Francesco
Cesarina from 2023Location: Arezzo Languages: Italian, English, SpanishI live in a farmhouse in the countryside around Arezzo, just 10 minutes from the beautiful historic center. My family and I run a small organic farm: we mainly produce olive oil and hazelnuts, but we also have a garden that provides us with seasonal vegetables at zero kilometers, while my grandfather raises farm animals, rabbits, chickens, and hens, which always give us fresh eggs. I've always been connected to the traditions of my land: my grandparents passed on to me the secrets of Aretine cuisine, which I then deepened on my own, both from old recipe books and by going around the valleys of the province. The cuisine I offer is what my grandparents enjoyed as children in these countryside: a peasant cuisine that uses simple but genuine raw materials, combined with the imagination and inventiveness transmitted for centuries in Aretine kitchens. The dishes I propose vary for each season of the year: depending on what the earth offers. In summer, fruit and vegetables reign in the kitchen: tomato, onion, and basil are essential ingredients, along with bread, the most popular dishes are panzanella and pappa al pomodoro. Summer was also a time of celebration during the wheat harvest: large lunches were prepared with poultry, geese, ducks, chickens, and rabbits, whose sauce enriched hand-pulled egg pasta, which here takes the name of pappardella or maccherone. I enjoy making hand-pulled pasta and am ready to share my methods and recipes with my guests.