Tag Archives: University of Gastronomic Sciences

Travel Note: Emilia-Romagna Stage

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Chiesa di Parma

I’ve been back in Italy for only a week, which means it’s time for another stage! For our last intranational trip, the Food Culture masters students are traveling to Emilia-Romagna, a region in northern Italy that is credited with having the country’s highest quality of life (and cost of living). Here you will find the grand Renaissance city of Bologna, home of the oldest university in the world, and the cities of Modena and Parma. These latter two are the namesakes of the world-renowned products Modena balsamic vinegar and Parma prosciutto. In addition, we will be exploring and tasting our way through culatello (ham aged in a bladder), salami, cotechino (boiled sausage) and pasta. Good thing there are no vegetarians among us.

Here’s a sample itinerary for Wednesday, Jan. 19th:

9:45 – Departure for Tortiano
11:00 – Arrival at Salumificio Ziveri. Lecture on the production process of Prosciutto di Parma, traceability of raw ingredients and certification process.
12:30 – Tasting lunch with prosciutto
14:00 – Departure for Correggio
15:00 – Visit the craft brewery Birrificio Dada
18:00 – Visit wine producer Bellei
19:30 – Dinner in Massa Finalese at Slow Food osteria Entrà
21:30 – Departure for Casalmaggiore, spend the night at Istituto Santa Chiara (a converted former convent)

Time to go pack my most ham-some attire.

An Introduction to Wine Journalism

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Wine journalism. Is it a public service, or simply pretentious nonsense? What forms does it come in? Does anyone pay attention to this stuff anyway? Who is the target audience?

On this gray November day, we were greeted by the warm presence of Richard Baudains, a wine writer for Decanter who has also contributed to the Arcigolo Gambero Rosso guides Vini d’Italia (Wines of Italy) and Vini del Mondo (Wines of the World). He hails from the Channel Islands (an archipelago between England and France), but has spent the last two decades living and drinking in Italy.

There are many opinions on the role of wine journalism, and we examined a series of quotes from wine writers with varying interpretations of the role. There is the Elitist Expert, who wrote, “I’ve been tasting wines now for over forty years and I like to think that through my articles I can help my readers to appreciate the subtleties of one of the finer things in life.” There is the Public Defender, who said, “Do you know how many chemical additives are permitted in a wine by a European food regulation laws? And what about the illegal additives? Wine writers should be raising awareness of these issues.” There is the Writer of Convenience, who commented, “I used to be on the sports page, but I got fed up with all the travelling and staying up all night to file my copy for the morning editions. Wine is great. A very laid back scene and super hospitality.” And naturally, there is the Passionate Amateur, who enthuses, “I just adore wine, in all shapes and forms. I love tasting it and I love writing about it and I want to share my passion for it through my blog.” People write about wine to affirm their own prestige, to express joy, for money, for free, to spread knowledge, to omit it, and for all sorts of reasons in between.
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Travel Note: Umbria Stage

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It’s that time of the month again; the UNISG masters students are heading out this week for another round of travel. The destination for this stage is Umbria, a region in central Italy, bordering Tuscany and Lazio, where Rome is located. It is the only region of Italy that has no borders with other countries and no coastal access. Over the next few days, we will be exploring Umbria’s famed olive oils, truffles, wines and cured meat products. Best of all, if the weather cooperates, we will be fishing on Lake Trasimeno with a bunch of local fishermen! I am mildly embarrassed to admit that I have never gone fishing before, so this is pretty exciting.

Here’s the schedule for Thursday, Nov. 11th:

9:00 – Breakfast
10:00 – Depart for Sant’anatolio di Narco
11:00 – Visit Urbani Tartufi (truffle producer)
13:00 – Lunch
15:00 – Depart for Casa Naticchia Montefalco
16:00 – Visit Novelli Winery
19:00 – Dinner at the winery
20:00 – Depart for San Feliciano
21:30 – Check in at Hotel Ali sul Lago, on Lake Trasimeno

Another 8-hour bus ride awaits. I’ll be lugging my book of Italian grammar exercises for entertainment.

Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto

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Tomorrow marks the opening of one of the sustainable food world’s most prestigious events, Terra Madre (or “mother earth”). This is a biennial conference sponsored by Slow Food since 2004, a meeting of farmers, chefs, producers, researchers, students, and other people who want to revolutionize the way we feed ourselves. Over the next five days, 8.000 people from 150 nations will gather in my backyard (Turin) to share ideas, make new friends and revel in the solidarity that we may be few but strong.

Simultaneously, Salone del Gusto will be happening next door to Terra Madre. This is a food fair for artisanal producers to demonstrate and market their wares. About two-thirds of exhibitors hail from Italy, and the remainder will be coming from all over the rest of the world. There are also chef demonstrations, lectures and tasting workshops on everything from Sámi cuisine (think Nordic wild berries, reindeer and elk), to the Vermouths of Catalonia.

For my part, I have volunteered as part of the University of Gastronomic Sciences audio/visual troupe. Our scrappy crew of nine students will divide into teams of three, and float between the buildings to document university-run and youth movement events, interview students and capture the zeitgeist of the conference. The hours will be long (on Saturday, it looks like I’ll be on the job from 9 am to 9 pm), but the rewards will be substantial. Besides, I have always wanted to learn about filmmaking, so here is my relatively low-stress chance to get acquainted with neutral density filters and techniques of cinematography. Did I mention that the a/v troupe meetings have been almost entirely in Italian? Vocabulary that I never thought I would need to know in Italian: frames per second, diaphragm aperture. Did you know that in the US video is generally recorded at 30 fps, while in Europe video is captured at 25 fps? Me neither. We plan to cut, edit and post clips at the end of each day, so maybe some of my footage will make it online in the next few days.

I am also co-hosting a tasting workshop at Salone del Gusto with UNISG President Carlo Catani. The workshop is titled “New Orleans in a Cocktail,” and our guest will be Chris McMillan, one of the founders of the Museum of the American Cocktail, and bartender at Uncommon Bar in the Renaissance Père Marquette hotel in New Orleans.

Anyway, the following is a video from the 2008 conference (not created by UNISG students) that gives you a taste of the global circus that is about to descend upon Torino:

[vimeo vimeo.com/4417753]

Travel Note: Burgundy, France Stage

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Just when I feel like I’ve settled in after summer travels, it is time for the UNISG masters students to take off again! This time we are heading to France for a week, to the region of Burgundy, most famous for wines of the same name. We’ll be staying in Lyon for a couple days, then moving to Dijon for the rest of the week. As you can imagine, this week will involve a lot of wine tastings, but there are a lot of breaks for products like cheese and Bresse chicken. Lest you think gastronomy school is all fun and games, I inform you that for this stage I am mandated to write a journalistic producer profile. Then, I need to write a synthetic supplementary document to explain my methods and discursive decisions. Adobe InDesign and infographics await!

A sample itinerary (for Thursday, Sept. 16th):

8:00 – Breakfast
9:15 – Departure for Nuits Saint Georges
10:00 – Arrival at Domaine Chantal Lescure vineyard
11:30 – Departure for Beaune
12:00 – Lunch
15:00 – Visit and tasting at Moutarderie Fallot
17:00 – Departure for Dijon
18:00 – Arrival at hotel City Loft
20:00 – Dinner

Time for an 8-hour bus ride; see you there.

Beer Tasting 101

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Hops flowers, a cornerstone ingredient for beer

“I have to start off with a joke, to properly set the tone for this class,” said Mirco Marconi, our lecturer for beer tasting. With a grin, he announced that he would be lecturing on the production process of beer, and that we would be tasting 9 beers today and another 10 beers tomorrow. We were advised to eat a hearty breakfast in the morning.

But wait, beer class in Italy? Isn’t this akin to learning about tamales in China? Before leaving the US, I was told by more than one Italian over a cold pint to enjoy the beer while it lasted, because Peroni leaves a lot to desire (though of course, the wine does not). Much to my surprise though, I have found the Italian beer scene to be vibrant and dynamic. At the Corte dei birrifici artigianali del Piemonte craft beer fair at the Torino Food Market Festival, a wide variety of brewers and brewing styles were showcased. Our trip last July to the Pausa brewery project in the Saluzzo jail included several memorably good beers. And, the New York Times even posted an article today on the development of craft brewing in Italy! I don’t think beer will “eclipse wine as the Roman drink of choice” any time soon, but it is definitely promising that Italy’s booze-making aficionados are finally setting their sights on the art of beer.
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