Podcast: Foodie Finds in the Sabine Hills, near Rome - Chef Guido and Sally talk to Katy from Untold Italy

Find out more about Sally and Chef Guido and about the beautiful Rome countryside, in Italy, where they have been living and working for the past 15 years. 

Grab a glass of wine, sit back and enjoy this podcast with Chef Guido and Sally, talking to Katy Clarke from Untold Italy.

What made them move to the Sabine Hills?

What is it like to live in a small medieval hilltop village in Italy?

What is the perfect time of year to visit  this unspoilt area?

Why is the extra virgin olive oil of Sabina so famous? 

We invite you to listen to this Podcast and Interview by Katy Clarke from 'Untold Italy' with Chef Guido and Sally from Convivio Rome Italian Cooking Classes and Italian Culinary Vacations

EPISODE #033: FOODIE FINDS IN THE SABINE HILLS NEAR ROME

POSTED ON AUGUST 6, 2020 BY ITALY_ADMIN

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Complementary Italian Cooking Package

Convivio Rome Italian Cooking Classes and Cooking Holidays 

Convivio Rome Day Italian Cooking and Touring Experiences

Rome Wine Tours - Half Day Winery and Wine Tasting Tour 

Rome Olive Tours - Half Day Rome Olive Oil Tasting and Olive Grove Tour

Virtual Live Italian Cooking Parties and Cooking Classes

Guido's Cook Club - Monthly Membership

Rome Day Trip: the Sabine Hills

The Sabine Hills: a perfect day trip from Rome 

Only 35 minutes from Rome's outskirts and just north of the Capital, perfect for a day out in the countryside or a longer stay as part of a relaxing holiday, the Sabine Hills (Sabina) will reward its visitors with ancient medieval history, unspoilt landscape, renaissance palaces castles and monasteries, cultural events, art exhibitions, hiking trails and of course the 'Sabina DOP' extra virgin olive oil from its olive groves.

Toffia, 930AD is the oldest medieval village in Sabina (the Sabine Hills)

Dating back to 1200's, this medieval hilltop village is a hidden treasure

Unspoilt countryside

The way the Sabine Hills are still today very rural and unspoilt is almost miraculous, despite its vicinity with a big city like Rome. The landscape of Sabina is quintessentially Italian, with its rolling hills covered by olive groves and fruit orchards and dotted with medieval hilltop villages and castles. Because of the olive trees and other evergreen mediterranean plants, the Sabine hills are always very green, all year round. A visit to one of the many hilltop villages in the area, will reveal beautiful views over valleys and mountains in the far distance. 

Views over olive groves and hilltop villages in the Sabine Hills

The Sabine Hills offers magnificent views over unspoilt countryside

History 
Sabina is an ancient land where civilisation started way before Rome and the local archaeological museum in Fara Sabina tells a story of walled cities, powerful kings and the development of fine art, pottery, jewellery and elaborate bronze manufacts from 2,600 years ago. Three of the seven kings of Rome, Tito Tazio, Numa Pompilio and Anco Marzio, were from here. 

During the middle ages, Sabina was part of the Holy Roman Empire and thanks to Charlemagne and his land donations, a local monastery called Farfa became a huge economic and military power in the area. The Farfa monastery owed its wealth to olive oil production for many centuries, as it was the largest landowner in Central Italy and it become an independent city state, its borders reaching well into modern Tuscany, Umbria and Le Marche.

500 year old streets run between the ancient monastery and artisan shops in Farfa

Sightseeing

National parks such as Monti Lucretili and vast conservation areas allow those passionate about hiking or mountain biking to explore the area using ancient  trails, walking through green valleys, woods and cultivated land. However, even just visiting some of the villages in Sabina will be an experience in itself. Medieval villages like Toffia, Castelnuovo di Farfa, Fara Sabina, Farfa, Bocchignano or Montopoli have impressive defensive walls, beautifully decorated renaissance palaces and ancient churches.

Toffia, one of the most beautiful hilltop villages in the Sabine Hills

A maze of picturesque alleyways, archways and little piazzas will welcome the visitor, almost resembling a movie set, without the mass tourism of other Italian regions. Impressive medieval castles can be seen in Rocca Sinibalda (Castello Cesarini, 1084 AD) and in Frasso Sabino (Castello Sforza, 955 AD).

Medieval streets and picturesque doorways in Castelnuovo di Farfa

 Great photo opportunities lie within the medieval streets

Culture
Today, Sabina is well known for its art and music festivals which are organised throughout the year. Toffia is famous for its "Festa del Centro Storico', an art, music and street theatre festival which lasts for 5 nights in mid-August and attracts more than 3,000 people every night. Toffia is also known for its very active theatre, run by 'Officina 33'. In Fara Sabina there is an international Jazz Festival in July and Casaprota hosts the interesting art and music 'Arterie festival'.

A local music trio, called 'Lamorivostri', keeps traditional music alive, with frequent concerts in the Sabina area and in Rome.

Sabina is well known for its music and art festivals 

Food

Sabina is famous for its extra virgin olive oil, the very first in Italy to receive the DOP denomination. Olive oil has been produced here for millennia (there is an olive tree that's 2000 years old) and is known for being light and flavoursome at the same time. The area is also well known for pecorino cheese, olives, salami and of course guanciale (cured pork cheek), necessary for any amatriciana or carbonara sauce. Cooking Holidays are run in Toffia. One day cooking classes, as well as olive oil tours, and wine tours are also offered in the Sabine Hills area.

There are many Restaurants to choose from in Sabina. For an interesting combination of traditional dishes with a touch of creativity there is 'La Taverna del Corsari' in Montopoli.

How to get there from Rome

Fara Sabina is the best place to begin to explore the Sabine Hills. There is an excellent direct train departing every 15 minutes from many stations in Rome (Ostiense, Trastevere and Tiburtina, for example) to Fara Sabina Station. It takes 39 minutes to get from Rome Tiburtina to Fara Sabina. Here there are buses to many different villages in the Sabina area. By car, the direct way is via Rome-Florence (A1) motorway, Fiano Romano exit, then following signs to Rieti and Via Salaria, then to Fara Sabina.
If you join any of our Convivio Rome Culinary Holidays, or day activities such as our cooking classes, olive tour and wine tours, we include a free pick up and return service to our local train station.

Cooking Classes: https://www.conviviorome.com/one-day/your-day-cooking-experience.html

Olive Oil Tours: https://www.conviviorome.com/olive-tour.html

Wine Tours: https://www.winetoursrome.com/

Visit the Sabine Hills, Virtually: Convivio Rome are also offering fun Virtual Cooking Parties and LIVE Cooking Classes, where you can learn authentic Italian cuisine in a fully interactive live cooking class. If you wish get an authentic taste of Italy, and meet like minded people, you can also join Chef Guido's monthly membership called 'Guido's Cook Club'

Train information: can be found on trenitalia.com site

Bus information: can be found on cotralspa.it

© Guido Santi, 2020

Additional background information on Guido: Guido Santi is an eighth generation Roman who has a passion for cooking traditional Italian cuisine and for local, fresh, organic food and wine. As a follower of the Slow Food philosophy, he supports and promotes local farmers and the 'zero kilometres' philosophy. Guido runs "Convivio Rome" with his Australian wife Sally, offering cooking classes, 3 and 5 night culinary holidays, plus olive oil tours and wine tours in or nearby the medieval hilltop village of Toffia, Sabina (Italy), just north of Rome. You can follow Convivio Rome on Facebook and on Instagram

View from Guido's home and the Convivio Rome Cooking School

www.conviviorome.com

www.winetoursrome.com

THE BEST OF ITALY: AMALFI COAST, CAPRI AND ROME, published in Escape travel magazine

Published in 'Escape*', an Australian wide travel magazine: 

Find out what Jane Armitstead,  an Australian freelance travel writer, wrote about her experience with Chef Guido and Convivio Rome. 

A guided tour of the medieval village of Farfa, is part of your Convivio Rome cooking day and culinary vacation

We hope Jane's article will inspire you to come along and visit us in this beautiful and unspoilt Italian countryside, just north of Rome.

Here is an extract from her article: 

"Among Italy’s most humble charms is how it’s ancient world bares such influence on the current lifestyle. This isn’t just seen through legends and landscapes but through the country’s next greatest obsession, food.

Even though the food culture is ever-changing, centuries-old recipes are still being used. There’s no better way to get to the heart of this tradition than to make it yourself.

An hour north by train from Rome is the little-known Sabine Hills, a place blissfully lost in time in the Italian countryside, dotted with medieval villages.

I’m in the family kitchen of husband and wife team, Sally and Guido, an Australian expat from Sydney and an eighth-generation Roman, who call this region home.

They’ve been letting people in on their secret hideout by hosting cooking classes for the past 16 years.

Out their kitchen window, I lose myself in the rolling mountains and the fields of endless olive groves....."

To read the full article,  called: "THE BEST OF ITALY: AMALFI COAST, CAPRI AND ROME " Just scroll down the article to find out about Jane's first visit to this area and her cooking-touring experience with us.

http://www.escape.com.au/world/europe/the-best-of-italy-amalfi-coast-capri-and-rome/news-story/f86900ff91c1095d81ea2a217c2706aa

P.S. We welcome freelance journalists to join us and write about their Convivio Rome experience in hope that it will inspire others to join in the fun. We did not know that Jane Armitstead intended to write this article at all. This article was a wonderful surprise. Thank you, Jane.
*Escape  (as described by their website) "appears as a Sunday lift-out in News Corp newspapers across Australia and, along with our website, will help you plan your next dream holiday."

www.conviviorome.com

www.winetoursrome.com

Foraging with Guido - wild mustard.

From the same family as rocket (arugola) and a wild relative to broccolini, broccoli, cabbage and many others from the 'brassica' group, wild white mustard is flowering now in Italy. It can be added to a salad or eaten by itself with olive oil and salt. Delicious and full of natural goodness!

www.conviviorome.com

www.winetoursrome.com

Chicken Cacciatore (Pollo alla Cacciatora)

Pollo alla Cacciatora

 Super simple and absolutely delicious....

Chicken Cacciatore Pollo alla Cacciatora - Serves 6

Ingredients: 1.2 kg  of chopped organic chicken, rosemary, sage, bay leaf, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, salt, pepper, white wine, olives .

Method: Gently fry the finely chopped vegetables in extra-virgin olive oil until onion is translucent. Roast the garlic until golden and then throw it away. Brown the chicken separately in another pan. Add browned chicken, herbs, tomatoes and olives (optional) in the same pan. Add a little white wine and let it reduce. Add salt. Let chicken cook on low heat in a covered pan. Serve hot, with a fresh salad on the side.
Buon appetito!

For more information about Guido's Day cooking classes and Convivio Rome Italian Cooking Holidays, contact me on info@conviviorome.com

www.conviviorome.com

www.winetoursrome.com

Rome Wineries and Wine Tours in the Sabine Hills in Italy

The smell of wine wafts from home cantinas ( wine cellars) as we wander around the cobbled streets of our medieval hilltop village. The vendemmia is about to begin and local families are cleaning out wine barrels, preparing for the new harvest. We breathe in deeply and appreciate the smell we associate with early Autumn, in the Sabine Hills.

Less than an hour north of Rome, still undiscovered by mass tourism, lies a green and fertile region called the Sabine Hills. Here, wine (as well as olive oil) has been produced for millennia and greatly appreciated in ancient Rome. The River Tiber, which eventually reaches Rome, provides the perfect soil composition for winemaking. Today, a small number of boutique wineries have emerged, thanks to the passion and creativity of their owners.

Some grapes that are grown here may be unusual, but they are the result of a process which involves reviving ancient traditional Italian varieties

The Italian Government has ruled that Sabine Hills 'D.O.C.' (Controlled designation of origin) wine should be a blend of Sangiovese and Montepulciano grapes for red wine and Malvasia and Trebbiano for white. The local wineries also produce other blends of predominantly Central Italian grapes and also a range of single-grape wines. Visiting these Sabine Hills wineries is a wonderful experience and an opportunity to witness how wine is made naturally on a small scale, in a beautiful environment. All wines can be purchased at the wineries.

Tenuta di Rome Wine Tours: The winery that we visit during our Rome Wine Tour produce high-quality wines, on 111 acres of land. Apart from DOC Sabine Hills wines, this winery also produces excellent single-grape wines, including Syraz, Sangiovese, and Falanghina, a traditional white grape from the south.
In the cellar, there are about 400 barriques (small french oak barrels) and a number of large, traditional Italian oak barrels. There's even a mini-museum where ancient winemaking tools such as timber presses, vats, and barrels from at least 100 years ago are displayed.
It is absolutely worth a visit. Rome Wine Tours

Colli Sabini
This winery is, in fact, a cooperative of small local wine producers. At Colli Sabini they are dedicated to producing excellent quality Sabine Hills DOC wines, and they have been the first winemakers in the area to be granted this 'stamp of quality', already by the 1970s. The Colli Sabini winery also has an interesting range of grappa, based on the distillation of grapes that are already used to produce wine.

Poggio Fenice
Back in 1974, a Scottish agronomist named Colin Fraser fell in love with the region and started a vineyard near the Village of Rocca Sinibalda. Today, the vineyard has been left in the hands of an Italian family of winemakers. Their passion is to produce slightly unusual wines, including Verzellino, which is white wine made out of the Sangiovese red grape and Cardellino rosé. Of course, the more traditional varieties, such as Sangiovese and Montepulciano, are also present.

Sabine Hills Winery Tours
Wine Tours Rome runs Sabine Hills winery tours in English, which include pick-up and return service to Fara Sabina Train Station (39 minutes from Rome Tiburtina train station). A winery tour, olive oil tour, or a visit to the Sabine Hills can easily be done as a day trip from Rome.

How to get to Sabine Hills from Rome
Fara Sabina is the main railway station for exploring the Sabine Hills wineries. A direct train departs every 15 minutes from several stations in Rome (Ostiense, Trastevere and Tiburtina) to Fara Sabina-Montelibretti station. At the Fara Sabina station, we will meet you and drive you to our local winery as the first stop of your Half Day Rome Wine Tour, with us.

If you are travelling with a car, the Sabine Hills is a beautiful place to base yourself, as there is so much to see and do.

©  Guido Santi of Wine Tours Rome, winery tours in the Sabine hills, near Rome.

www.winetoursrome.com

www.conviviorome.com

Best Rome Day Trips - Easy Fun Day Trips from Rome

When planning your trip to Italy, Rome is top of the 'list' for tourists to visit. But once you have 'done' the major sights in the beautiful Eternal City, where would you go to take a day trip into the Rome countryside?
The train system is very efficient in Italy and you do not have to travel far to experience something authentically Italy and have a great day out.

As it is often hard to choose where to go for your Rome Day Trip.....I wanted to give you 2 Guides to Rome Day Trips: We have included both Martha's Tips, called '6 Rome Day Trips' and Guido's Guide called '5 Best Rome Day Trips' ( see below):

Italian Travel Expert: Martha has a list of her favourite places to visit:

6 Rome Day Trips : Ancient Sites, Hill Towns, Gardens, and Wine

You don't have to go all the way to Pompeii to walk on ancient Roman roads, visit Ostia Antica

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As an eight generation Roman, here is Guido's (my) guide on the 5 Best Rome Day Trips in the Sabine Hills and closer to Rome:

The Sabine Hills, an unknown and very beautiful place to visit- an easy Day Trip from Rome

www.conviviorome.com

www.winetoursrome.com

The Olive Harvest Experience: picking our own olives

It all started one cool and sunny November day. Our small team of olive pickers joined us early in the morning, to help us harvest this year's olives. With nets, crates, and olive picking equipment ready, the work began.

Traditionally there would be 4 olive pickers working one tree at a time. Large nets would be arranged around the base of the olive tree, with two of the workers on wooden ladders working from the top of the tree down, gently 'raking' each olive branch to drop the olives onto the nets below. Those working on the ground would gather the olives in the net and place them into the crates. As each tree was completed and each crate filled with olives, they would move the nets to the next tree.
The olive picking process is much the same today, however to make the process more efficient, air compressed silicon hands , called 'la manina'  or 'the little hand'  are used to gently shake the olives off the tree onto the nets below.

We have a 'family sized' olive grove of 52 olive trees, with mainly 'carboncella' and 'leccino' olives (two of the main varieties of olives grown in the Sabine Hills).  Not all of our olive trees produced olives this year, but those that have, have produced in abundance. With a lot of help, we were able to harvest all our olives in just one day.

As the sun set, we took our crates of olives straight to a nearby 'frantoio', olive mill, to have our olives pressed immediately. To get the highest quality extra virgin olive oil, the olives need to be pressed with 24 hours of picking.

This year we harvested 200 kgs of olives which, once pressed, produced 46 litres of some of the best Sabina extra virgin olive oil I have ever tasted!

When you next come to visit us, you too, will be able to taste some of the wonderful Sabina extra virgin olive oil.
Learn more about our Half Day Rome Olive Tour at Convivio Rome.

We operation Rome Olive tours all year round, to discover more:
http://www.conviviorome.com/olive-tour.html
 email us on  info@conviviorome.com

www.conviviorome.com

www.winetoursrome.com

Chef Guido's Classic dish: Melanzane alla Parmigiana

This is one of my absolute favourite dishes. It can be made in a large oven dish, or in individual portions. For presentation purposes, I prefer to make my 'Melanzane alla Parmigiana' in individual ceramic dishes as I think it looks better.

Melanzane alla Parmigiana  - Serves 6.
1 or 2 aubergines (eggplants), 1 large mozzarella, basil leaves, tomato 'passata', extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, parmigiano cheese.

Cut aubergines (eggplants) into very thin slices, add olive oil onto the slices (and sprinkle with salt)  Grill them on a hot grill pan or barbecue. Place grilled aubergines to one side. Make a simple tomato sauce with a little garlic, olive oil, 'passata' and basil. Thinly slice mozzarella.
Start layering aubergine, mozzarella, tomato sauce, parmigiano cheese, making as many layers as you like..... finishing off with tomato sauce and then parmigiano cheese on top. Bake in moderate oven (170 degrees C. or 340 degrees F.) until cheese is melted.  Serve hot.
Buon appetito!

Preparing one layer at a time

Ready to go in the oven

www.conviviorome.com

www.winetoursrome.com

Simple Italian Pasta Sauce - Spaghetti all Carbonara

Here is one of Chef Guido's simple traditional Roman Pasta Sauces for you to try. 

Make sure you eat is piping hot!

Guido's Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Spaghetti alla Carbonara - Serves 6:

Ingredients: 500 gm of dried spaghetti, 50g of guanciale, 50 g of pecorino romano, black pepper, 4 eggs, extra virgin olive oil. 

First: put a large pot of salted water onto the stove to boil.

Tip: This sauce is very quick, and when ready needs to be stirred into the cooked 'aldente' spaghetti and served immediately.

Method: Cut the guanciale into short sticks. Put a little olive oil in a pan and fry guanciale until crispy. Whisk the eggs in a bowl with pecorino cheese, black pepper and a pinch of salt. When pasta is cooked, drain the pasta, put it back in the hot pot and mix all the ingredients until the eggs acquire a creamy consistency, without scrambling. Serve with extra pepper on top.

Buon appetito.

(Pasta shapes traditionally used for Carbonara Sauce are: spaghetti or rigatoni).


Find out more about Convivio Rome's: 

One Day Cooking-Touring Experience               

Half Day Cooking Class

3 and 5 night Italian Cooking Holidays

Rome Olive Tours                                        

Rome Wine Tours

The magic of the Sabine Hills, captured: Farfa e Fara Sabina

Sabina is a small agricultural region just 40 kms north of Rome, surrounded by olive groves, medieval hilltop villages and ancient Monasteries. It is spectacular here. Sabina, is known as 'The Sabine Hills' (to English speakers) and in my opinion, far more beautiful, unspoilt, and far less touristy than Tuscany and Umbria.....and yet no one has ever heard of this area.

Convivio Rome runs 3 and 5 night Italian cooking Holidays. Half Day and One Day Italian Cooking Classes, Olive Tours and Wine Tours within this region.

This wonderful 2 minute video, taken by 'visitlazio.com' is breathtaking.

We hope you will be inspired to come and visit us and Convivio Rome

www.conviviorome.com

www.winetoursrome.com

What makes Guido's Roman artichoke recipe so special?

Maybe it is Guido's love of Rome and Roman Cuisine?: "Growing up in the Italian Capital (and my dad being a 7th generation Roman), I was lucky enough to learn about traditional Roman cuisine and its use of fresh herbs....".

Or, maybe it is because Guido always sources the best, local regional and in-season ingredients:  " Roman cuisine is simple and it’s about the perfect combination of a small number of ingredients together and of course, their quality....."

Read more about Guido's 'Carciofi alla Romana' and why they taste soooo good: 

http://www.italoamericano.org/story/2017-3-1/carciofi-romana

The Sabine Hills' own Goddess: Feronia, Goddess of Nature and Freedwomen

The Sabini, were an ancient tribe that ruled the land in which we now live. This mysterious tribe can trace its origins to as far back at the 8th century BC. Little is known (although more and more is being discovered) about them, but the Sabini co-existed in the same period of time as the Eutrusci, Latini, Volsci, Falisci, and centuries before the Ancient Romans. 

We (Guido and I) have a passion for local and ancient history, so we often visit historic sites to find out more about 'what was before'. We recently visited an archeological site called 'Antiquarium e Area Archeologica di Lucus Feroniae', at the foothills of the Sabine Hills. 

This vast site was only recently rediscovered, in the 1970's, and now offers a small museum with the amazing finds, that date back to the 7th to 5th century B.C. Many of the artefacts are dedicated to Feronia, the goddess of Nature, woods and springs, and of freedwomen, who was also known to have healing powers and the ability to bring peace among the different tribes. 

Lucus Feroniae was a popular meeting place for surrounding tribes due to the sacred cult of Feronia and the monthly markets held in this town. The archeological site we walked around contains a forum, market place, basilica, amphitheatre, temple, mosaic floors, thermal bath houses, ancient paved roadways: in fact a whole complex. I have included some photos here. Enjoy! 

(Post written by Sally)

Guido's Italian Sourdough Bread

Fresh out of the oven

The secret to making good bread is found in the quality of culture and the flour. I make my bread using a sourdough culture kindly donated to me by Signora Giacomina, a lady in the village. This culture is over 35 years old. They say the older the culture, the better the bread.

I always prefer using organic stoneground flour from an ancient water mill here in the Sabine hills. It's the same flour I use for all our Italian cooking classes.

Italian Sourdough bread
Ingredients:1 kg of stoneground flour, 400g of fresh sourdough culture, 650 to 700 mls of water, salt to own taste.
Start mixing some of the flour and some water and salt in a bowl. Add sourdough. Transfer all ingredients on to a worktop or wooden board. Start needing, stretching and folding the dough all the time. Make the dough into two loaves and place  them into two bread tins or on an oven tray. Let the dough raise overnight for at least 8 hours. Bake at 170 C in a convection oven (otherwise 200C) for about 40-45 minutes.

Olive oil, nuts, seeds can be added to the mixture.

Tips on fresh sourdough: The sourdough needs to be kept in the refrigerator and to be fed or 'refreshed' once a week. This means getting rid of half it (in weight), (which will be used in the new lot of bread you are making) and replace it with the same amount of flour and water. Sourdough can also be frozen for long periods. Once defrosted you can add half a spoonful of honey to help it to get 'active' again and be ready to use.

The Olive Oil Farmers are jumping for joy in the Sabine Hills

We have had a few very cold days in #January, and the local #oliveoil farmers are jumping for joy! 'They say', just a few days of frost will help kill potential dangerous bugs/insects living in the #olivetrees.....so it looks like we have a great beginning for the production of #Sabina #EVVO extra virgin olive oil in this area for 2017! Viva Italia!

'Behind the scenes' in the Olive grove: Now is the time for trimming the olive trees. 

Cutting the extra branches off the olive tree, helps the tree to receive more light, heat and air, therefore optimum conditions for producing more fruit... Although the olive groves seem tranquil at this time of year, the farmers are still working, preparing the olive trees to produce their best! 

So 'fingers crossed' for the 2017 Sabina D.O.P. extra virgin Olive Oil.

www.conviviorome.com

www.winetoursrome.com

Rome Day Tours- Half Day Rome Olive Oil Tour with Convivio Rome.