A group of St.Vincent's Home Economics students made the most of the wonderful sunshine and fantastic culinary delights on a recent trip to Southern Italy, where they experienced the food and culture of the beautiful Mediterranean country. Group leader Jacinta Monaghan described how the girls soaked up the atmosphere on their arrival with a tour of the ancient city of Rome. ‘After an early start we arrived in Ciampino Airport to glorious weather and our first stop was a guided tour of the city which included the Trevi fountain, the Roman Forum and of course the world renowned Colosseum, where we enjoyed our first authentic Italian meal while watching the evening sun set.’
The group stayed in the beautiful coastal town of Sorrento, overlooking the Bay of Naples, famous for it’s stunning cliff top views and warren of narrow streets.
‘The next three days was a wonderful feast for any food-lover, with pastry classes where the students tasted the traditional rum-soaked bread Baba, the coffee-roasting factory Torrefazione Maresca, where our energy levels doubled with rich Italian espresso and honey farms with delectable homemade honey and marmalade. Amongst the various delights sampled were the oil of Oleificio Gargiulo, the cheese of La Sorgente, the oldest mozzarella factory in Sorrento and a firm favourite with the girls, Mama’s cooking school where they expertly cooked and ate mouth-watering gnocchi and pizza. They also discovered what a real sorbet looked like and the best way to roll out a pizza dough.’
The trip also included the dazzling Amalfi city, preceded by a tour of it’s famous panoramic coastline. There was also a sobering visit to the archaeological site of Pompeii, which was destroyed in 79 A.D. when Mount Vesuvius catastrophically erupted.
Jacinta added ‘The trip was a huge success, giving the girls a real sense of Italian cuisine alongside a taste of the wealth of history and culture in this fabulous region.’