Dino Emidi's Life in Sorano
Dino Emidi turned 97 a month ago; he was born in 1928. We meet him outside his house, enjoying the morning sun. When he talks about his childhood food memories, he mentions that they often ate cod and polenta, and bread with something on it. He mentions ham, but his granddaughter corrects him: “when he was young, it wasn’t easy to have any.” When they were not doing well, they were allowed to drink milk.
He has always lived here, where he now resides with Maria Pia, his granddaughter. He was born in the old house, just a few meters away from the current one, which he helped build with his brother-in-law. The school he attended as a child was located where the Sorano Town Hall is today. The first grade was in the room where the municipal police office is now, the second and third grades were in the room now housing the registry office, and the fourth and fifth grades were where the post office is now. The countryside schools were near the farms, and there was only one teacher who taught a multi-grade class from first to third grade. Anyone who wanted to continue studying had to go all the way to Sorano. There were about thirty children of his age, both boys and girls. Dino recalls the four rows of wooden desks, with shared desks.
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Dino Emidi, born and raised in Sorano.
When he was little, they cooked on the hearth. In the large pot, they prepared everything, from polenta to pasta, until 1954, when they bought a wooden stove. His parents were sharecroppers, and their farm, called "il Tinaio," was near the house of the estate managers, who managed the land and agricultural properties on behalf of the landowners. Among the other farms in the estate were La Fratta, Monte, Filetta, Belvedere, Fonterosa, and Capannone.
On the farm, they had a vineyard to make wine and cows for milk, which Dino’s mother milked every day. The milk was then sold to the dairy in town. The farm used to be in open countryside, but today that area is part of the town’s new section. If you walk into Dino and Maria Pia's property today, it feels like stepping back in time. There is still the old oven that served their family and the nearby farm, the attic where they hid food and sheets just before the Germans arrived during the war, the old stables, and the warehouses.
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Dino was born in and lived in this house until he moved into the home next door.
Dino has always worked the land and never learned to cook because, in the past, the kitchen was the domain of women—first his mother, then his sister, and finally his granddaughter. Dino never learned to cook, but after his sister’s death, he learned to make simple things. Until two years ago, when Maria Pia retired, she would prepare something, and he would finish it. He made sure everything was ready for the lunch break. Dino never married and devoted his life to working the land. Even today, he has a small garden, but until three years ago, he worked a much larger plot, digging it all by hand with the grace and slowness that only experienced hands possess. With age, though, he has started to struggle more with walking. Nevertheless, he still tends to his garden and is a bit protective of it.
Regarding food, Dino says he eats everything without being picky. Even a simple pasta with herbs, cooked or raw, or wild herbs, is enough for him. He’s fine with meat in any form, but if he had to choose a dish, he would prefer tortelli with ricotta, which his mother used to make sweet. He remembers the pasta his mother used to make and the chicken sauce, made with the chicken’s innards, because there was nothing else. They raised chickens, and there was a hen that would incubate the chicks. In the sauce, they would sometimes add the yolk of a small egg to enhance the flavor.
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Dino's Orto, where he grows baccelli di fave.
When the front passed through Sorano, Dino was already 16 years old, and he clearly remembers the Germans arriving and occupying their homes. He and his family, along with two other families, took refuge in caves on their land beneath the house. For the last days of the war, their house was used as a war headquarters. He recalls that instead of shoes, they wore wooden clogs with old rags because there was nothing better.
As sharecroppers, half of the profits went to the landowners, and they could barely survive. Fortunately, they were allowed to have a small garden, which fed the whole family. After the war, things slightly improved with a tiny increase in their share, and then in 1953, with the Maremma land reform, the land was distributed more fairly, and they were able to become direct farmers.
Dino has a strong sense of humor and great resilience. He still enjoys the nature around him and loves to chat. During the nice weather, he enjoys taking a short walk and then sitting to admire the landscape for a while.
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The old warehouse Dino was born in.