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Published: August 28th 2008
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Chelsea and I have spent the last 4 days and 3 nights at the most amazing out-of-the-way cooking school in Italy, “Fontana del Papa”. It really isn’t too far from Rome, a 1 hour train ride followed by a 30 minute car ride and you are there. However it feels like it is out in the middle of nowhere. That wonderful nowhere is actually called Monte della Tolfa, and has been our haven from the stress and intensity of travel in Florence and Rome. The blisters on my feet are almost healed, I have gotten at least 9 hours of sleep a night, and Chelsea and I have been siesta-ing faithfully for 3 days now. Life is good.
So, upon our arrival at our bed-and-breakfast/cooking school Assuntina (our hostess ) informed us that we would not get the room we originally booked (the cheapest room they had, naturally 😊 but would instead be upgraded to the Jr. Suite at no charge. That has been our experience at many of our lodgings, free upgrades. I can only thank God for his goodness and provision, and Chelsea for her countless hours of research to find the most reputable places to stay. The
Jr. Suite was magnificent! On the top floor of the 500 year old house (no joke!) there was the bedroom with queen bed (much appreciated after so many nights on singles), fire place, private bathroom, sitting room with sofas, and many pieces of modern art on the walls. Buono!
Our expectation was to have 3 cooking lessons, but we got 5! We had 2 each full day, and 1 on the last day. We learned how to cook many things: gnocchi, folded fettuccini, guitar spaghetti, pesto sauce, ragu sauce, an eggplant marinara, Italian pizza, lasagna, ravioli, tiramisu, several cakes, authentic cappuccinos, zucchini ‘meatballs’, and many fried vegetable treats. It was amazing to watch and participate in the creation of truly authentic and delicious Italian food.
Assuntina’s husband, Claudio, was the resident wine expert. Literally, he is a certified sommelier. He taught us a lot about wines in general, and also much about Italian wines. We learned about persistence of the aroma, the nail, and how different bottle types indicate wine quality. He was a wealth of knowledge and he patiently answered many of our questions. While he was teaching us we tasted an Italian Zinfandel that was very
very big, probably the biggest wine I have ever had. (Big meaning LOTS of flavor.) A good rule of thumb he taught us was to open a bottle of red wine one hour before drinking for every year old it was. So if it was a 2006 you would open it 2 hours before drinking, a 2004 4 hours before drinking and so on. He told us a great story where 2 weeks ago he drank a 45 year old bottle of Bernini that was indescribably good. Apparently the bottle had been lost in his house for who knows how long, and when it was found by the maid there was no label left on it, so therefore it had no resale value. But Claudio was able to identify it, and he enjoyed his priceless bottle of wine immensely.
Fontana del Papa has a swimming pool and is also a working olive farm/orchard. The pool is not heated, but that is good because it is very refreshing on a hot day to cool off in. Chelsea and I spent a very nice afternoon floating in the pool and reading, and then I had to dunk her! But don’t worry,
I put her book out of harm’s way first.
Claudio produces the best olive oil in Italy. I am not exaggerating a bit. While most olive oil producers harvest their olives in November when there are more of them (but they are brown), Claudio harvests in October when the olives are green, and there are less of them. It is a classic case of quantity vs. quality, and Claudio is a quality guy in every way. He has had many many companies, both American and European approach him wanting to buy his oil in large quantities for resale, but he refuses to produce enough to do that, because it would degrade the quality. He only sells his oil to his guests and local customers. Sadly he had none for us to buy, he was out of stock! But we were able to taste it, and it was like no other olive oil. It was a faded green color, and very cloudy. It was light and delicious, I could have eaten half a bottle with bread and salt in one sitting. Well done Claudio.
There were two other guests at the cooking school with us, Alan from England and
his 15 year old son Ed. They were a delight to cook with, very friendly and engaging. Alan was full of stories and it was fun to watch Ed struggle to get out of bed by 11am for the first cooking lesson. Ah, to be 15 again! Together with them we took photos and compiled the recipes as best week could, Alan is going to sit down with the cooks and fill in the blanks later.
Now we are on the train to Naples where we will stay 3 days with my grandma’s (Evie) brother’s (Norman) wife’s (Ersilia) cousin (Rosario). We have not met Rosario before, but have been in email contact with him. We are excited to see the intensity of the city of Naples from the safety of a local’s home. We are getting close to Tunisia, and also closer to coming home! Please don’t hesitate to send an email or make a comment, whenever internet access allows we will be in touch.
Ciao!
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Mary
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Mama Mia!!!
Wow, another fantastic experience for you both. It looks like a wonderful place and as you said, a needed break from intense Italian sightseeing. Looking forward to tasting some of your new Italian dishes sometime in the future!! xooxxoo