Flavors of Central Italy: Autumn

A hands-on cooking class culminating in dinner served with wine.

For Viola Buitoni, autumn is when one learns how to hold and prepare fresh chestnuts and considers why hard-to-forage foods like mushrooms can evoke the deepest of emotions. Join her for this special class, featuring the fall foods -- chestnuts, mushrooms, and truffles -- that appeared prominently on the table of her childhood.

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Castagne arrosto e bollite - Roasted and boiled chestnuts
Crostini di trombette dei morti - Black trumpets crostini
Zuppa preggina di castagne, borlotti e passata - Chestnut, borlotti and passata soup from Preggio, Umbria
Pennette alla norcina - Penne with sausage and porcini
Flan di funghi con fonduta di formaggio e tartufi - Mushrooms flan with cheese fondue and truflfes
Uova al tartufo - Eggs with truffles

Viola Buitoni, a direct descendant of the famed pasta and chocolate family, hails from Perugia, in the heart of Umbria. She came to the US in 1985 for a business degree, but soon after graduation found herself drawn back into the genetic passion for food. In New York City she started Buitoni & Garretti, a catering kitchen and Italian fine foods shop. Here in San Francisco Viola can be found giving lectures on Italian food traditions and trends and cooking classes in collaboration with the SF Italian Cultural Institute and Italian Consulate. She also teaches "The Italian Kitchen", a monthly workshop at the Cavallo Point Lodge Cooking School; and an ongoing series of food articles and cooking videos for MissionLocal.org, a UC Berkeley's School of Journalism blog based in San Francisco's Mission District where Viola lives.