IACP Italian Section Third Annual Autumn Luncheon

Florence, Italy, November 2008

For IACP members scattered around Italy, our annual get-together is a happy reward at the end of the busy tourism season. This year, we met in Florence near the San Lorenzo market and the Medici Chapel, at the Osteria Cipolla Rossa, owned by a butcher from the central market and two talented chefs from respected Tuscan restaurants.

After a brief welcome statement, Elizabeth Wholey read members’ tributes to Maria Teresa Berdondini, Italy Country Co-Coordinator with Elizabeth for the past two years, who died in August after a long illness.

Following the announcement of Sonia Di Centa as the new Country Coordinator, which was met with enthusiasm, the seventeen guests introduced themselves and brought the rest of us up to date on their activities.

And then we proceeded to chiacchierare, to chat the afternoon away, while being served a series of delicious and creative small plates.

Over time, we have learned some rules for making a success of this event. (Note: It takes a few tries to build up the momentum and for people to learn that this is something not to be missed.)

Our Recipe for Success:

First and foremost, great food! Pick an interesting location, a popular city that is fun to visit, and a restaurant near the train station. Keep the price affordable. Have a member in that city choose a venue that will be appropriate for an afternoon gathering. (Judy Witts selected it this year.) Enlist that person to help get the group together, making contact with friends and inviting family members and interested non-IACP members, as well. We also put out the word to the IACP board and we welcome guests from outside of Italy. This year we were joined by Dede Wilson and her husband, Dave, from Amherst, Massachusetts, who happened to be in Tuscany at the time. If possible, we provide lodgings or arrange for a discount at a hotel. Lucy Luhan generously offered her Villa Lucia near Lucca for out-of-towners.

We always have our luncheon at the same time every year, in late November after the olive harvest, a date people can plan around, and we send out the invitations well in advance. In 2006 the location was a Tuscan villa, and in 2007 it was held in Rome at a beautiful rooftop garden restaurant, the Hotel Mediterraneo, owned by the family of IACP member, Jo Bettoja.

We emphasize that this is a relaxed, convivial get-together, not an IACP membership drive, though we do have applications available and some of our guests have signed up.

Over the years, new friendships as well as joint ventures have been formed, and we always come away full of good food, wine and inspiration.

If you are in Italy at the end of November, 2009, you are invited to join us.

Elizabeth Wholey

Chair, Culinary Tourism Committee

www.amoresapore.com

Umbertide, Umbria, Italy

Slow Down...you' re moving too fast

by Judy Witts, Under a Tuscan Stove,
Italy

Simon and Garfunkle were ahead of their time. Slow Food and Slow Travel are today’s trends.

Torino every other year hosts Slow Food’s Salone del Gusto,
a showcase for foods which risk disappearing or becoming illegal in the globalization of the world market. Gourmets risk becoming outlaws in search for quality. Culinary traditions and history are also spotlighted.
A sister program Terra Madre ( Mother Earth) is also held at the same time, opened to chefs, farmers and others actively involved in preserving these traditions.

Biodiversity is the theme and the products on the ARK to be saved are numerous. Each continent has their own area of the show to present their foods and it is a fabulous chance to lear, taste and speak to the producers.

Slow Food huge food pavilion is overwhelming. The last show I went to featured products from the national parks in Italy, one of the more surprising finds was Manna, an edible resin, rich in nutrients, perhaps the Manna from biblical times?

Presentations, dinners, tastings and the huge showcase make this a wonderful experience. Several of our own IACP members are involved in hosting dinners.

The show is held at Lingotto, the old FIAT factory, just outside the city and easily reached by train.

Terra Madre is being held at the same time. This is more for people in the industry, chefs, farmers, educators and is not open to the public. You must apply to attend.

The city of Torino has a offered a service of housing the delegates with families to help with the expenses, many of the participants come from third world countries.

Torino itself as a city is fabulous. I am planning a day doing a pastry and chocolate crawl. Home to Gianduja, the rich hazelnut chocolate candy and spread, pastries made so tiny you can eat a whole tray by yourselves. Bicherin a chocolate coffee drink. Brasato, Barolo and white truffles. Piemonte calls out to all food-lovers.

If you need to find a hotel in Torino, contact Robert.

If you are planning to attend, let me know, we can arrange a dinner or tour the markets in town!

Time flies so check out the site and come SLOW DOWN!

9th Cous Cous Fest

SAN VITO'S HEART BEATS A LITTLE FASTER
San Vito’s big heart beats a little faster when the Cous Cous Fest guests stream into its streets and beach, bringing new life, once again, to the festival – this year in its 9th year and brandishing a new prize.
The Cous Cous Fest has just been awarded the Luigi Veronelli Prize – established by the publishing houses Class Editori and Veronelli Editore.

The international festival was defined by the awarding panel as “the most interesting, lively and quaint food and wine event, bringing side by side the many ways of making couscous and involving all the populations of the Mediterranean Basin, their cultures and traditions - in the name of integration and tolerance”.

This definition summarizes perfectly the authentic ‘DNA’ of an event designed to bring out the common cultural roots of the Mediterranean, united around a simple dish; a dish which has become much more than a simple culinary speciality – it has come to represent ritual, culture and sharing.

This year the theme running through the whole event is ‘Myths and Rituals’. More than a theme, it is, in truth, more of a ‘cultural river’ with many tributaries feeding into it – charged with significance and symbolism. The ethnic and cultural heritage of countries which share couscous as a common historical and culinary denominator, is vast.

To go to the festival´s website click here.

From Italy: Museo del Tartufo

Our visit to the Museo del Tartufo, Italy’s first truffle museum inaugurated last year in San Giovanni d’Asso, fortuitously coincided with the twentieth anniversary of the village’s truffle fair, the Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco delle Crete Senesi, held on weekends during the month of November.

When we heard that an old steam train was transporting fairgoers from Siena, we couldn’t resist and booked seats. Leaving foggy Siena at nine in the morning, we travelled south toward Montalcino, passing kitchen gardens and castles, through red and gold autumnal vineyards and industrials zones. And then, after Monte Amiata, the highest point in Tuscany, we came upon the undulating, cypress studded hills of the Crete Senese, eventually arriving at the tiny medieval village which for the past twenty years has awarded an international prize, the “Truffle for Peace”.

Hungry by then, we decided on a quick lunch of hot sausage and melted pecorino crostini washed down by good red country wine, readily available in these parts. We wandered off to pet the truffle dogs, and explore the various booths, bottegas, and cantinas which were showing off their wares and offering samples: olive wood kitchen utensils, honey, pecorino cheeses of various ages, marmelades and condiments. The tavernas delivered up truffle-flavored everything, from antipasti to dolci. The wine flowed, a blacksmith and a falconer displayed their skills, and a fashion show of clothes made from hempfibers rounded off the afternoon’s agenda.

Unlike the big, commercial truffle fair up north in Alba, this is strictly a local production, and everyone seems to know each other. Alongside the tables set up by the truffle hunters, with their traditional blue plaid tea towels filled with fragrant white truffles, other villagers were selling fresh, just-pressed olive oil. Our friend Jeff particularly recommended one vendor who was giving out lots of free samples. I couldn’t resist the salsa of artichokes, the garlic sprouts preserved in olive oil, and the pumpkin mostardo.

The small museum, located in the bright, vaulted castle rooms, still shows traces of 16th century frescoes. The exhibits are self-guided and interactive, designed to introduce all ages to an understanding of what a truffle is, how it can be identified by the senses, how it has been perceived throughout history, how to cook and preserve it. A video takes us on a truffle hunt. Another shows three local cooks demonstrating recipes. At the end of our visit I bought two excellent truffle cookbooks from a friendly staffer, both in Italian, one with an English translation.

If you find yourself in Tuscany some November, I recommend this decidedly un-touristy local gastronomic event.

Museo del Tartufo e Centro di Documentazione
Piazza Gramsci, 1 (Castello Comunale)
53020 San Giovanni d’Asso / 39-0577-803101 (Comune)
Website
Weekends 10-1, 2-6 (call ahead). Admission is $3.70.

by Elizabeth Wholey
Italy