Buon anno 2010! This is the year that you can learn even more about Calabria from me. First of all, my cookbook My Calabria will be published in November. But just as important, I will be leading a culinary tour of Calabria at the end of September. This trip is for all you foodies! Discover new foods that you can’t find in this country such as the famous ‘nduja di Spilinga, prized salumi and cheeses, the famous tartufo di Pizzo, the sweet red onions of Tropea, bottarga di Pizzo, local handmade pasta, traditional pastries, famous Calabrian liquorice, spicy peperoncino, foods made from local cedro and bergamot, and many more.
‘nduja di Spilinga
Calabrian cheeses
bottarga di Pizzo
authentic assorted pastries
tartufo di Pizzo
Our trip will start up in the Sila mountains where we will hunt in the woods for wild porcini mushrooms and prepare a dinner with the chef of one of my favorite restaurants, La Tavernetta. We will travel across Calabria to the Ionian coast and spend the next two nights at a beautifully restored farmhouse, Fattoria il Borghetto, and learn how to prepare some of the local fare. Next, a visit to the wine country of Ciro to spend the afternoon on the Dattilo estate to taste the owner’s wines and organic extra virgin olive oil. The evening will conclude with a dinner at the estate restaurant, one of the best in Calabria. Along the coast we will stop in Rossano and visit the Amarelli’s factory, world-famous for its liquorice.
We then move to the Tyrrhenian coast and have another cooking class while staying at the Grand Hotel San Michele near Cetraro. We will visit one of my favorite towns, Diamante, also known for its murals. Here we will taste various foods made with Calabria’s famous peperoncino and cedro and feast on a dinner based on local seafood. We will then head south and eat the famous tartufo di Pizzo ice cream. We will have a home-cooked dinner prepared by Signora Callipo herself at Casa Janca and spend the last two nights at a famous five-star hotel, the Hotel Porto Pirgos near Tropea. Our adventure concludes with a cooking class in this area where we will enjoy the famous red onions of Tropea, ‘nduja di Spilinga, and pecorino di Monte Poro.
Join me on this culinary odyssey to my native region of Calabria. To find out more details and reserve a spot, click on the Culinary Tour link.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
It is amazing how N’Duja has taken off in America. There are quite a few of us home salumieri producing it at home with decent results using authentic Calabrian peppers. Great blog, btw, my nonno was from Santa Cristina d’Aspromonte.
Scott,
I love your blog and the fact that you are making your own salumi. I am very lucky to have my dad who is still making them…too bad he doesn’t make ‘Nduja. I would love to taste yours as I have not found any in this country similar to the real stuff in Calabria.
Rosetta,
I’m sure we could arrange something. My latest is a bit hard. Go have a look at the link for This Little Piggy on my blog. He was just recently mentioned in the “New York Times” for his N’Duja.
Oh, I wish we could come. We’ll be in Italy the next month, though, and we have a lot of children. Someday this sort of trip will be appropriate for our family. In the mean time, I’ll just have to keep reading (and cooking). My Sicilian grandmother died before I got any recipes or family lore, although I have one for pignolata.