HomeFood Italy

The other day Asher "softy" Levine forwarded me an article from the NY Times about an organization in Italy that arranges for travelers to dine in the homes of native italians called Homefood. "Cesarine", or skilled home cooks, usually female, deemed by the Bologna-based organization as having the requisite understanding of regional italian cuisine host people in their homes for dinner parties. Some are organized in advance and travelers sign up on a first-come basis, but there's also the option to schedule your own private meal with a Cesarina and their family.

So, like making reservations at a restaurant, you can find the nearest Cesarina when you're traveling in Italy, and schedules permitting, have a true italian meal with perfect strangers. The concept sounds bizarre for an american, but reading about this was a revelation for me. I'd heard about it a while back, but thought of it more as a localized movement than anything else. Apparently though this movement has grown into a cottage tourist industry, a kind of SlowFood offshoot meant to preserve and promote traditional cuisine and culture.

My interest is stepping outside the typical tourist itinerary to be welcomed into the home of gracious strangers who are intrinsically motivated to serve food of their heritage. Whereas we typically think of going to a restaurant when we want a special meal, italians stay at home where someone's grandmother is always the best cook. The cities have largely been written off by them in terms of culinary merit; it's in the countryside, as close to the land or sea from which the ingredients are sourced that you'll find the best food.

What you say? How can you have a bad meal in Italy? Doesn't everyone know how to cook? Well, no, and besides that they know who they're preparing food for in Piazza Navona or just outside Piazza San Marco in Venice. If I'm hungry while walking down a busy street and see crowded restaurants with waiters standing at the door, calling to tourists to come on in, I keep going. That's not to say they don't have good restaurants in the cities, or that you can't stumble across a gem, but I can't take that risk anymore, I have to do the research.

Knowing that Nicole and I have two weeks in Italy for our honeymoon, I figure we'll give this a shot at least once. We'll be in Toscana in a villa for four nights, the perfect setting to seek out one of these matriarchs who will fatten us up on age old recipes and locally sourced specialties. Do we bring the wine though? I guess that's the least we can do, although we might be humiliated if we don't bring a bottle made from grapes within walking distance of their paese.

The cost for a foreigner is a temporary fee of about 3.50 euros per month per person, 25 to 40 euros per person for a scheduled event, and 55 euros per person for a private meal. So you'll spend roughly what you'd spend in a restaurant for two people, but the point is this is probably more of an experience than you'll get spending that much to dine in a city or picturesque hilltown restaurant.