Agriturismo

One of the things we had been planning to do for some time was to delve into the agriturismo movement in Italy.  Agriturismo was codified into law beginning in the mid 1980’s as a way to help small family farmers make a go of it in the face of rising costs and pressures from larger agricultural enterprises. The basic idea is that you head out to a farm in the countryside. What you do there varies. The experience can range from staying overnight in the farmhouse and helping out with the work to just showing up for dinner. Since we are already employed and have a place in Italy to rest our heads most nights, we opted for the latter.

Argiturismo and the slow food movement are two peas in a pod. To qualify for the official agriturismo designation a large portion of the food served must be produced on site and the rest is inevitably local. We headed for the hills overlooking Viterbo with our friends Keith and Carolyn to celebrate a recent birthday. Destination: I Giardini di Ararat. Back in May I purchased a Groupon for dinner for 4 and a birthday seemed as good an excuse as any to use it. The restaurant offered lovely views of the lights of Viterbo which would have been even more spectacular had we not arrived well after dark. We were seated next to a fire in a large dining room whose principle decoration was tastefully done plates/china grouped primarily by color on the walls. The three hour dinner was spent talking, laughing and enjoying la Dolce Vita.

Those of you who are not foodaholics can stop now. For the rest, we started with a very drinkable glass of prosecco, far better than the stuff we normally buy for use in mixed aperativi. Dinner was served with a nice, regional merlot. The waitress asked us if we wanted to see the menu and we declined, opting instead to eat whatever was brought. The food began with antipasto mista: olives, salami, grilled vegetables, focaccia-like bread and cheese. The primo piatto was a delicious fettuccini, which was definitely not forgettable, but the waitress rattled off the description in such rapid Italian that we don’t know what it was except to say, it was delicious. We were surprised by the arrival of a second primo, a rustic pasta with field fennel flowers, potato and pistachio in a white sauce topped with a delicate pachino cheese. The secondo piatto was a cheek of beef, slow cooked and served with a strawberry and butter topping. The meat fell apart when touched with a fork and basically melted in your mouth. Dolce was vanilla custard with a deep fried apple slice with cinnamon, powdered sugar and honey – delicioso. We were offered coffee to end the meal, but seeing as it was already 11 pm and we wanted to be able to sleep upon our return, we declined and called it a night.

Some of the best, most authentic food you can get is from a Nonna’s kitchen. If that experience interests you, then a stay or meal at an agriturismo might just be for you.