“Over the past few years, the role of food and wine in tourism has profoundly changed. It has taken on a new centrality, becoming increasingly articulated and recording ever greater numbers of interested tourists. Food and wine in tourism is no longer limited exclusively to the purchase of local products or eating typical dishes; it now extends to include visits to production sites – such as wineries, breweries, oil mills, dairies; going to gourmet and historic restaurants, buying food from food trucks, taking part in cooking classes, food tours and events themed around food, wine, and beer. A plurality of experiences in which the involvement of the senses is qualifying, through which one can enjoy the cultural heritage of the place in an active and engaging way, enriching oneself through sharing.” This is what Roberta Garibaldi states in her text dedicated to the trends and tendencies of food and wine tourism for 2020 (available for free download at the link https://www.robertagaribaldi.it/rapporto-sul-turismo-enogastronomico/) And since among the most requested experiences by tourists, as recent industry research shows, are cooking lessons, otherwise known as cooking classes, we have decided to expand and diversify our offer to allow visitors to our area to learn the preparation techniques of some typical pasta shapes, namely Malloreddus, Maccarrones de busa, Fregula, and Culurgiones. It is a simple and quick way to obtain a key to access and interpret the area, because fresh pasta, like other traditional products, is an expression of our culture.
To make the experience engaging and fun at the same time, we decided not to hold it at home (where mandatory hygiene standards are often not respected) but in one of the most original restaurants in the city center, equipped with elegant furnishings and all the services and materials that may be useful during the experience, not least the possibility of reaching it easily even on foot (https://www.facebook.com/SalsamenteriaCagliari/). We have also carefully selected the few necessary ingredients, including stone-ground durum wheat semolina packaged in Nurri by Azienda Agricola Fabrizio Pittau. We also paid particular attention to the selection of the tools and accessories used (because even the details matter) choosing traditional handmade sciveddas baked in a wood-fired oven by a local craftsman (and not just simple plastic or steel containers), aprons and tea towels made elegant by the embroidery of the “Le strade del gusto” logo; pastry boards, rolling pins, gnocchi boards, and knitting needles to make the maccarrones de busa. And finally, we relied on a fresh pasta professional, with years of experience, who gently and patiently guides each guest step by step as they try their hand at making fresh pasta for the first time. For all the details you can consult the page dedicated to the experiences on the website (http://www.lestradedelgusto.com/esperienze).
We are sure that once this difficult period is over, which is putting us all to the test and currently does not allow us to gather and therefore spend a few hours together learning how to make pasta, many will want to treat themselves or others to this experience. Imagine the satisfaction of preparing pasta with your own hands and then eating it for lunch or dinner, naturally accompanied by a glass of excellent wine. See you soon!
