Perugia

We were packed into our tiny bus by nine, and by ten we were chugging up a mountain road outside of Perugia lined with vines and cisto and ginestra, our driver blowing his horn at every curve. Shortly we were at the farm where our energetic and talkative hostess Raffaella lives with her saxophonist husband, children and mother-in-law Alberta. We did not meet Alberta but she seems as energetic and hardworking as Raffaella; Alberta planted 780 of the farm’s 850 olive trees and she still produces the farm’s supplies of olive oil, wine, vegetables and jam. Raffaella runs the cooking school, operates the B&B, takes care of the chickens and who knows what other perpetual motion activities. Her mission for the day was to guide eighteen of us in cooking a four-course Umbrian special occasion meal using traditional recipes, methods, ingredients and plenty of garlic and olive oil. In the main room of her farmhouse we donned red aprons and, since she said she’d never had such a big group before, posed for a picture for her Facebook page (check it out and let me know, Facebook people, as I am not one of the in crowd).  Keep reading