This is the program for October 2012; the November program will be identical.

Day 1 (Sunday, Oct. 21) – arrival

Plan to arrive at Villa Campestri in the afternoon so that you can settle in before we get down to work at 6:00 p.m. in the beautiful underground Oleoteca where Nancy will explain how olive oil is made and how different types of intervention and different critical points in the process (from variety and weather, to date of harvest and mode of processing) can influence the way olive oil tastes; then we’ll have a structured olive oil tasting with Gemma, gaining new insights into the differences between premium extra-virgins and ordinary supermarket oils, what different flavors relate to (celery? artichoke? tomato leaves?), and we’ll be introduced to the award-winning techniques invented by Paolo to preserve oil’s freshness long after harvesting.

Once the tasting is over, we’ll share an aperitivo and then go upstairs to the Villa restaurant, l’Olivaia, for dinner—more olive oil, of course.

Day 2 – (Monday, October 22^nd)

After breakfast, we’ll have a stroll through the oliveto, the olive grove, of Villa Campestri as Gemma explains the care and maintenance of olives and how that relates to the production of fine extra-virgin olive oil. We’ll peek into the villa’s own frantoio (the olive mill) with a quick discussion of what’s going on—or what will go on—and a promise to come back when we harvest our own olives on Thursday.

We’ll follow up with a second olive oil tasting in the Oleoteca during which we’ll explore many of the typical defects to be found in oils—defects that are all too often present in less than scrupulous retail outlets, whether gourmet shops or supermarkets, and even in many restaurants. It’s only through understanding defects that connoisseurs can begin to appreciate the qualities of fine oils. Musty, fusty, and rancid are the keynotes—but with luck Gemma will also let us go out with a good taste in our mouths.

Then we’re off to a wonderfully old-fashioned trattoria nearby, da Giorgione, for a lunch of local seasonal specialties, including tortelli di patate, the signature dish of the Mugello and so delicious you will never again turn your nose up at potatoes and pasta. Returning to the Villa we’ll have an opportunity for a rest before the afternoon cooking class.

This afternoon our first cooking class with Nancy and Chef Jerry Zanieri will look at the many ways to use olive oil in the kitchen, from sauces to desserts, including sauteing, braising, poaching, and frying with extra-virgin olive oil, plus gelato dell’olio and maybe a torta all’olio.

Day 3 – (Tuesday, October 23^rd)

This morning we’ll visit the weekly farmer’s market in nearby Borgo San Lorenzo and see what we can find for the afternoon’s cooking class—there’ll be plenty of choices as this is a particularly rich time of the year. Chestnuts, wild mushrooms, possibly some of the Mugello’s famous white truffles, bitter greens (cavolo nero) and savory beans, late-season tomatoes and eggplants, figs, honey, grapes, gorgeous melons—all the mellow fruitfulness of autumn on display.

Returning to Villa Campestri we’ll examine our purchases and have an introduction to the fine art of Tuscan cuisine (la cucina Toscana) with a sampling of many of the different products that distinguish this simple, sober, but oh so delicious way of cooking and eating: extra-virgin olive oil, of course, but also wild fennel pollen; an array of fresh herbs from parsley to rosemary to wild nepitella (mint) and sage; pecorino cheeses, both fresh and aged; real ricotta and raveggiolo; beans and farro; pancetta, rigatino, and prosciutto; wild mushrooms; vin santo; and the famous (infamous?) unsalted Tuscan bread. If there are any Tuscan products or processes you’re wondering about, please let us know ahead of time so we can talk about them with the whole group.

At 12:30 we’ll be joined by Ian d’Agata, Canadian-Italian, noted wine authority, and also a medical doctor in Rome. As a follow-up to our discussion of Tuscan ingredients, Ian will take us on a tasting tour through several of Tuscany’s best-known and most highly praised wineries, exploring what’s new in the ever-evolving world of Tuscan viticulture.

We’ll have a light lunch based on our purchases and a brief rest and then go into the kitchen for a Totally Tuscan cooking class with Chef Jerry and Nancy. We’ll start off with some classic dishes, using fresh produce from late autumn gardens and some of the pantry items we’ve tasted and discussed. Our menu might include gnudi (aka ravioli gnudi, or “nudies,” a kind of gnocchi made from spinach and ricotta), pollo al mattone (chicken under a brick—a famous Tuscan specialty, made with the very small young and super-tender chickens from the Val d’Arno), wild mushrooms in a sformato or soufflé, and cavolo nero (Tuscan kale), cooked simply and deliciously with a little chopped pancetta and extra-virgin olive oil, and we’ll finish with a classic panna cotta (cooked cream) with a chocolate sauce. (There are many other possibilities too—it all depends, like so much of Tuscan cuisine, on what’s available and what’s in season. And if you have a special request for a Tuscan dish you’ve always heard about—jut let us know!)

Dinner at Villa Campestri, based on what we’ve produced in class.

Day 4 (Wednesday, October 24^th)–

This is field trip day, beginning with Forteto, just down the road from Villa Campestri, a historic cooperative and stupendous producer of fine cheeses and salumi, as well as other food products (bread, fruits, vegetables, et cetera), along with beef cattle and pigs. The cooperative began decades ago as a bunch of hippies from Prato set out to establish an alternative lifestyle. Today it thrives as a source for fine foods for shops, restaurants, and retail outlets throughout Tuscany—and indeed the world. We’ll visit the workrooms then have a tasting of some of Forteto’s remarkable cheeses and salumi.

From there we’ll go on to nearby Selvapiana, a noted wine estate (they also produce extra-virgin olive oil) in Chianti Rufina, a DOCG zone for Chianti wine production. There we’ll spend time with wine-maker and manager Federico Giuntini as we visit his cellars and taste a range of his excellent wines—and learn how and why not all Chianti is made in Chianti! We’ll follow up with lunch at the winery prepared by Federico’s wife Nicoletta—with luck this may be a splendid acquacotta, one of the finest products of the traditional Tuscan country table.

Time permitting, we’ll return to Campestri via Londa to check out traditional mill or frantoio that is owned and operated by a 90-year-old marchesa, who, Paolo says, taught him everything he knows (or almost) about producing high-quality olive oil. Then it’s back to Villa Campestri and a relaxing afternoon.

Dinner at Villa Campestri, a light meal in keeping with the season.

Day 5, Thursday, October 25^th:

This morning we will spend with our guest chef (James Beard Award-winning Sam Hayward from Fore Street restaurant in Portland, Maine) exploring what he has to add to all the nuances of olive oil in the kitchen as we’ve experienced over the past few days—and how we can put our new knowledge to work in the kitchen. Sam’s imagination will have been working full speed over the last few days and he will have a lot to impart.

Lunch based on the production of the class.

Afternoon: today, weather permitting, those who wish to do so will harvest olives.(Those who don’t wish to do so can just watch from the comfort of the villa.) In any case, we’ll spend much of the afternoon in the frantoio, seeing exactly how fresh olives are turned into the freshest and finest oil. A chance to taste the oil directly from the press will show you what is missing from so much of the oil that we’re used to.

Late in the afternoon, after pressing, we’ll have our third olive oil tasting with Gemma, and this time Nancy wants to challenge everyone to think hard about the ways we talk about oil and why phrases like “first cold pressing” and even “extra-virgin” are essentially meaningless when confronting a high-quality oil. We’ll talk about the mistakes that are conventionally made, whether in tasting or in description, and how to avoid them.

Light dinner that will begin with the traditional bruschetta or fett’unta and proceed from there with a zuppa di frantoio (beans and farro, most excellent base for the new oil), and other seasonal treats.

Day 6 (Friday, October 26^th):

We’ll leave early this morning to visit Sandra Mongilli, a splendid cheese maker who, with her brother Roberto and her mother Giovanna Bacciotti, makes ricotta, raveggiolo, pecorino, and robbiola cheeses, all unpasteurized, all biological (organic), with milk from their herd of 500 Sarde sheep. We’ll have a chance to talk about and to taste cheese made from unpasteurized milk, something we don’t find very often in the U.S. as well as to learn about and taste fresh, real ricotta, made from the whey leftover from cheese-making and not, as it so often is in America, simply curdled milk.

After leaving the farm, we’ll go on to Scarperia, a beautiful little medieval town north of Borgo San Lorenzo that is widely noted for the quality of the knives, both kitchen knives and heavy-duty hunter’s and butcher’s knives, produced here by old-world artisans. We’ll visit the old Saladini factory to see how the knives are made, then their showroom where those who wish to do so will have a chance to buy. From there we’ll go on to a simple lunch in a local trattoria before returning to Villa Campestri.

The afternoon will be free to prepare for departure or just to relax—those who wish to hone their talents could also schedule another olive oil tasting with Gemma.

Our farewell dinner this evening at Villa Campestri will be a chance to go over all that we’ve learned, ask more questions, explore more ideas, and in general to sum up our experience.

Day 7 – Saturday, October 27^th: a last stroll around the olive groves, a last look in the frantoio, and then it’s time for departure with a sample of Villa Campestri’s own olive oil to take home.

We are happy to make arrangements to get you to either the train or the airport in Florence.

For more information, or to register, please go to:http://shop.food52.com/deal/9717/all-inclusive-tuscan-cooking-getaway-with-chef-sam-hayward-and-writer-nancy-harmon-jenkins-october-21-27/national

In Italian, there’s a common phrase, you hear it all around you all the time: In bocca lupo (actually in bocca al lupo). It means good luck, though I’ve never been sure why. Maybe it’s like theater people saying “break a leg” before a performance. Into the mouth of the wolf—may you not go there?

Something about the very word “wolf” evokes a frisson, an archaic and deep-seated memory of a time when wolves were truly to be feared. Marissa, one of the village ladies, claims to have seen a wolf in broad daylight up in the field behind Tony’s house. She won’t go there on her own again, you’d better believe it. Wolves, they tell me, have been re-introduced in these parts (but  by whom? when?) to control the exploding population of wild boar. Ugo the shepherd claims to have lost several sheep to wolves.

Historians since Tacitus—in modern times think of Massimo Montanari, of Simon Schama–have written thoughtfully about the forest and how differently Mediterranean (Italian) cultures react to its darkness from those of Northern Europe. At its most reductive this is the kind of racial profiling that I detest but it has a certain truth to it, historically if not actually. For the sunlit Roman Mediterranean world, the untamed forest represented a place to be ruled over, to be civilized, literally brought within the compass of the civitas, the city. For the Germanic world the forest was the ancient mythic place of origin of the Volk and the darkness of German history can be read in forest myths from Siegfried to Hansel and Gretel.

It’s easy to see how a tree, like the dead chestnut at the end of my garden, on the edge of our woods, can become a forest creature, whether baleful or protective is up to the viewer’s imagination. This one, I think, has a slightly comical look, or perhaps a look of astonishment, as if to say, “Whoops, where do you think you’re going?”

Yesterday was Sunday and in keeping with the customs of the day I went over to pay a call on my neighbors, Arnaldo and Maura. Arnaldo has been bothered more than usually lately by the wild boar. Between their house and mine there is a small copse of mostly oak trees which also contains the Antolinis’ pollaio, the chicken run with its house to shelter the birds from cold and wet. The entire copse is closed inside a tall, sturdy wire fence and the boar, for reasons known only to themselves, have been trying to burrow under the fence to get inside.

This type of cinghiale, or wild boar, is not native to our Tuscan woodlands. It too was introduced decades ago to provide an attractive game for hunters. It’s said to be an Eastern European breed that produces two litters a year. As a consequence, the boar have proliferated. They are a tremendous nuisance, digging up lawns and fields indiscriminately in their search for roots and grubs. We like them in the olive orchards because they turn the soil and fertilize it. We hate them on the front lawn, which they can destroy in a single night. And we loathe them in the vegetable garden, which they can obliterate with very little effort. Consequently, most of us locally have reached the unhappy conclusion that we have to surround our properties with electric wire fences to keep the brigands out, an expensive operation that requires fairly constant monitoring and upkeep.

So Arnaldo has put up a scarecrow, a spaventapasseri (which really should be called a spaventacinghiali), to scare the boar away, and it is indeed a scary thing, its white plastic-bag arms fluttering in the breeze, the cap atop its head appearing to conceal a naked skull. I was startled the first time I came down the road and saw it. I’m still made uneasy when I pass by even though I know now what it is.

Speaking of scary things on my Sunday visit, they told me the story of what had happened just a few weeks back. Maura, who leaves early to open her stall in the local market, driving up our steep track at daybreak came across a roe deer, a capriolo, lying in the road, wounded, apparently dying if not already dead. She called Arnaldo who followed later as he took Sofia up to meet the school bus. The deer was still lying there and Arnaldo and Menco, another father also delivering children to the bus, examined it. Its mouth, he said, was full of blood but it was still alive, probably hit by a car, the two men agreed, though they could see what seemed to be puncture wounds on its chest.

“I couldn’t think of anything else to do,” Arnaldo told me, “so I went into town and bought some milk and brought it out to feed the beast.” He continued like that, he said, for a day or so but the deer, though it sipped at the milk, got weaker. “So I called the USL,” he said, “and they said subito. And they came right out and picked it up and took it to the centro di rianimazione.” All this is a little strange because the USL or Unità Sanitaria Locale, is the local health authority and the centro di rianimazione is the intensive care unit at the hospital. All of which institutions deal with Christians, as Mrs. Coppini at the bottega once told me, but not usually with animals.

In any case, the story doesn’t end there because the following day Arnaldo discovered a partially consumed leg of a deer quite close to where “his” deer had been found. Clearly not the same deer since Arnaldo’s had all four of its limbs securely attached. But from the way the flesh had been gnawed and torn he knew, with a shiver, that this was the work of wolves. And that explained what they had called puncture wounds on the original deer—punctures from the teeth of ravenous wolves. “Yes,” he went on, “they’ve introduced wolves to control the cinghiali.” And most likely a wolf band attacked the two deer and, alarmed by something, hauled most of one away with the intent to come back and finish off the other. Until Arnaldo’s bold intervention.

Wolves! The word brings a shiver of fear. Wolves in our mountains once again. Though I’m not sure a wolf is any match for a tough old wire-haired cinghiale with tusks that cut like knives, and I’m certain a thin electric wire is not sufficient to keep the wolf from the door.

Crostini, however, are not just for Easter or Pasquetta. We’ll be making them at Villa Campestri during our cooking class, “Speaking Tuscan in the Kitchen” (May 20-26) because they’re a constant on the Tuscan festive table, always at the beginning of the feast, whether Christmas, Easter, or a harvest home. A proper Tuscan, in other words, would never have crostini as a snack in between meals or even with a glass of wine in the late afternoon. Like many foods and dishes, they have a very precise place, at the beginning of the menu and they come in great variety—crostini rossi, for instance, are topped with tomato sauce and crostini verde with a heap of steamed, chopped bitter greens, dolloped with good olive oil. Even bruschetta counts as a crostino although in Tuscany bruschetta is considered just an excuse to consume fresh new olive oil, preferably right at the mill where it has just been pressed. Another version is the bruschetta con vongole served at some of the beach-side restaurants of Fregene outside Rome, with tiny clams laid out in a pattern like little beige tiles on a miniature roof.

So what’s the difference between crostini and bruschetta? Well, bruschetta is always made from toasted bread, while crostini, traditionally, are made from slices of stale bread dipped in broth or salted water to soften. But I much prefer my crostini neri served on toasted bread which, I suppose, to a proper Tuscan means I’m just consuming bruschetta nera. (I made that up.)

Unlike the other versions, crostini neri are specifically Tuscan. In days of old they were made with milza (spleen) but modern home cooks and restaurant chefs alike are more apt to use chicken livers (fegatini)—certainly easier for American cooks to find. The recipe below is from my old book, Flavors of Tuscany, now long out of print but still (she said modestly) worth seeking out. Most vin santo tends to be overly sweet, so I use dry oloroso sherry instead. This makes about 1 ½ cups, 8 to 10 servings.

• ¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• ¼ cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 – 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 anchovy fillets, chopped
• ¾ pound of livers, either all chicken or mixed chicken, duck and rabbit
• ¼ cup dry oloroso sherry
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Finely grated zest
• of a fresh lemon
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 2 – 3 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed and chopped coarsely
• 6 to 8 thin slices country-style bread, toasted and cut in smaller pieces

In a pan over medium low heat, gently sauté the parsley, onion, and garlic in the olive oil until the vegetables are soft but not brown. Add the anchovy bits and continue cooking, crushing the anchovies into the oil. When the anchovies are fully dissolved, add the livers and raise the heat to medium. Brown the livers, turning them frequently until they are fully brown on the outside but still rosy in the middle.

Add the sherry to the pan and cook until the liquid is reduced to a syrupy consistency and the livers are cooked through. Taste and add salt and pepper, along with the grated lemon zest.

Add the white wine and continue cooking, mashing the livers with a fork as they cook, until the liquid has been absorbed. You should have a thick but rather liquid paste, which will get thicker as it cools. If the livers are not thoroughly mashed, put them through the coarse disk of a food mill or process very briefly in a food processor. They should have considerable texture, however, and not be reduced to a puree. Stir the capers into the chicken livers.

Serve at room temperature, spreading the toast with liver paste.

springtime puntarelle, Tuscan treat

May 20 – 26: AmorOlio in the kitchen, aka La Cucina Parla Toscano (Speaking Tuscan in the Kitchen): 5 days and 6 nights at beautiful Villa Campestri, 5 cooking classes (one with Chef Salvatore Denaro) focused on the many uses of extra-virgin olive oil for cooking, garnishing, saucing, etc.; plus structured tastings of extra-virgins, good, bad and suspect; structured tasting of the finest Tuscan wines; visits to cheese-makers, sausage-makers, wine-makers; and a chance to relax and enjoy the delights of Villa Campestri, from strenuous hikes through the olive orchards to luxurious olive-oil massages in the secluded bamboo grove. There are only two places left for participants, though non-participating spouses or friends are also welcome. Find out more about this at: http://www.villacampestri.com/attivita/amorolio-la-cucina-parla-toscano_en

Or to register, go directly here:

http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1062757

olives, soon to be oil, extra-virgin of course

October 20-26: Back by popular demand, AmorOlio 101, our unique and exclusive program to introduce extra-virgin olive oil in all its aspects, with numerous structured tastings of fine (and some not-so-fine) oils, cooking classes, excursions, and, with Mother Nature’s cooperation, a chance to harvest fruit and press your very own oil. Five days and six nights at Villa Campestri, including wine tastings and visits to off-site restaurants and food producers, as well as to a historic old-fashioned frantoio (olive mill). This “week” is intended for people who don’t know much about olive oil and really want to know more. We’ll explore how to choose and use nature’s most perfect food and you’ll go away a burgeoning expert.

November 6-12: Similar to the October course but more advanced, this is graduate level–AmorOlio 202. We’ll have many of the same activities as in AmorOlio 101, but at a more advanced level, and we’ll assume that you have some understanding of olive oil quality and how it happens. Our five days and six nights are intended for chefs, food writers, retail operators, and anyone else who understands that olive oil doesn’t begin and end with extra-virgin. You don’t need to be a professional to join the fun. Indeed, we believe that you go on learning about olive oil all your life long—and that’s what we practice. So join us to enhance and update your knowledge and you’ll never again use the words “first cold pressing.”

For the above autumn programs, you can find out more at Villacampestri.com, or email me at Jenkins.extravirgin@gmail.com for more information.

Villa Campestri, the world’s first olive oil resort, is a historic villa, beautifully restored, that sits high on a hilltop overlooking the Mugello valley north of Florence. Here the Pasquali family grow their own olives, make their own oil, and welcome visitors to enjoy and learn from the Oleoteca Villa Campestri, a unique system for delivering many different extra-virgins from all over the olive oil world, in the freshest and most impeccable manner. Find out more at www.villacampestri.com .