Discovering Italy through its Culinary Traditions

Italian food and wine are probably as famous as Italy's artistic and historical assets: you'll be surprised by the history behind the food, and how strictly related to the culture and heritage of an area a wine or a dish can be. Food is one of the cornerstones of Italian culture and even if times are changing and life is more and more frenetic, Italians still find a great pleasure in sitting at a table, at home or at the restaurant, and share a good meal together: this is because to the people of Italy, Italian food and wine are part of their culture and, very often, also of their own family history. Italian cuisine can be difficult to define, as recipes, tastes, ingredients and cooking styles vary enormously from region to region. One thing that most people will agree on though is that it is one of the richest and most delicious cuisines in the world.

The aim of this course is to introduce students to Italian culinary traditions and provide them with the opportunity to take part in "hands-on" cooking lessons under the guidance of one of Cattolica chefs.

This course will combine lessons in class with cooking lessons. In class students will explore one of the worldrenowned aspects of Italian culture, its cuisine. Here some of the topics that will be explored in class:

• The History of Italians and their Food
• Italy, its Regions and its Regional Cuisine
• Italian Meals
• The Mediterranean Diet
• Slow Food vs Fast Food: the importance of the Slow Food movement
• Italian wines: food and wine pairing
• Famous Italian Chefs

Films, extracts from books, articles from the press will be used in class to illustrate and explain the role of food and wine in Italian culture. Students will also take part in a field trip to Eataly food-market.