Erbe | The Greens on the Side

How a heap of wet leaves rewrote my idea of a side dish

The wild boar arrived black-red in a shallow bowl, slick with the wine it had cooked in for half a day, and on the side of the plate sat what looked, at first glance, like an accident. A pile of greens. Wet, dark, undressed in any obvious way, a little spinach-like but coarser and more varied, with stems among the leaves. I had ordered the ragù, and that was it. The greens were just there, presented without explanation, the way a fork is presented. This was Todi, in Umbria, on a Tuesday dinner I do not otherwise remember, and I sat there for a moment thinking I had failed to order properly. I had been in Italy long enough to know better, but the Anglo-Hungarian wiring takes time to rewire. Where, I thought, were the potatoes?

This is something I want to say about side dishes in Italy before I go further. The list is short. Four things, five at most, and the same four or five everywhere from Pietrasanta to Perugia: roast potatoes, beans, fried vegetables in season, and a pile of boiled …