This class is substantially the same as the classic olive oil course included in the 'Master of Food' programme but is taught in English, rather than Italian. It is not a cooking class but an exploration of the qualities and properties of olive oil. The 'Master of Food' course is one of the many educational activities that Slow Food Italia offers to its members nationwide, covering 22 different subjects. For more details, click here .
First Lesson
The history of olive oil; factors involved in classification and quality
a) Origin and propagation of the olive tree and its fruits
b) The oils produced from the olives: merchandise and legal classification
c) Quality factors (1): choices of climate, soil, planting and variety, farming, harvest, harvesting techniques, storage of the olives
Second Lesson
Nutritional and biological aspects; further factors affecting quality
a) Olive oil as a fat: about the special chemical composition as opposed to the other fats
b) Something extra: vitamins and antioxidants
c) Quality factors (2): the different techniques to extract the oil at the mill and their critical points; treatments and packaging.
d) "Cold", "First" pressing, expiry dates etc. as they appear on labels.
Third Lesson
Italian (regional) and international production; the use of olive oil in the kitchen · Italian and international production: the main areas and their most characteristic olive varieties. · DOP and IGP as typical products · Using the olive oil as an ingredient, in cooking and seasoning food; table olives · Suggestions about choosing the proper oil for different purposes.

During each session, seven oils will be tasted. Each lesson will last for two hours and will be taught in English by a teacher trained by Slow Food. The classes will take place at Apicius, the Culinary Institute in Florence (via San Gallo 45) on November 10, 17 and 22 at 8.30 p.m. The cost of the class is 85 euros per person. Applications at Apicius, 055. 480272 or info@apicius.it
A visit to an operating mill will be organized along with the course. This is non strictly part of the class; date and details will depend on availability.

Discovering Slow Food in Florence through a cheese tasting, May 2005

When I came to Syracuse University this January, I had no intention of partaking in an internship. However, after dropping one of my four classes I had free time and wanted to utilize it. A meeting with Debora Spini introduced me to Slow Food, an organization which promotes the enjoyment of food and opposes standardization of taste. I have always had a passion for cooking (I am President of my school's cooking club) and I was interested to learn about the Slow Food philosophy, so I joined the internship. It was a great ulterior method of learning, and my values towards fast food have changed as a result.
Sandro Bosticco, the Slow Food Toscana affiliate, was wonderful to work with.
He was informative and fun, and I learned a lot about Italian culture and values through him. He explained that Slow Food is the name of a global movement which opposes the standardization of taste. It aims to protect the pleasures of food by increasing food's awareness as a symbol for many aspects of life. "Food is not only about food," he stated matter-of-factly. There are ceremonial, convivial, historical, and practical aspects of food.

This internship has made me painfully aware of the invading fast food movement
throughout Italy and the rest of the world. Though the sacred ritual of drinking a morning coffee at a bar has not been infringed upon by the presence of a Starbucks, two McDonald's have sprouted in Florence. I am genuinely opposed to the idea of a McDonald's in Italy, a country where long dinners and slow food are important family values.
The culmination of my Slow Food internship was a cheese lecture led by Sandro Bosticco and organized by four students, myself included. This was an event open to the whole school, meant to educate students about Slow Food's philosophy. Sandro used cheese to exemplify the Slow Food method of education, that of multi-sensory learning. He lectured on the history and flavors of four cheeses, and then the audience sampled these cheeses. Learning while eating
added to the flavor of the cheeses, because we had a greater appreciation of how much work went into what we were tasting. Among the four cheeses we sampled were two mozzarellas (a generic cow's milk and a specialized buffalo's milk) and two pecorinos (one made from pasteurized milk, and one from un-pasteurized milk).

Catherine Burke, one of the interns in charge of the event, briefly discussed Around the Tuscan Table by Carole Counihan. The book explored how attitudes towards food have changed in Italy in the past three generations, and focuses on food as a metaphor for social change. She highlighted the shift in family and gender roles in Florence and the recent tendency towards "fast food" because of a "higher" standard of living. Catherine's discussion followed a reading end research work with Prof. Julia Loughlin for the anthropology class.
The cheeses were a pleasure to taste. I was surprised to find that I preferred the cheapest of the cheeses, the generic mozzarella. I liked its stringy texture and found the buffalo mozzarella too tart and tangy. I had no idea that the cheese was "boiled" and then rolled by hand. The pecorino was delicious, but would have been better with a sweet compliment, such as pear or honey. It is amazing to think that cheese has so many flavors even though it's
ultimately derived from a single source, milk. This has made me want to sample other cheeses-goat cheeses, French cheeses, and other Italian cheeses. Of course cheese is merely one aspect of cuisine. Sandro emphasized that cheese does not encompass all facets of Italian food, rather it served as an example of Slow Food's multi-sensory education..
Working with Catherine Burke (Bucknell), Dani Zylberberg (Cornell) and Emily Brotman (Lafayette) was a positive experience. We were all enthusiastic to partake in organizing the cheese lecture. Catherine did a great job with creating posters, which I distributed. Emily coordinated sign-ups for the event, and I emailed reminders to those who had signed up. Dani researched the cheeses we were sampling and put together a handout for the audience. We
all helped set up the lecture, preparing plates of cheese and crackers and cups
of water, setting up chairs, and cleaning up afterwards.

The biggest fear we had in organizing the event was that too many people would show up, but. we ended up having a perfect amount of people, a little over 80 students and faculty, and there was plenty of cheese-enough for people to have seconds.

Books are only one method of learning, and my internship with Slow Food Toscana proved to be a great ulterior method. Thus, my experience was both pragmatically and culturally informative. I am grateful for my new-found skills and knowledge, and am even considering becoming a member of Slow Food when I return to the United States! I hope everyone involved in the process had as positive experience as I, and I thank Syracuse University (specifically Professors Giovanna Socci and Debora Spini) and Slow Food Toscana for their help.

Grazie mille!
Meg Joyce
Bates College
Chicago

OLIVE OIL TASTING

On Tuesday, March 30th 2004, the Florence Convivium offered an opportunity to the English speaking community of the area to get in touch with Slow Food through an olive oil tasting. The Syracuse University in Florence helped in letting the event happen: two of the students, Cynthia Abulafia and Katherine Hogan, planned the tasting from the beginning together with Slow Food Florence. A mailing list was put together, the media contacted and when it all came together the students were even there to help with the practicalities of tasting.

At 6.00 pm twenty five people, including an American olive oil producer from Impruneta, arrived to our place in Via del Paradiso. Sandro Bosticco, qualified as a Master on the subject and teacher at the Slow Food olive oil classes, held the tasting of four samples, each representing a different style. So a simple Olio di Oliva was compared to an Extravergine, and then a top Tuscan product to an oil from Apulia, the largest Italian producing region. The proper tasting procedure was carried out, and many questions were answered, from the best climate for the tree to the right storing conditions of the bottles. Most importantly, the spirit and the philosophy of Slow Food emerged: learning to care about food while still enjoying it. In between, participants had some bites of refreshing green apples, as the professionals do...

Extra Virgin Olive Oil on the spot, at Colle Bereto (Radda in Chianti)

On a rainy, windy Saturday, December 4, 2004, Slow Food Firenze offered to the English speaking community of Florence a unique opportunity to visit Colle Bereto in Radda in Chianti to learn about the production of olive oil - from tree to table. The organisation of this special event was due to collaborative efforts of Slow Food Firenze member Sandro Bosticco with Professor Gianna Socci and student intern Melina Markos from Syracuse University in Florence. Melina arrived in Florence in August 2004 for a semester of study with two specific goals: learning to speak Italian and learning about the gastronomic culture of Italy. She soon discovered that Syracuse University offered students the opportunity to work with Slow Food Firenze. Never having heard of the Slow Food organization, she did some research, and found that the Slow Food philosophy was very similar to her own, and decided to work with Slow Food Firenze.
In late September 2004, Melina met Sandro Bosticco and Gianna Socci, her faculty supervisor and Italian professor. Sandro explained his hope to have the Florence Convivium again offer an event to the English speaking community of Florence. The plan was to invite the English speakers to accompany the Italian members of Slow Food to Colle Bereto to learn about the production of olive oil. Colle Bereto is a well established farm and winery, in Radda, in the Chianti Classico area. Even though the weather was undesirable and the turnout was small - there were only seven - the day was a success. Sandro gave a brief lesson outside (it was still pouring with rain!) about the olive tree, followed by a presentation on how to taste olive oil, and then the group visited two frantoi, the oil mills: the traditional one at Colle Bereto and a modern one nearby. Finally, a traditional Tuscan lunch was served by Bernardo Bianchi and the kind folks at Colle Bereto: the guest of honor was "Extra-Vergine."
Melina feels extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Slow Food Firenze. She attended the Salone del Gusto in Turin and has also been given the chance to attend the "Formaggi I Livello", Slow Food’s cheese class, which she has found to be an extremely enjoyable and interesting experience. She plans to continue to work with Slow Food: upon returning to the United States, she hopes to establish a local convivium in her home town.

TASTY READINGS

Eric Schlosser, FAST FOOD NATION, Allen Lane The Penguin Press 2001 UK Houghton Mifflin USA
A classic.

AROUND THE TUSCAN TABLE by Carole Counihan, Routledge 2004
A forceful and artfully told narrative about family and food in late 20th-century Florence, based on field work conducted on the author's extended family. Prosperity, education, and new roles for women being defined outside the home are primarily responsible for changing habits and attitudes towards food.

Felicity Lawrence, NOT ON THE LABEL, Penguin Books 2004 -
In a series of undercover investigations tracking some of the most popular food in UK, the author travels from farms and factories to packhouses and deposits across the world. She shows how obesity, ,blighted town-centres, clogged motorways, enviromentally ravaged fields in Europe and starving smallholders in Africa are all related aspects of our newly globalized system of food production.

Morgan Spurlock, DON'T EAT THIS BOOK, Penguin Books 2005
It gives the full background story to the experiment that captivated audiences around the world (Super size me) and explores in further depth the connections between the rise of fast food and obesity.