Cooking In Italy

This past Fall we traveled to Italy for the Slow Food ,Terre Madre conference held in Torino, Italy. Terre Madre intends to foster discussion and introduce innovative concepts in the field of food, gastronomy, globalization, economics.

The weeks following the conference, we toured around Italy a bit and made some great connections with farmers, chefs, artists and many families, many who were connected to the slow food movement. One special connection we made was at an organic estate located outside of Sienna called Spannocchia. There they grow all their own food and raise their meat including Siena black pigs.

Our morning began with a farm and garden tour and then Loredana prepared a three course Tuscan lunch that lasted all afternoon. Join us in our cooking classes as we will recreate our experience on Martha’s Vineyard where she will be our guest of honor for two classes.

We sipped prosecco with our first course of perfectly riped pear and gorgonzola crotone. Then we moved on to a potato gnocchi with a fresh tomato sauce. We then prepaired a chicken scaloppine and servedit with fresh pumpkin. finish with a traditional dessert of tiramisu. The joy of sitting at the table and discussing their daily life was as memorable as the food before us.

Loredana Betti grew up on Spannocchia in the 1950’s when her family was tenant farmers at Spannocchia. As a young girl she learned how to prepare the traditional fare of the region and eventually developed a talent notable even in an area where every housewife seems capable of culinary magic. For nearly twenty years, Loredana cooked for the Cinelli family and Spannocchia’s students and guests, until her retirement five years ago to spend more time with her three grandchildren. She still loves to produce wonderful meals for friends and family, and enjoys staying involved at Spannocchia with her weekly classes in the kitchen she knows so well.