The New Gastronomes

The bucket of hot water burbled gently above a gas burner, just behind a weathered wood chopping block. Jutting out from the edge, the ax rose with elegant, curved lines, primeval and practical in function. The preparations were set; today, a living being was going to die.
There had originally been two turkeys at Barbialla Nuova, [...]

Overhead view of Vernazzo, on the trail towards Monterosso
What is Cinque Terre?
Cinque Terre, or “five lands,” is a series of small seaside towns in the Italian Riviera, in the Liguria region. It is widely known for being one of the most beautiful places on earth, and is recognized as a UNESCO Heritage Site. Visitors can [...]

 IT ALL STARTED WITH ONE BOTTLE.
When I arrived in Parma, neither knowing what my new home for the next year would look like, nor who my new two flat mates would be, I was excited just like before a first date. I knew their names and where they were from. Curious as I was, [...]

Catherine, in the center with other FCC students, is listening to someone explaining his/her dish. She looks very much like Jesus in Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper. So we wondered would be Judas. David looked at the photograph and said, “oh, Paolo hasn’t come yet.”

When you tell people that you attend the University of Gastronomic Sciences [...]

Study trip to Calabria, five days.
We made pasta and bread, saw how pecorino cheese and ricotta are made, and of course ate them all. Had an olive oil tasting, visited a bergamot plantation, attended a workshop about the Slow Food presidium of Capicollo azze Anca Grecanico and another about the use of bergamot in pastry. [...]

To watch the artisanal practice of fishing for Magghia Masculina in the Bay of Catania, you need to rise before the sun. Half asleep and fumbling like drunks, our class poured onto an old sightseeing boat that slowly lumbered towards our destination. Our first stop was to watch the industrial practice of netting anchovies. As [...]

Being a student of gastronomy is really hard work. Honestly. It’s not for the faint of stomach. A relentless number of challenges are thrown at you with such frequency as to make your head spin and your belly churn.
Apart from the obvious requirements of attending lectures and producing a myriad of projects and reports, the [...]

It has been a busy week. It seems to me it just started for I didn’t even have the time to think at the time passing by. Hectic, frenetic, intense. What did I do? Well, more than I expected for sure! Living in the countryside, surrounded by hills and green fields where is easier [...]

I recently attended an event at a place called “Krogerup” in Humlebæk about 20 km. north of Copenhagen. Krogerup is an old estate and farmhouse and now the headquarters of the company “Aarstiderne”, meaning “the seasons”, who each week delivers 30.000 boxes of organic vegetables, fruit, bread, meat, fish and nearly everything else to the [...]

The old house was not aired before we arrived. The smell of humidity and old furniture matched the place and purpose of our visit, as we would find out later. The lamp at the nightstand was starting to emit smoke that stunk of burnt plastic, so we had to open the window. It turned out [...]