Italian Food & Culture: Part 3 - Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise & Campania
Taught by Stef Ferrari
Stef Ferrari is an Emmy-winning, James Beard Award-nominated documentary producer, food researcher, and author/writer. She is Senior Editor at Life & Thyme––a publication focused on cultural side of the culinary world––as well as a Certified Cicerone. Stef founded Hay Rosie Craft Ice Cream Company in Brooklyn in 2014, has worked in and around professional kitchens and breweries for nearly two decades, and has been studying Italian cuisine since she was old enough to roll gnocchi. Stef loves raisins and roasted carrots (not necessarily together, although, sometimes), Sour Patch Kids, strong macchiatos, stiff whiskeys and all manner of sparkling wine.
Italian food is one of the most popular cuisines in the world. Whether staples of American culture like spaghetti and meatballs, authentically Roman cacio e pepe, humble sweets like tiramisu and biscotti, or show-stopping dishes in modern day Michelin-starred restaurants, it’s comforting, familiar food built from simple flavors––and beloved in all settings, in every corner of the globe.
But to only understand "Italian food" as a single cuisine would be to sell short the 20 very distinctive and individual regions of the peninsula––a country that spans a dramatic range of microclimates, that has endured millennia of invasions, conquests, and international colonizations, and that has been cooking and creating food since, well, thousands of years before the nation of Italy was even born. Some preparations were born into cucina povera; others intended for emperors. From dishes like the extravagant egg-based tajarin and shaved truffles of the north, to the burnt-flour grano arso pastas down in Puglia and the Middle Eastern-inflected iterations found in Sicily––and likewise in indigenous creations like prosciutto and aceto balsamico, cheeses and olive oils, wines and liqueurs, and closely held techniques––every plate and ingredient tells a story. Each complete with quirky characters and rich with lore.
In this four-part series (sign up separately for each), we’ll investigate what makes each region unique and special. We'll get to know the origins of those most important dishes, and the Italian people, culture, and history through the food with which we’re already so familiar (as well as some you’ll want to get to know more). Plus, in each meeting, we’ll taste regional Italian vino, and you’ll leave with recipes to recreate dishes we discuss. Whether you're a full-blown Italophile, or you’re just stoked that pasta season is upon us, I hope you’ll come join this fun look at a very special culture.
You can pop in for any sessions, or feel free to sign up for all four (coming soon).
Class 1: Aosta Valley, Trentino-Alto Adige, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy (Jan 29)
Class 2: Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Tuscany (Feb 26)
Class 3: Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania (March 26)
Class 4: Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia (April)
