Cucina della Terra and Dinner at Julio's
One of the well known secrets of the Italian foodies is that truck stops in Italy often have the best food. I had learned this by watching Lydia's Table on PBS and hoped I would get an opportunity to eat at one of these humble truck stops and experience the great food that tourists rarely find. Little did I know that my visit to Cucina della Terra, a small cooking school in Castiglione del Lago, Umbria, would yield such an experience.
One of my co-workers, Gerri Sarnataro, owns Cucina della Terra. Gerri is a pastry chef and teaches the Professional Pastry Program at I.C.E. as well as offering many of her specialty classes in Italian cuisine through the recreational division of I.C.E. Gerri and her partner Jack happen to be in Umbria at the same time as I am, so we agree to meet up at the school so she can show me around and give me a tour of the village of Castiglione del Lago. Afterward, we planned to have dinner together before I had to return to Siena.
When I arrive at Cucina della Terra I am ushered into an amazing teaching kitchen. It is long and rectangle with beautiful ovens and stoves lining the back wall and wrapping around one corner. There are 3 long stainless steel tables through the center and the counters are marble topped. Off the kitchen there is another room for dish washing and refrigeration. The entire wall opposite the stoves is glass windows and doors that open up the space even more to a grape vine covered pergola. There is also an outdoor grill and wood burning oven where grilling classes take place and dining al fresco in the summer. Finally, there is a long trestle table in the kitchen, especially made for the school, so that Gerri and all of her students can sit down together and eat and enjoy the results of their labor. As a chef instructor I recognize all of Gerri's hard work, passion, love and effort that went into creating this amazing space. Of course, I should mention that her partner Jack is also pretty amazing and deserves a lot of credit for helping Gerri realize this wonderful dream and bring it into reality. You can find Gerri's cooking school at www.cucinadellaterra.com.
After the tour of the school, they took me into town where all of the shops had re-opened after the mid-day closure. Ok, so when I say that everyone in the village knows Gerri and Jack, I am not kidding. Everywhere we went the villagers were excited to welcome them back and greet them with kisses. They introduced me around and told me who had the best wild boar sausage and who sold the best olive oil and who grows the tastiest beans or sells the freshest eggs. I was offered many samples and had to sadly refuse wine where there was no spitoon as I still had about an hours drive back to Siena that night. Castiglione del Lago, which sits on Lake Trasimeno, is a small hill town village or commune as they are called. And when I return someday, all I need to do is tell the villagers I am a friend of Geraldina and Jack's and I know I will be treated like family.
After our visit to the village we decide it is time for dinner, only one problem, it is only 6pm. In Italy most restaurants do not re-open for dinner until 7pm. So early supper is a challenge. Gerri and Jack decide to drive me around and show me the surrounding area. We drove towards Cortona, which is very close by, and I told them about La Bucaccia, which we considered, but Jack had is heart set on something else.......the truck stop restaurant! I vote for the truck stop as we drive around killing 30 minutes until it opens.
Next entry I will tell you all about dinner at Julio's.
One of my co-workers, Gerri Sarnataro, owns Cucina della Terra. Gerri is a pastry chef and teaches the Professional Pastry Program at I.C.E. as well as offering many of her specialty classes in Italian cuisine through the recreational division of I.C.E. Gerri and her partner Jack happen to be in Umbria at the same time as I am, so we agree to meet up at the school so she can show me around and give me a tour of the village of Castiglione del Lago. Afterward, we planned to have dinner together before I had to return to Siena.
When I arrive at Cucina della Terra I am ushered into an amazing teaching kitchen. It is long and rectangle with beautiful ovens and stoves lining the back wall and wrapping around one corner. There are 3 long stainless steel tables through the center and the counters are marble topped. Off the kitchen there is another room for dish washing and refrigeration. The entire wall opposite the stoves is glass windows and doors that open up the space even more to a grape vine covered pergola. There is also an outdoor grill and wood burning oven where grilling classes take place and dining al fresco in the summer. Finally, there is a long trestle table in the kitchen, especially made for the school, so that Gerri and all of her students can sit down together and eat and enjoy the results of their labor. As a chef instructor I recognize all of Gerri's hard work, passion, love and effort that went into creating this amazing space. Of course, I should mention that her partner Jack is also pretty amazing and deserves a lot of credit for helping Gerri realize this wonderful dream and bring it into reality. You can find Gerri's cooking school at www.cucinadellaterra.com.
After the tour of the school, they took me into town where all of the shops had re-opened after the mid-day closure. Ok, so when I say that everyone in the village knows Gerri and Jack, I am not kidding. Everywhere we went the villagers were excited to welcome them back and greet them with kisses. They introduced me around and told me who had the best wild boar sausage and who sold the best olive oil and who grows the tastiest beans or sells the freshest eggs. I was offered many samples and had to sadly refuse wine where there was no spitoon as I still had about an hours drive back to Siena that night. Castiglione del Lago, which sits on Lake Trasimeno, is a small hill town village or commune as they are called. And when I return someday, all I need to do is tell the villagers I am a friend of Geraldina and Jack's and I know I will be treated like family.
After our visit to the village we decide it is time for dinner, only one problem, it is only 6pm. In Italy most restaurants do not re-open for dinner until 7pm. So early supper is a challenge. Gerri and Jack decide to drive me around and show me the surrounding area. We drove towards Cortona, which is very close by, and I told them about La Bucaccia, which we considered, but Jack had is heart set on something else.......the truck stop restaurant! I vote for the truck stop as we drive around killing 30 minutes until it opens.
Next entry I will tell you all about dinner at Julio's.
posted by Chef Jane Brock at
4:00 AM
1 Comments:
Jane, my only regret is that we didn't have time to cook you a fabulous bowl of tagliatelle con l'anatra cooked with the sagrantino of montefalco! Next time. My image of you driving down from Pozzuolo will remain in my memory for years to come!
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