Much of the year, I am in the country where I was born, exploring Italy’s less-traveled roads and recipes with my guests, who mostly come from my adopted country, the United States.
For me, Food.Stories.Travel allows me to connect with the heart of the matter when it comes to food: Time spent with my grandma Letizia in her kitchen, and my desire to remember her through her recipes, like the one for anchovies with green sauce, which I have written in her own hand. My grandmother is no longer here but I feel her with me again through her food—an onion frittata, insalata russa, bagna cauda, and stuffed cabbage.
For me, Food.Stories.Travel allows me to connect with the heart of the matter when it comes to food: Time spent with my grandma Letizia in her kitchen, and my desire to remember her through her recipes, like the one for anchovies with green sauce, which I have written in her own hand. My grandmother is no longer here but I feel her with me again through her food—an onion frittata, insalata russa, bagna cauda, and stuffed cabbage.
Food is a window into the culture and any chance I get, I want to hold this window up and share the view with those in the country I call home now. Rachel, my wife, wrote in May about how you can visit Italy even without a passport based on what we do in Boston to recreate Italian conviviality and atmosphere through cooking classes and dinner parties with my Naples-born colleague Angelo Guida, a professional chef based here in Massachusetts.
One of my favorite aspects of America is how richly mixed the culture is and the fact that you can travel, in a way, to another place right from where you are. In the last five years, I have met plenty of incredible Italian food makers and chefs – like Angelo – who lives right around me here in Boston!
Just as we would on our tours in Italy before the cooking classes, we like to emphasize Know Thy Farmer, as Dan Barber of Blue Hill Farm calls it. This has been the Italian way for centuries and we are excited to offer this close connection to the farmers and the land by featuring their local and organic ingredients whenever possible in our authentic, traditional Italian recipes.
Many Americans know Italian food, but there are many lesser-known, regionally-specific recipes to be tried—with more opportunities to use fresh New England produce and products! For instance, I love to feature zucchine alla scapece, green savory torte, or green sauce.
One of my favorite aspects of America is how richly mixed the culture is and the fact that you can travel, in a way, to another place right from where you are. In the last five years, I have met plenty of incredible Italian food makers and chefs – like Angelo – who lives right around me here in Boston!
Just as we would on our tours in Italy before the cooking classes, we like to emphasize Know Thy Farmer, as Dan Barber of Blue Hill Farm calls it. This has been the Italian way for centuries and we are excited to offer this close connection to the farmers and the land by featuring their local and organic ingredients whenever possible in our authentic, traditional Italian recipes.
Many Americans know Italian food, but there are many lesser-known, regionally-specific recipes to be tried—with more opportunities to use fresh New England produce and products! For instance, I love to feature zucchine alla scapece, green savory torte, or green sauce.
Some of our cooking classes are in people’s homes, others are in beautiful venues like the Dedee Shattuck gallery in Westport. This summer, Angelo and I are offering two cooking classes in the gallery and will be stopping by Round the Bend Farm and Eva’s Garden beforehand to collect rich stories and ingredients for the kitchen. From the farms of Massachusetts, we will then “travel” to Italy.
Stories, conviviality, and tasty foods and wines are the three components I look for when enjoying a meal. I have found eating together is the best way to connect with the people who grow or make your food with the ones around the table—now or in the past—and with yourself.
Stories, conviviality, and tasty foods and wines are the three components I look for when enjoying a meal. I have found eating together is the best way to connect with the people who grow or make your food with the ones around the table—now or in the past—and with yourself.
I cannot imagine anything more enriching than this. Blending flavors, cultures, traditions and the people who care about them forms a bridge that connects me straight from the heart of my old country to my new one. It inspires me and helps me try to be a better person— all through the simple but profound act of sharing edible gestures of love.
In addition to being an official Slow Food Small Business Supporter, Cristiano Bonino has enjoyed cycling for twenty-five years and in 2001 started to guide, sell and design cycling tours, mostly in Italy, with an American company, sharing his passion with fellow travelers and helping them discover local foods, wines, culture and history from the vantage point of the saddle! Across many miles, Cristiano has honed his understanding of the cultural and traditional distinctions among regions of Italy, the importance of conviviality at the table, and the value of sharing our stories of lives. In November 2013, Cristiano pursued his passion for meeting people and learning their stories by founding Food.Stories.Travel, a small tour operator offering educational guided journeys in Italy (by foot or by bicycle). Food.Stories.Travel. focuses on local traditions, culture, history, and meeting food makers while tasting and supporting their works.
He still sees the bicycle as a great (and healthy!) vehicle for travel and, whenever possible, also scouts new tours this way. Currently he also works with PuntoTours consulting and leading cycling vacations in Europe.
This post "Remembering Through Food" is also featured on Cristiano's tour blog; to read more about his culinary adventures, discover authentic Italian recipes, or to embark on a food tour guided by Cristiano himself, visit Food.Stories.Travels.
He still sees the bicycle as a great (and healthy!) vehicle for travel and, whenever possible, also scouts new tours this way. Currently he also works with PuntoTours consulting and leading cycling vacations in Europe.
This post "Remembering Through Food" is also featured on Cristiano's tour blog; to read more about his culinary adventures, discover authentic Italian recipes, or to embark on a food tour guided by Cristiano himself, visit Food.Stories.Travels.
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