached the entrance to the well, it was pouring. The end result was that it was quite dark inside (even though it was only 3 pm) and there were only a couple of tourists, so we had the place almost to ourselves. As we started the long descent (the well is 62 meters deep), a lightning stuck nearby and the thunder echoed in the well and made it shake. That scared a young woman ahead of us and thrilled my husband. Looking up from the arched openings (there are 70 of them) towards the sky, we could see rain pouring down. Once we reached the bottom, we crossed (the well has a diameter of 13 meters) and started on our ascent without retracing our steps, because the downward and upward stairwells are parallel and completely independent, so that people and mules going in opposite direction would not hinder each other. Built between 1527 and 1537, the well was a feat of engineering and it was meant to ensure a supply of water in case of siege.

To admire the golden-facaded cathedral and the elegant well, you really need to travel to Orvieto. To taste the wine you may be able to simply go to your favorite wine store. Easiest of all should be to taste some formaggio con le pere. Just make sure you get some freshly-cut, good quality cheese (pecorino or aged goat cheese are just two possible options) and some fresh pears at the right level of ripeness. Place the twain on a plate and enjoy placing a morsel of each in your mouth, possibly accompanied by some chilled Orvieto (but don't quote me on this, since I am the ultimate wine illiterate)¹. And don't worry about spreading this well-known secret far and wide, to both farming and non-farming listeners.

¹ As Carolina of Gastrolinguistica suggests in her comment, a touch of miele (honey) is a possible, delightful complement to formaggio con le pere.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, the world-famous food blogging event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, hosted this week by the founder herself. Here's the roundup of WHB #111. And, please, note that next week I will have the high honor of hosting the event.

---

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

formaggio con le pere

or launch the formaggio con le pere audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

Comments

[Kalyn]

I love every type of cheese, and I agree, cheese with pears sounds like the perfect marriage of flavors. Fabulous! Your trip sounds so wonderful too.

[Christine]

I love these photos, Simona. And pears with cheese - yum!

[Susan]

The glories of Italian architecture! I'd love to kick around that well, too. Beautiful travelogue, Simona. Your suggestion of aged goat cheese with pears is marvelous, w/ or w/o wine.

[Simona]

I also love cheese and miss certain kinds here. The trip was really great: I am afraid I have more photos coming from that quarter.

Thanks, Christine: yum, indeed!

It's really a cool place, Susan. The whole town is.

[Kevin]

I've heard of that saying! We're friends with the folks that run Ballooning in Tuscany - and I've read it on their website a few times.
Pears still have the #1 spot for my favorite fruit. And I certainly wish we could get some decent pecorino around here..

[Jann Mumford]

One of the most memorable things we ate on this last trip to IT was cheese and pears~we devoured it at every opportunity we could and even went to the grocery to buy the fruit/cheese and have it in or rooms for a snack! Of course, we always downed it with whatever wine we picked up that day-it is a delicious marriage of foods.I am going to look thru my photos to see if I can find the name of the restaurant in Orvieto for you~my mother fell in the Duomo there`I know the town well!

[lenny]

Bella cartolina: dovresti inviarne altre.
Ciao

[Katie]

I've eaten pears with yogurt but not cheese. It sounds like a lovely first course for next summer... when we have pears again!

[Paz]

I've never heard of this pairing before. Now I have. ;-)

I love all the duomos.

Paz

[Susan from Food Blogga]

Oh, I have such wanderlust after reading your entries!

[Carolina]

A version I definitely love includes a touch of honey spread over cheese and pears. Delightful!

[Simona]

Hi Kevin. I can get very good goat cheese here, but not pecorino. With my parents we used to buy it from the sheepherder: it was amazing.

Hi Jann. That's a great take on cheese and pears: you can bring them to the hotel room and snack on them whenever you need. Oh my, your mother must not have a good memory of Orvieto.

Grazie Lenny: ce ne sono altre e pian piano le pubblichero'.

I am glad Katie I gave you a suggestion for using your pears. I am looking forward to some posts about his next summer.

Hi Paz: I am glad I brought this up, then. With the Holidays coming up, a plate of cheese and pears makes for a great party dish.

Hi Susan: I am aware I am tempting readers with my photos. View them as suggestions for your next trip.

Great suggestion, Carolina: thanks! I will add it to the post. Honey adds another set of nuances to the combination.

[Ivonne]

I was there!!! Simona, when I was in Italy in the summer of 2000 we visited Orvieto one night and we went to the church. It was so beautiful. Great memories!

[anna maria]

The explanation I was taught for the formaggio con le pere saying, was that if the farmer knew how good a pairing it was he would eat all your pears (assuming he was a farmer who worked your land and not his). This is a more cynical view of matters.
In any case I love pears and parmigiano particularly.

[Lori Lynn @ Taste With The Eyes]

The next time I pair cheese with pears, I will think of your sweet blog post and share the saying with my guests...

[Simona]

Hi Ivonne, I am glad my post evoked nice memories.

Ciao Anna Maria. I am thinking that for the longest time most farmers usually someone else's land, so your explanation has historical roots. Pears and parmigiano is another great pairing.

Thanks, Lori Lynn!

[Laurie Constantino]

Simona, I love stories about local sayings, and this is a very good one. The ambiguity makes it more interesting. As for cheese and pears, it is one of those perfect pairings -- since I tried it, it's hard for me to eat pears without cheese. Gorgonzola dolce and pears are particularly good. I also enjoyed your description of the church as I could imagine myself being there quite easily. Thank you!

[Maryann]

Great post, Simona :)I've heard this saying, but I always believed that the peasants already knew.Thanks for investigating it!

[Simona]

Thanks, Laurie: indeed, pears and gorgonzola dolce are delightful together.

Thanks, Maryann. Unfortunately we don't have the story from the peasants' perspective.

[swirlingnotions]

Oh how I love Orvieto! I've been there several times and enjoyed the wine, the pears and the cheese . . . but I've never heard this saying before. Thank you for showing me a whole new facet to one of my favorite places in the world!

[Simona]

You are more than welcome, Lia. I think it is great when something I write sets in motion pleasant memories in my readers.

[Harold]

We always heard "Non dire al vile vilano, quanto e' buono la pera con il parmigiano."

[Simona Carini]

Thanks Harold for the information: I must admit I had never heard that saying. I know, however, that pears and parmigiano is a delicious pairing.

[andrea]

ogni parte d'italia usa mangiare il formaggio con la frutta, quello più conosciuto è con le pere, da noi oltre le pere il pecorino si accompagna con uva nera e anche con anguria. ciao

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Andrea. Devo ammettere che non ho mai provato il pecorino con l'uva o con l'anguria: sono combinazioni che mi incuriosiscono.