Our first stop in Tuscany was to one of (perhaps) eight or so artisinal pasta makers in Italy, Giovanni Fabbri. He still makes pasta the same way his family has made it for four generations. He also uses an old variety of wheat that, as research has shown he said, is tolerable by people with cholesterol problems, diabetes and stomach cancer whereas newer varieties of wheat cause problems for people with celiac disease and glutton intolerances. Interesting.
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Showing us how to test the strength of the wheat
by the quality of the glutton. |
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Pappardelle di San Lorenzo (the protecting saint of pasta)
drying on racks 33 degrees |
Later in the day, we visited another four generation family run business -
Pruneti farm - where they produce mostly extra virgin olive oil. We tasted four different types of olive oils that they make: Leccino - a light tasting olive oil of one year; Mariolo - which is a little olive that doesn't absorb much water grown in rocky lands; Viuzzo - a trio-blend which has won top 5 olive oils in Italy; and a bright green blend that was made just 4 days ago. Funnily enough, Samara and I had actually talked to the Pruneti producers when we went to Pasta Trend in Bologna.
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| olives waiting to be oil. |
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| fresh extra virgin olive oil. |
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| tasting session. |
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| lunch. |
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