Pitigliano, Italy - "Little Jerusalem"
“Cheerful, tasty, varied, inexpensive, and unworrying… all one has to do is enjoy the food…“ This is how food writer Alan Davidson describes the food of Italy in The Oxford Companion to Food.
After spending a week in Tuscany, I can add delicious, easy, informal and nutritious to his description.
Tuscany is the beautifully lush region north of Rome - rolling hills planted with olives and grapes, romantic hilltop villas and the cities of Florence, Sienna, Pisa and our base, Lucca.
Our tour centered around food and Italian Jewish history. A special treat to celebrate a special anniversary. We cooked with an accomplished Italian chef, enjoyed espresso, gelato and regional kosher wines. We walked a lot and bicycled along the wall around Lucca.
Breakfast at our hotel/villa was simple and healthy – cereal, fruit and low-fat yogurt (plus cappuccino, of course).
Lunch was a picnic “on the road” – vegetable and pasta or grain salad, bread and local kosher cheese. Water to drink and fruit for dessert.
And dinner was the highlight – a relaxing, unhurried three-course affair lasting a good two hours. We enjoyed chicken, beef, veal and fish entries preceded by a pasta, rice or polenta dish, and always accompanied by vegetables. Dessert was simple and usually included fruit. And of course there was wine.
We learned tomato sauce two ways – canned tomatoes and fresh. We mixed and kneaded bread, pasta and focaccia dough. With plain grilled and boiled vegetables we created gorgeous antipasto platters. We chopped lots of onions, carrots and celery. These, together with garlic, fresh rosemary and sage, dried oregano, salt and pepper were the only seasonings we used.
Olive oil flowed liberally as we cooked. No sign of margarine in this kitchen.
Such delicious food. We didn’t feel stuffed and neither of us gained weight. We returned home feeling rejuvenated, refreshed and inspired.
“Cheerful, tasty, varied, inexpensive, and unworrying… all one has to do is enjoy the food…“ This is how food writer Alan Davidson describes the food of Italy in The Oxford Companion to Food.
After spending a week in Tuscany, I can add delicious, easy, informal and nutritious to his description.
Tuscany is the beautifully lush region north of Rome - rolling hills planted with olives and grapes, romantic hilltop villas and the cities of Florence, Sienna, Pisa and our base, Lucca.
Our tour centered around food and Italian Jewish history. A special treat to celebrate a special anniversary. We cooked with an accomplished Italian chef, enjoyed espresso, gelato and regional kosher wines. We walked a lot and bicycled along the wall around Lucca.
Breakfast at our hotel/villa was simple and healthy – cereal, fruit and low-fat yogurt (plus cappuccino, of course).
Lunch was a picnic “on the road” – vegetable and pasta or grain salad, bread and local kosher cheese. Water to drink and fruit for dessert.
And dinner was the highlight – a relaxing, unhurried three-course affair lasting a good two hours. We enjoyed chicken, beef, veal and fish entries preceded by a pasta, rice or polenta dish, and always accompanied by vegetables. Dessert was simple and usually included fruit. And of course there was wine.
We learned tomato sauce two ways – canned tomatoes and fresh. We mixed and kneaded bread, pasta and focaccia dough. With plain grilled and boiled vegetables we created gorgeous antipasto platters. We chopped lots of onions, carrots and celery. These, together with garlic, fresh rosemary and sage, dried oregano, salt and pepper were the only seasonings we used.
Olive oil flowed liberally as we cooked. No sign of margarine in this kitchen.
Such delicious food. We didn’t feel stuffed and neither of us gained weight. We returned home feeling rejuvenated, refreshed and inspired.
Fresh produce and grains, minimal preparation and the relaxed Italian attitude towards eating – yes we could easily bring these culinary concepts into our own home.
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