Spannocchia Symposium:
“Food, Landscape and Community in Tuscany and New England”
February 12-15, 2009
Day 2

The morning began with a focus on regional foods, including beans, maple syrup, artisan cheeses, wine and cider from New England, and olive oil, pecorino cheese, stone fruits, salumi and wine from Tuscany. New England chefs, Sam Hayward from Fore Street in Portland, ME and Doug Mack, chef and co-owner of Inn at Baldwin Creek and Mary’s Restaurant in Bristol, VT, had spent the previous afternoon preparing traditional New England baked bean recipes and Indian pudding to highlight at a special ‘tasting’ lunch for this day, and it worked well to go directly from discussion to tasting of all the highlighted products.

We are indebted to the producers who provided food donations for this lunch: Jasper Hill Farm (raw milk cheeses), Shelburne Farms (cheddar cheese), Lincoln Peak Vineyards (red and white wine), Fore Street Restaurant (dry beans, maple syrup, molasses, and mustard flour), Farnum Hill Ciders (hard cider), Spannocchia (salumi products, olive oil, and wine), Colombaia (wine), Poggio Alloro (wine), Fattoria Bagnaia (wine), Azienda Agricola Sagittario (olive oil), and Campriano (pecorino cheese). The incredible flavors of this meal struck many as a real tribute to the ideal of a local sustainable food system that was being discussed.

Participants visited two farms in the afternoon: Poggio Alloro, a highly diversified multi-generational family farm, and Colombaia, a small biodynamic vineyard and wine producer. These visits provided ample opportunities for New England and Tuscan growers to speak directly to one another about issues of production and marketing. It was dark by the time the group left Colombaia, and the walk by dirt road back to the buses was a nice way to end the afternoon. From there, the group headed into Siena with each bus showing a mini-documentary of the Palio horse race. Shortly thereafter, the group was standing in the Piazza del Campo appreciating its beauty - amazed that a horse race could possibly take place in that space. The day concluded with a tremendous dinner in Siena at Ristorante Grotta Santa Caterina “da Bagoga” featuring traditional Tuscan recipes and local products prepared by symposium participant and chef/owner Pierino Fagnani.


Tour of winery at Poggio Alloro


Tour at Colombaia vineyard


Dinner at Ristorante Grotta
di Santa Caterina

Summary - Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4

Feedback from Participants

 “I just wanted to tell you what a wonderful and valuable experience the symposium was for me. The information came fast and furious, and it was all fascinating. Everything from the history of the Italian landscape to the need for chefs to use the whole animal somehow coalesced into a coherent view of our relationships with the land, with the plants and animals, and with each other. I have come away with a much broader view of where my work fits into the larger picture, as well as some practical ideas that I can put into place in my operation. Feeling the warm camaraderie of the participants develop over the four days was a rare and fine thing.”