How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

A man waits outside the “cozy” but dated inn in Milan where Franca works (59). Before he can enter, Franca bursts outside, scolding and chasing off assistants who ruined the soup she was making. The man puts on a show of “cheap flattery” and asks Franca if she would be willing to stay open to make him a meal (59). She is slightly put off by his lower-class appearance but decides to invite him in and prepare him a hare dish. She can tell he is satisfied while watching him eat and is joyful when he pronounces it the “best meal of my life” (61).

The man tells Franca he cannot pay her but that he has a “challenge” to leave in his place (62). He produces a sack of ingredients and a recipe, then asks if she thinks she can handle such a “difficult” task (62). Insulted, she assures him she can. After he is gone, she examines the contents of the bag and finds that it contains “two dozen” white truffles, an extreme rarity (63). Tempted to sell the truffles and forget the man, Franca instead decides to take on his challenge. She takes off work and gives herself five days to assemble the meal. The recipe is hard to follow because some of the measurements are unclear and some of the ingredients are hard to identify; one even leaves her tongue “numb for two days” (65). Still she manages to finish up the “bite-sized loaves” the same night the man returns (65).

The loaves taste putrid so Franca is “nervous” as she serves them (65). The man, however, appears completely satisfied with her creation. Before long she realizes why: The more he eats, the younger he looks. He tells her to check in the mirror and, sure enough, she also looks more youthful now. He tells her that in the wrong proportion the recipe he left her could be lethal, but because she was so skillful in the kitchen, she was able to create life instead of death. He leaves her another sack of ingredients but this time no recipe. He tells her, “I want to see what you can do on your own" (67).

At first, Franca is too scared to use the ingredients. She sleeps and ponders and takes more time off work until she finally decides to try, realizing this might be her only chance to redeem her reputation in the culinary world after a recent disgraceful incident.

When the man returns, she has prepared several dishes, many of which induce hallucinations. He loves the meal though he makes a huge mess eating it. Franca is overjoyed and asks if he has another sack of ingredients for her. He says no; instead, he would like to show her how to obtain her own ingredients and to become her apprentice. Franca warns him that she is hard to work for, that he will need to make “art,” not food (73). He offers her a huge kitchen and home in his citadel, as well as his unwavering loyalty. She accepts on the condition that she never has to “cook” truffles again (74). They leave the mess they made behind and head into “the snowy Milano night” (74).