All posts filed under: Italy

Sundays are for Pasta Making

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Some ravioli (or more specifically, agnolotti as they call them up here in Piemonte) stuffed with potato and herbs from the garden. No meat. Too hot for that. Way too hot. I’m in the home stretch. Two days left of Master’s classes before I head out into the big wide world to continue my training as a gastronome on my own terms. This weekend, a few of my classmates and I discovered some places in this region that have been under our noses the whole time but impossible to get to without a car. If only Zipcar were here… (PS that would never happen, the paperwork would take decades.) On Sunday morning we partook in a pasta making workshop with the lovely Alessandra Buglioni di Monale, a guest chef at the UNISG Canteen a few weeks ago and a soul sister of Good Food Awards Founder Sarah Weiner in terms of her demeanor and body language. Alessandra walked us through the egg to flour to water ratios in three kinds of pasta: tagliatelle (more specifically, tajarin as they …

A Week in the Mountains

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If you can’t quite read what it says on the back of Roberto’s onesie, it translates to “I love my bees.” Also, he doesn’t wear gloves. He estimates that he is stung 500 times per year. And just like that, my last study trip (or stage, as I like to call it when I’m feeling fancy) is in the books. At times in Calabria, Lazio and Spain, cruising around in a coach bus with my 24 classmates prompted mildly stressful memories of elementary school field trips. But in the case of Berlin and Valli Orobiche (a mountainous region near Bergamo and Milan), we traveled in mini packs of 8 people, which was just the right size to be able to ask questions and get the feel of each place. The trip began with a visit to the Carlsberg Brewery where we had a nice combination of brewing 101, booze and marketing know-how regarding the evolution of the branding of Birrificio Andrea Poretti. The brewery is sort of nestled on the side of a mountain and they …

So Close but Yet So Far: Torino

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The scene of the crime from the power-people-watching seat: the dining room at the gorgeously renovated Del Cambio. A twenty-ninth birthday needed celebrating. What to do, what to do? Go to Turin for the weekend. An hour away on the train is totally reasonable, but the problem is that the last one back to Bra is at 8:30. So to avoid pulling a Cinderella in the pumpkin missing her shoe kind of move, we booked an Airbnb for a couple nights. And went to a Michelin star restaurant. In the days leading up to the meal, we pondered the tasting menus online, one of us gasped at the wine list (I don’t know enough “yet” to be at that stage) and we fretted over our outfit selection. On the big night, we savored an array of beautifully plated and delicate dishes (fish! gnocchi made from breadcrumbs! marscapone and sea urchin! steak tartare!), rosé, the most pleasantly non-oaky Chardonnay I have ever tasted, little trays of beet chips, homemade chocolates and so much more. I will say that this is one …

Food, Friends and Firenze

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Whoever led the re-design of the Mercato Centrale Firenze is just a genius. Seriously. I have yet to see visual projects like this one in Italy. Perhaps I am thinking like Food Communication Masters student! Gasp! Last weekend, I headed down to Firenze on the sleek and speedy Freciarossa train to see the female members of the Laub clan, friends from California who happened to converge in my current country of residence for a week and invited me down for the weekend. Robin knows what’s going on, so obviously her pre-trip research (and multi-page printed itinerary) led us to some good spots. On Saturday morning, we took a 40 minute walk to a bakery called Pasticceria Giorgio. Now, I must say, I love walking probably more than the next person and my Supergas were ready for duty, but we were mostly in residential neighborhoods during the jaunt which made me a little but unsure of the final destination. Let me tell you, this place was the real deal. No Trip Advisor stickers, no English spoken (this …

Roaming Rome: Part Two (The Study Trip)

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Bagnoregio: a semi-crumbling city above the clouds about one hour outside Rome. From the other side, I had a really weird deja vu moment where I felt like I was looking out over the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh, California. Our second of five (yes, five) study trips took us to Lazio (the region of Rome) and more specifically to the town of Viterbo, which for a small place, is surprisingly happening on the Slow Food side of things. Brief recap: what is a study trip? Brief answer: an opportunity to meet food producers and members of the Slow Food community, eat lots of cheese and cured meat and feel like you are in middle school once again, among other things. On a semi-related note, let me tell you folks, TRAIN is the way to go for regional travel in Italy. No disgruntled airport workers telling you to throw out you 100mL shampoo bottles because there is no label on it. No stress with lost suitcases.  Anyhoo. I am learning that the essential parts of a study trip …

Roaming the Non-Tourist Version of Rome

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A vegan chocolate store in Rome? You said what? Ok. I know I’ve dropped the ball big time here. It’s been almost a month since I posted anything. Yikes. Scusa. But the thing is, I have just been zooming around. Mostly meeting people from the triennale (undergraduate program) and then traveling with the dynamic duo of Urmila and Vibe. I haven’t really been in a place mentally to sit down in this particular chair in my apartment to put together my experiences, photos and ramblings in one spot. I hesitate to say, “I have been busy” because I know that would push the friends who already are sending me love/hate vibes from their skyscraper office jobs while I am in class learning what theobroma cacao is more towards the hate side. But really. I have been pushing myself almost every single day to just get out there and to go against my more introverted nature a bit. I’ve had a drink with the director of my Masters program, hosted dinner parties, eaten empanadas around an open fire at a street food night, …

A Study Trip Down South: Calabria

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Flashback to Morocco with this serious appetizer set up at Il Vecchio Castagno (The Old Chestnut). I think I should describe what this is starting clockwise on my plate. So. Zucchini. Pickled cauliflower. Couldn’t get enough of that. Provola cheese stuffed with cured meat. Pork literally shaved off the rib at the table. Pickled pear. Olives. Ricotta in a cute lil’ basket. This week I went on my first study trip–a marathon of eating pasta, meeting artisan food producers and Slow Food representatives, taking notes/ photos and eating more pasta in the region of Calabria. My new favorite things are ricotta and chestnuts. And pasta made with sauces involving nuts. The order of our meals typically followed this pattern: 1. Appetizer. Cured meats, cheese, you know. 2. Pasta course #1 3. Pasta course #2 Interlude. The Italians go outside and smoke. The children are restless. 4. Meat course #1 5. Meat course #2 Interlude. More smoking. Bathroom breaks. 6. Dessert 7. Liqueur 8. Espresso After 24 crazy students plus two “tutors” in charge of corralling the madness touched down …

A Weekend in Torino

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The two main themes of my Torino adventures: food and tea. Anyone surprised? It feels a bit silly to put a post about Torino (1 hour away on the train) under the Travel section, but I actually felt like I was gone from Bra for about 2 weeks even though it wasn’t even 48 hours. I know I’m not good with numbers, but take not bringing warm enough sweaters + walking about 9 miles per day (thanks Fitbit) and that adds up to perceived travel hours quickly. First of all, major shoutout to my classmate Giulia who acted as an absolutely lovely hostess/tour guide/knower of all places hip/resident Italian speaker. Anyhoo, Torino. As you may or may not (if you have been living under a rock maybe) know, the Winter Olympics were there in 2006. It was the first capital of Italy in 1861 and the home of the ruling Savoy family. Impressed by my historical knowledge? Ok, maybe not. Moving on. One of the many reasons we wanted to escape from the little hamlet of Bra for a …