Traditional cooking class at a farmhouse in the countryside

Umbertide is a village in the highlands of the Tevere valley, a little north of Perugia. Its town centre is full of character and is completely surrounded by medieval walls, particularly in the parts near the two rivers that cross the town, the Tiver and the Reggia. If you follow the latter, you’ll reach the farming town of Battistacci di Torre Certalda, where our Cesarina Simonetta lives. She is an expert in her local cuisine and welcomes us into her come, a typical Umbrian farmhouse, where the near-forgotten flavours of home cooking and farming of yesteryear are still alive and present.

On the farm, just to give one example of this, we find organically farmed ancient grains (such as Gentil Rosso and San Pastore) which are stone milled in a watermill. Simonetta is truly passionate about her local traditions, and she prepares her bread and other delicacies using the techniques taught to her by local farmers.