Italy A Taste of Italy: Biodiversity, Cooking, and Slow Foods

Orientation in Rome

Italy is a sensory experience. Spend three days exploring Rome. Hike from the Forum to the Vatican to see the vivid scenes in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. Stand in the Colosseum, imagining its dramatic history. Taste your first gelato at one of the cafés in Piazza Navona. By the time you leave Rome, you will be prepared to become fully immersed in Italian life and culture.

A Taste of Italy

In Italy, food can tell a story. For generations, families have passed along recipes that were directly connected to the region in which they lived. Take a closer look at the intimate links between food, agricultural biodiversity, and regional culture.

Homestay

After your orientation, enjoy learning about typical life in an Italian family and community. Share meals with your new family, visit a buffalo farm to see how mozzarella di bufala is produced, make your own Neopolitan pizza and explore surrounding areas to sample regional delicacies and see how local food is produced.

Sample host communities:
Ascoli Piceno, San Sebastiano al Vesuvio

Slow Foods, Cooking, and Travel

Spend 10 days at a well-known cooking school creating your own Italian culinary story while learning about the Slow Foods movement and the importance of locally grown organic food. Each morning, prepare traditional Italian dishes with a skilled chef. After a delicious midday feast, venture out each afternoon on eco-gastronomic excursions to explore the stories behind unique foods of Piemonte. Whether it’s sampling homemade chocolates or conducting an olive oil tasting for culinary professionals, you quickly embrace the connection between food and culture in Italy. Your culinary adventure concludes with a few days in magnificent Venice.

Sample cooking sites:
Agliano, Naples, Alba, Canelli