When Is the Time You Felt Most Connected to Food and to Italy?

Ciao a tutti!

Last week while visiting Spannocchia we (Michael and Liz) asked the students to write down the time they had felt most connected to food and to Italy so far.  Here is a sampling of their answers:

“Any time I am in the farm or kitchen and seeing the potatoes and rosemary I picked on my plate at lunch.”

“For me it is working on the farm with Marco, witnessing daily life plus seeing where the food itself comes from.”

Trimming a sheep's hooves

Trimming a sheep’s hooves.

“When I am at Pulicaro I feel most connected to Italy sitting in the chairs under the tree talking with the few other people there, and I feel most connected to food working on the farm.”

Chiara gives us tips for our Final Feast plans.

Chiara gives us tips for our Final Feast plans.

“When we cook with Chiara at Pulicaro making pasta and other things and when exploring Orvieto.”

Rolling handmade pasta

Rolling handmade pasta.

Il Duomo di Orvieto

Il Duomo di Orvieto.

“Probably cooking in the kitchen the first day making gnocchi and when working on the farm with Marco.”

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Gnocchi in carrot sauce.

“When I was in the kitchen the first day, next to me the butcher was cutting up a turkey. Seeing an animal that looked so alive being cut apart really brought me to the realization of where our food comes from.”

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“Working on the farm, getting vegetables and then seeing it in the lunch/dinner.”

Got goat milk?

Got goat milk?

Below you will find some snapshots of a few of our many highlights during the past three weeks, including harvesting wheat by hand at a nearby estate, taking a cooking class with Iside de Cesare, the incredible Michelin-starred chef who brought our understanding of creating Italian food to a whole new level, and spending an afternoon swimming on the Lago di Bolsena (Lake Bolsena).

Wheat harvest at Tenuta Castelverde

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Cooking class with Iside de Cesare

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Rolling handmade pasta

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Excursion to Lake Bolsena

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Tonight the group will serve our Cena Finale and close our experience here in this incredible country with our amazing hosts, Marco and Chiara, as well as the many other friends who have made this adventure possible.

A dopo,

Farm-to-Table Italy 2016