Elizabeth Minchilli's November 2017 Newsletter from Rome
november 2017 newsletter
As you know this newsletter is my personal space where I actually can say what I feel and let you know what I’m thinking about. This week all I can think about is how sad I am that one of our good friends, neighbors and the owner of our local trattoria has passed away.
From the minute Alessio and his family opened Taverna dei Fori Imperiali it became a favorite of ours. Yes, the food was delicious, but more importantly Alessio made everyone feel special. Whether it was remembering everyone’s favorite dish, or just stopping by the table to chat. Yet it wasn’t just Alessio, but the way the entire family - Maria Grazia, Claudia and Aldo - got along with each other, with love, respect and good cheer, that made you want to be part of the family. The food was just the added bonus.
A lot of you who follow me here have been to Rome and so many of you have perhaps dined at Taverna dei Fori Imperiali. I know you will be as sad as I am about this news. And perhaps it isn’t the cheeriest of openings to this newsletter that you have come to expect. But that’s ok. I’ll be sad but I’ll also keep on celebrating life, which (besides my favorite pasta alla romana) is the most important recipe that Alessio taught me.
what's new
I handed in the manuscript for Eating My Way through Italy and almost have a cover to show you!! It’s a looooooooong process, and even though the book wont’ be out until May 2018 I’m already planning out fun events both in Italy and the USA to help celebrate it. If you have any suggestions for places or venues, please let me know. I’ll probably be doing cooking classes, book signings and…well, I’m open to ideas!
I’m in the process of updating my app Eat Italy. I’m hoping to get an Android version going as well. But if you have any suggestions, or places you’d like to see covered, let me know. Again, I’m always open to advice.
Sophie and I are making a few changes to our Week in Rome itineraries. It’s been a few years now that we've been doing this tour, and we both think it’s time for a few tweaks. While we mostly focus on old fashioned, traditional restaurants, markets and shops, I’m going to try in include some of the newer generation of young chefs who are doing some really interesting things. What do you think? A good idea? Change can be good, right?
Our Week in Umbria tour this last week was a blast! Being in the countryside with a group of wonderful people made it difficult for me to think of it as work. While this past week was all about the months leading up to winter, I can’t wait till our tour in the spring when we can do things like forage for wild asparagus, see how wild flowers are used in cooking and walk through vineyards with the air perfumed by wild mint beneath our feet. Want to join us?
travels
When I wasn’t leading week long tours this past month I was pretty much tied to my desk (remember, I have another book to hand in!)
But actually when we host tours it feels a bit like a vacation for us. Yes, it’s work. But the hard part of the job happens WAY before our guests arrive. This means that by the time our week begins, Sophie and I can pretty much sit back and enjoy the week as much as the rest of the group.
During our recent Week in Rome we actually spent two days out of town. One day we visited Orvieto and had a fantastic guided tour of the Duomo set up by my friends at Italy Hotline, followed by a vineyard tour and lunch here. Another day we spent at Caprarola and had lunch at a hemp-based restaurant (odd but odd in a good way).
During our Umbria week we did way too many things to link to and list here. But if you’d like to follow along, and see what we did, I posted a full report each day on Facebook, with links and tons of photos. And of course, all of the places we ate are on my app Eat Italy (Eat Umbria, located within the app, is free)
what I'm reading
Remember the journalist that I mentioned last month, writing a story about the effects of global warming on agricultural, and particularly olive oil? The piece came out here, and is fascinating.
It looks like I’m not the only one with dinner parties on my mind
I love it when street art combines whimsy and nature.
Arcimboldo is a 16th century painter who used images of food to construct his portraits. His fantastical works are on view for the next few months in Rome
This article made me write an email immediately to book our trip to Norway next June.
and finally....
I’m continuing the dinner party series on the blog, with this installment documenting our welcome dinner for the Week in Umbria tour.
It’s olio nuovo time! If you want to get your fix of freshly pressed olive oil, here are some of my trusted sources in the USA.
Sharon Ufberg came to Rome and spent the day with me in Monti and wrote a completely lovely article about it here.
One thing a lot of our guests ask us about are the arcane rules of eating in Italy. I addressed the whole 'bread issue' in this blog post. Are there other aspects of Itaian dining that mystify you? Let me know. I see a series coming on.
We're heading to the States for Thanksgiving! It's the first time I"ve spent the holiday there in about 30 years. We'll be staying at my sister's house, but I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of the cooking. While I want everything to be 100% traditional , I may slip in this bright fennel salad.
x,Elizabeth
Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? You can always buy my book Eating Rome. But just in case you've already been there and done that, I've put my logo on all sorts of things - aprons, mugs, dishtowels - which make the perfect gift. Especially if you like artichokes. If not? Who doesn't like artichokes??!!!
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