Day 8: "My Pasta is Too Fresh to Sell in Local Markets" :(

May 18^th Day 8 Florence:

Kristina’s FitBit Information: 9.03 Miles walked & 22,315 Steps

This was the pasta and chocolate day, a day much looked forward to.

It was probably the most highly anticipated day of the trip. Who could resist a whole day centered on food?! Not just any food: homemade pasta and fresh chocolates. We had no idea what to expect at either appointment, but neither disappointed.

After our breakfast in the Hotel Arizona lobby, we all set out to our visit to the pasta laboratory at San Michele a Torri. One of the co-owners of the store Christian was there to meet us and gave us a great presentation! He was so happy, so knowledgeable, and so excited to share his work with us.

He first explained to us the farm, San Michele a Torri, where the grapes for the wine come from as well as ham, other produce items, and the ingredients for the fresh pasta he makes. When explaining to us one of the salami-type meats he sells in his store, Christian said that “when you eat the meat without the fat you lose something, it’s like drinking wine and holding your nose.”

Afterwards, he showed us how he makes the fresh pasta he sells in the store. He uses very old machines, there are only three left in the world and his is the only one that works! He showed us how the machines work and he made tagliatelle, fettuccine, and papardelle all right in front of us.

Christian also explained to us that fresh pasta changes depending on the weather outside, and that sometimes he has to add more water or more egg to it so that it is the correct consistency. It takes between three and seven minutes for fresh pasta to cook. It was so interesting, when he was finished making the pasta, he told us that it is “too fresh” to sell to markets or some restaurants that are further away from his store. The pasta doesn’t keep for that long and won’t be good after about a day.

After he finished his pasta presentation, he brought out for us amazing olive oil that was still green in

color and drizzled it over bread for us to try. He also gave us a taste of this organic vino rossa detavola. Everything was so fresh and delicious. Christian planned to give us pasta to take home but forgot in all of the excitement. This actually turned out to be a good thing because he hadn’t realized we had nowhere cook it and it is way too fresh to take back home to the States. This meeting was a wonderful insight to the lives of some of the Italian people and why they feel so strongly about food. It is because they truly care about taste, presentation, and above all else, quality.

Our next stop was a chocolate demonstration and tasting at Vestri Chocolate Bar right around the corner from our hotel. We were first given a tray that

held an assortment of pieces of chocolate.  There were some flavors that were so new to me but they were all good. We were able to try an orange piece, one that was completely fudge, a mocha, one hazelnut, and even one that was basil. Then we each got to pick two flavors of gelato to try; I picked dark chocolate and a dolce de leche, it was so creamy and smooth! After that, we tried a little taste of their rich hot chocolate, a fresh cocoa bean, and a chocolate hazelnut spread, similar to Nutella. The owners did not speak much but you can’t complain when people are feeding you chocolate.

Taylor V. wrote that “we had a chocolate tasting because dreams really do come true. We sampled chocolate bars and delicious gelato, and then we used some of the money we fundraised to buy a little something before we left. [She] went with the Italian version of Nutella and it puts American Nutella to shame.”

Of her experience, Jennie said “we all would have liked more information on the history of the shop and the details on the business and products. However, we did understand that translation may have been a problem. Regardless, the tasting was enjoyable and unique. The chocolate covered basil, chocolate covered ginger, and the hot chocolate were different. My favorite unique treat was the bitter cocoa beans.”

There was nothing scheduled for that evening, so the group split up and did different things.

Beth writes “After the tasting, a group of us make a hike up to the Piazza de Michelangelo to catch the sunset over Florence, it was amazing! Completely worth the climb, you could see the Arno River and the Duomo all perfectly touched by the pink rays of the sunset, the honeysuckles were smelling sweet and the air was still and at a perfect temperature. After it set, we climbed down and took some pictures of the beautiful night sky reflecting off the Arno River. We finally found a place for dinner downtown where I had a perfectly cooked fillet and salad with fried cubed potatoes and a scrumptious piece of tiramisu to finish off the whole day.”

Morgan said that she “really enjoyed hiking up to Piazza de Michelangelo. We weren’t really sure about it as our climb began- it was really, really steep! And once we got to the top pretty much all of the seats were taken. It was so crowded but once the sun started setting it was magical. After it was gone from the sky, everyone started clapping and cheering. This was one of the best experiences of the whole trip!”

Taylor M. said “Afterwards, we had some more free time in which Melinda and I finally found Ferragamo and I was able to buy my dad and cousin gifts. We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for round two of Mastica Brodo, this time bringing along more of the group! Tony gave us a bottle of Prosecco and he and Sal had a drink with us. That would never happen in the US! We had another great meal to end the day long eating extravaganza!”