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Well, another for the group but it was my first. Four days in Rome, two days in Florence, two in Lucca, and a week at a cooking school at an estate near Lucca with trips to Greve, Viareggio, and other locations.
Our first pizza in Rome was a desperation buy. We were pretty much just off the plane and zombies and sat down at an establishment that was reasonably crowded and got a pizza with a frozen crust. Pretty pathetic but it did reinforce that Italian tomatoes are an alien life form. We ate twice at Ristorante Sacro e Profano. They have a killer antipasta plate along with a WFO and a talented pizza chef. The restaurant is a church and we sat at the rail of the balcony overlooking the pizza assembly area and oven and it was entertaining and the food very good.
We also had lunch at Pizzaria dar Poeta in Rome. Their pies were probably slightly better than Sacro e Profano but overall we felt the latter was more interesting. Both are worth seeking out.
While in Rome we took a side trip to Genzano to buy a loaf of Pane Genzano - the only bread in Italy to have an IGP designation (Indicazione Geografica Protetta - Protected Geographical Indication). We went to Forno a Legna da Sergio, the baker featured in the book Local Breads by Dan Leader. I have made the bread a number of times and wanted to buy a loaf to compare to. Mine is very close in result. Had a great lunch at Trattoria dei Cacciatore in Genzano. Highly recommended if you ever get there!
Another highlight of Rome was eating at Roscioli's where we had Pata Negra Joselito 60 month aged serrano ham (considered prosciutto in Italy) along with four cheeses: a 36 month old Parme vacche rosso, a stravechia rosso, a piave di alpeggio, and a fiore sardo del Gavoi. Roscioli's is near Campo de Fiori and is well worth visiting. Be warned, the salumi and cheese selections are intimidating and prices are dear but the quality is exceptional.
We didn't find any interesting pizza in Florence but we did eat twice at Restaurante Giglio Rosso on Via Giglio. We thought the food was a good value in an expensive city.
In Lucca we had good pizza at Pizzaria da Felice. The real hightlight was "cecine" a chickpea crepe of sorts that was wonderful. Had our best restaurant meal in Italy at Vigna Ilaria in Lucca - a fabulous "Slow Food" restaurant.
The cooking classes were taught by chef Angelo Prosperi-Porta of Coopers Cove B&B in Sooke BC. Angelo is the most complete chef I know and when I learned he was leading a culinary trip to Italy I jumped to go along. We cooked six meals during the week and had a number of field trips - to Greve to buy beef for Bifsteak Florentine and for a fabulous lunch at Restaurant Lamore, to Viareggio to buy fresh fish, and to Paolo Parisi's farm for a lunch of his fabulous meats and eggs.
I was very impressed by the Italian approach to food and by the quality we generally encountered. While the quality of pizza we had was generally pretty good I was not blown away. Most of the dough tasted like fairly fast dough - not retarded. And while Italian 00 flour based doughs and pies have interesting texture, I tend to find its flavor bland and lacking compared to the organic flours I prefer for bread and pizza. I did enjoy the ingredients and combinations and the sparse toppings and that will certainly inspire me to be even sparser than I have typically been in the past.
Photos are attached of bread at Forno a Legna da Sergio - the bread at the upper right is the Pane Genzano. Then a photo of the dinner when we first cut it open. And finally a photo of a typical lunch at the cooking school.
Our first pizza in Rome was a desperation buy. We were pretty much just off the plane and zombies and sat down at an establishment that was reasonably crowded and got a pizza with a frozen crust. Pretty pathetic but it did reinforce that Italian tomatoes are an alien life form. We ate twice at Ristorante Sacro e Profano. They have a killer antipasta plate along with a WFO and a talented pizza chef. The restaurant is a church and we sat at the rail of the balcony overlooking the pizza assembly area and oven and it was entertaining and the food very good.
We also had lunch at Pizzaria dar Poeta in Rome. Their pies were probably slightly better than Sacro e Profano but overall we felt the latter was more interesting. Both are worth seeking out.
While in Rome we took a side trip to Genzano to buy a loaf of Pane Genzano - the only bread in Italy to have an IGP designation (Indicazione Geografica Protetta - Protected Geographical Indication). We went to Forno a Legna da Sergio, the baker featured in the book Local Breads by Dan Leader. I have made the bread a number of times and wanted to buy a loaf to compare to. Mine is very close in result. Had a great lunch at Trattoria dei Cacciatore in Genzano. Highly recommended if you ever get there!
Another highlight of Rome was eating at Roscioli's where we had Pata Negra Joselito 60 month aged serrano ham (considered prosciutto in Italy) along with four cheeses: a 36 month old Parme vacche rosso, a stravechia rosso, a piave di alpeggio, and a fiore sardo del Gavoi. Roscioli's is near Campo de Fiori and is well worth visiting. Be warned, the salumi and cheese selections are intimidating and prices are dear but the quality is exceptional.
We didn't find any interesting pizza in Florence but we did eat twice at Restaurante Giglio Rosso on Via Giglio. We thought the food was a good value in an expensive city.
In Lucca we had good pizza at Pizzaria da Felice. The real hightlight was "cecine" a chickpea crepe of sorts that was wonderful. Had our best restaurant meal in Italy at Vigna Ilaria in Lucca - a fabulous "Slow Food" restaurant.
The cooking classes were taught by chef Angelo Prosperi-Porta of Coopers Cove B&B in Sooke BC. Angelo is the most complete chef I know and when I learned he was leading a culinary trip to Italy I jumped to go along. We cooked six meals during the week and had a number of field trips - to Greve to buy beef for Bifsteak Florentine and for a fabulous lunch at Restaurant Lamore, to Viareggio to buy fresh fish, and to Paolo Parisi's farm for a lunch of his fabulous meats and eggs.
I was very impressed by the Italian approach to food and by the quality we generally encountered. While the quality of pizza we had was generally pretty good I was not blown away. Most of the dough tasted like fairly fast dough - not retarded. And while Italian 00 flour based doughs and pies have interesting texture, I tend to find its flavor bland and lacking compared to the organic flours I prefer for bread and pizza. I did enjoy the ingredients and combinations and the sparse toppings and that will certainly inspire me to be even sparser than I have typically been in the past.
Photos are attached of bread at Forno a Legna da Sergio - the bread at the upper right is the Pane Genzano. Then a photo of the dinner when we first cut it open. And finally a photo of a typical lunch at the cooking school.
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