Dear Fellow Food and Wine Lover,

Under the Tuscania Sun. 

...ahhh springtime in Italy - what a perfect time to experience the rebirth of the countryside.  April and May are prime travel times to experience this wonderful season.  This month's newsletter focuses on an escape to one of the best countries in the world to take in the freshness of spring. 

Join us at a traditional Italian family farmhouse B&B set on a quiet natural landscape, completely surrounded by nature and take in spring at its height.  Our 6-night fully-inclusive cooking week offers an opportunity to relax & enjoy the delicious Italian cuisine & culture. If you are looking for leisure, good food, art and culture in Italy, join your hosts Laura and Giorgio.   They love to help guests discover their region and some hidden Italian treasures that only a local could know.  Perfectly located just one hour north of Roma, this location is easily accessible and we will even pick you up in Roma. Buongiorno and Welcome! Discover the true taste of Italy!

Special Offer:  Book now for April and May in Italy and save $200* per couple this springtime.

Trip highlights:
6 night's accommodation at the charming estate - moderate family-style rustic farmhouse accommodation

Gourmet breakfasts each morning

6 hands-on cooking classes, each culminating in a sumptuous meal, generally lunch or dinner

5 adventure excursions to local markets and vineyards

Can we tempt you?

For further details, email us at:  jackie@gourmetsafari.com

Trip length: 7 days
Dates: Several dates are available during the months of April and May - please contact us for details.
Starting point: Roma (just an hour north of this beautiful city) - why not combine a city and country experience.
Price from:  US/CA$2,245* per person

*Double Occupancy per person in Canadian/US Dollars. Price is excluding airfare.

Recipe of the Month.

Pasta with Aromatic Tomato Herb Sauce and Chicken

Pasta con la Salsa agli Aromi e Pollo

"Field or Greenhouse Tomatoes provide fresh inspiration to keep pasta lovers coming back for more, the ongoing love affair with pasta is far from over."

Serves 4

Fresh Rigatoni Pasta (about 3-4 cups)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of Ontario spring garlic, minced

1 onion or 4 Spring onions, sliced

1 lb boneless chicken breasts, cut into narrow strips

1 sprig of rosemary

1 sprig of sage

1 bunch of parsley

½ tsp oregano

½ tsp dried thyme

½ cup white wine or chicken broth

500g Greenhouse tomatoes, coarsely chopped

8 pitted black olives, sliced

100 ml cream (or less if you're avoiding fats)

Sea Salt to taste

Freshly Ground Pepper to taste

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese)

How to make it:

1) Cook fresh pasta according to package directions.

2) Finely chop the garlic, the onion and all the herbs.

3) Meanwhile, heat oil in large fry pan, brown the garlic and onion for a few minutes and then sauté chicken until lightly browned.

4) Add herbs and fry for a minute, then deglaze pan with wine or broth and simmer 3 to 4 minutes over low heat.

5) Stir in tomatoes and olives and cook the sauce for about 10 minutes.

6) Add the cream, continuing to mix and let the sauce thicken slightly: season with salt and pepper.

7) Drain the pasta; add sauce, toss well to combine and sprinkle with grated Parmigiano.  Serve immediately hot.

Recommended Wine:  Chianti Classico (perfect match of course)

Buon Appetito!

Uncorked!

Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone DOC 

This famous wine estate is located nearby our Casa Italiano farmhouse B&B and an exclusive visit can easily be arranged for you.  What a great name! Est! Est!! Est!!!, this wine is created in Montefiascone, just north of Roma.  Story has it that in 1110 Bishop Johann Fugger was travelling from Ausberg to Rome for the coronation of Emperor Henry V. The German was a wine-lover and sent his servant Martin a day's journey ahead to find suitable inns to stay. Martin was instructed to write the word Est on the door of the inn with the best wine. When the good Bishop arrived at the small hilltop village of Montefiascone, overlooking LakeBolsena some sixty miles from Roma he found Est! Est!! Est!!! written above the door of the inn. And it was true. The wine was so much to the Bishops taste he stayed there until the end of his days, drinking the fine wine of the town. And he is still there; his tomb can be seen in the church of St. Flavio, with Martin's inscription.  The Bishop specified in his will that a barrel of the wine should be poured over his tomb annually on the anniversary of his death, a custom that continued until the towns Bishop specified that instead of wasting the wine it should go to the local seminary for the benefit of the young priests - which it does to this day.

Tasting Notes 
It is a classic Italian white, made from a blend of 60% Trebbiano, 30% Malvasia and 10% Roscetto varieties grown in various estate vineyards.  It is a dry fruity semi-sweet wine with a small amount of effervescence, on the palate, it exhibits soft flavors of pear and melon.  This wine is of the drink-now variety and goes well with light appetizers and can also be paired with fish or white meat dishes.

Wine Spectator Reviews
Vintage 2000 - Italy's 100 Best Values -"Brothers Riccardo and Renzo Cotarella co-own the Falesco estate, with 740 acres of vineyards straddling the two central vineyard regions of Umbria and Lazio. This light and fresh Est! Est!! Est !!! comes from the Lazio side..."

Vintage 2002 - Best Value Whites -"...light and fresh...from vineyards around the town of Montefiascone, on the shores of LakeBolsena..."

Vintage 2000 -"Simple and clean, with pear and melon aromas and flavors, medium body and a crisp finish. Lovely."

Trendspotting. 

Farmers' Markets.

Spring is in the air - time to start thinking about Farmers' Markets around the globe.  It is a given that no serious traveller would forgo visits to museums, cathedrals, castles, monuments and legendary streets. Yet food markets deserve equally high billing on a must-see list and are becoming more popular as culinary tourists are ever more interested in where their food comes from. For as inspiring as the more standard sights can be, they cannot compare to the essence of modern-day markets and their colourful links to the culture, customers, economy and even dialects of a city.  In a world ever more homogenized, food markets afford visitors one of the few opportunities to glimpse locals going about one of their essential daily chores.  The majority of our Gourmet Safari culinary food adventures include delicious trips to open air farmers' markets that really capture the essence of the culture and cuisine.  The Farmers' Markets of Italy are particularly good (especially the one located in Tuscania), contact us to find out more...

To find out more about any of our culinary vacations please feel free to call me at 416.238.9987 (Toronto) or 1.800.839.5795 (in North America).  Email works well too at jackie@gourmetsafari.com.

Sincerely, Jackie

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