SILVIA PIO and LESLIE MCBRIDE WILE (edited by)
«Because hazelnut time is a calendar, an emotion, a carriage of green and glass bearing memories and hopes…»
(Luigi Sugliano)
Hazelnut groves have covered the Langhe hills for decades, with an expansion that has now peaked and begins to show its limits and problems. But hazelnuts and hazelnut trees belong to the idealized memories of the boomers born here, including Enzo Massa and myself.
Our grandparents used to have a plot dedicated to a hazelnut grove; they called us to pick the brown “marbles” – by hand in those days – kneeling in the heat or in the mist; urged us to move burlap sacks or to push wheelbarrows. And then to eat cakes and biscuits, or the simple toasted and sugar-coated hazelnuts.
This is where my generation can easily fall into the rhetoric of memory and the clichés of the Langhe, something that the photographer Massa manages to avoid in this wonderful coffee table book, which follows the equally evocative work “The Time of the Vineyard”, published in 2012.
Enzo Massa was born in Alba, capital of the Langhe, in 1959 and picked up photography in the Eighties. He was an “apprentice” in the Gruppo Fotografico Albese (a photo club) and held the position of president for 19 years. He has participated in many solo and collective exhibitions, and his pictures have appeared in many publications. He says of himself: «Every shot means to me the interpretation of a piece of reality, a question waiting for an answer, a search for meaning. It’s like starting to travel inside things, people, those moments that seem to ask me to recognize them for their stories and their deeper meanings. It’s also a journey inside myself, sharpening my sensitivity and my imagination, freely weaving the threads that bind me to the natural, human, and spiritual aspects of life. I linger on macro and micro aspects of reality; the first invites me to get the right perspective, the second fulfils my desire for closeness, for the introspection that reveals the most subtle nuances.
Through ten years of passionate and expert work, Massa prepared the pictures in this book, documenting all the phases of cultivation and processing, including portraits of the farmers and product processors, close-ups of the hazelnuts, the villages where they are grown, their landscapes and religious holidays, with a special mention of the world-famous Ferrero factory, established in Alba. This firm has helped to develop hazelnut farming and has allowed farmers to stay on their land while working in the factory. Some of the historical photos are included in the book by permission of the Ferrero archives.
“The Time of the Hazelnut” comprises many essays by the journalist Luigi Sugliano, who also wrote the introduction to the book, and others. Sugliano describes the fascinating attractions of the area, together with the sacred and the secular aspects of the local religious festivals. The agronomist Maria Corte contributes the history of the area and of the farming, harvesting and processing of hazelnuts, also explaining how the groves are managed. The journalist Edoardo Borra (from Fondazione Ferrero), writes about farming cooperatives and recounts the history of the Ferrero firm and of the nougat producer Sebaste.
Other contributions are by Paola Bogetto (director of the Istituto Professionale Statale Piera Cillario Ferrero di Cortemilia), Paolo Zoccola (president of the Accademia Alberghiera di Alba), Flavio Borgna (president of the Ente Fiera della Nocciola e Prodotti tipici dell’Alta Langa per la Nocciola Piemonte IGP), and Ginetto Pellegrino (grand master of the Confraternita della Nocciola).
These writings make the book a comprehensive study of the cultural, agricultural, technical, historical, economic, social, and sociological aspects of hazelnuts, with an openness to future prospects.
Poetry too has a place in this book, with an Ode to the Hazelnut, written for the occasion by Silvia Pio, and a poem by Father Angelo Casati dedicated to dry stone walls.
Ode to the Hazelnut.
To the humble past
the old folks kneeling on jute.
Pick with both hands.
To the apron’s bulging pocket
to the basket, the sack, the weight.
Empty out in a sunny nook.
To the noise, the scent of courtyards,
the expanse of fruit raked out to dry.
To rows of sacks
to be weighed, loaded, and to hard-earned gain.
To the scent of a stove,
to fragrant toasting,
to darkening hue, and syrupy essence.
To the marriage with sugar and chocolate,
brittle, soft nut chocolate, amber spread.
Stir or it’ll stick.
To the diligence of artisans
and inventors of flavours.
To this moment of intimacy
where I adore you,
heart-shaped treasure-filled shell,
metaphor of childhood feelings
and memories,
I savour you.
Eat some more.
Enzo Massa, The Time of the Hazelnut, l’Artistica Editrice, bilingual Italian and English, English translation by Angela Arnone.
Enzo Massa’s photos are on display in Cortemilia, piazzetta Tonda Gentile, until September 30.