Italy In SF

Calabria, the toe of the Italian boot, is a wonderful and undiscovered region of Italy. It is the native region of many of the Italian immigrants of the beginning of the twentieth century, so you have certainly heard about it, but few have visited and fewer still know of its amazing flavors.

When it comes to food, the terrain of Calabria is so diverse that there is a little bit of everything, from the porcini mushrooms of the Sila mountains to the delicacies of the fisheries on the coast, going through the many pork and cheese preparations of the inland. Many Calabrian recipes have in common the preservation of the foods: the hard to navigate terrain, the lack of transportation infrastructure, the remoteness of the region and the recurrent droughts made it a necessity to create recipes that would make food last longer. It is not a coincidence that Calabria produces about 25% of Italian olive oil- many recipes call for sott’olio, under oil, as a preservation method for vegetables and meats. Not to mention the cheeses!! Caciocavallo Silano is a Calabria cheese, and along with ricotta and scamorza and butirro they make up the amazing offering on the dairy side of this resourceful region.

Farmers and fishermen throughout the centuries have passed on the traditional preservation methods for vegetables, meats, and in particular pork and swordfish, so abundant in the waters of Calabria. A staple Calabria food that describes very well the flavors and the culinary traditions of Calabria is sardella, also called “the poor man’s caviar”, made with baby anchovies preserved in olive oil and red peppers. Its strong flavor and affordable preparation make of sardella a perfect summary of a centennial culinary tradition.

Rosetta Costantino is is an advocate of Calabria foods, a cooking class teacher, and above all a Calabria native– a Calabrese. Her passion for her native region of Italy is showcased in her monthly classes in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in 2010 her first cookbook about Calabria will be published  by W.W. Norton. Rosetta and I have partnered to offer a wonderful trip to discover Calabria from September 26th till October 4th, 2009.

Rosetta is an expert guide to the region’s culinary riches, as we travel off the beaten track to the toe of Italy’s boot. We’ll begin in the mountains of Sila, at a quaint family hotel, where we’ll hunt in nearby woods for the famed porcini mushroom and enjoy sumptuous mushroom dishes for dinner. We will then prepare an evening meal in the kitchens of a bed & breakfast on the Ionic coast and enjoy a cooking demo at a restored country farmhouse with an olive oil mill and garden. Then it’s on to the dazzling west coast, to a cliffside hotel in Cetraro with its own organic farm, for another class. Finally, we will head south to a 5-star resort at Tropea, where we’ll attend a cooking class at a working farm.

For more information about this trip, please take a look at our brochure, or download the full itinerary. Come and join us as we discover the real Italy off the beaten path!

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