(PHOTOS BELOW)
Renowned Chef Giuliano Tassinari, Italy's Ambassador of Bolognese cuisine to the world, will conduct hands-on cooking classes in his Ristorante Bellavista located in the Rimini/Cattolica area of the Adriatic coast. Each day, accompanied by Chef Tassinari, students will visit local markets to buy the ingredients they will use to prepare the principal meal of the day. Students will be responsible for every aspect of food preparation, from selecting the food to cleaning the kitchen.

Chef Tassinari will meet us in Bologna and serve as our teacher and guide throughout the week. He will take us to Emilia-Romagna, Italy's premier food producing area, to introduce us to world-famous Italian specialties: Parmigiano Reggiano, prosciutto di Parma, balsamic vinegar of Modena, culatello and the Barilla pasta factory. Additional visits to regional "sagre," or food festivals, will be complemented by tours of the historic cities of Ravenna, famous for its mosaics and Dante's tomb, and Urbino, birthplace of the Renaissance painter Raphael. Throughout, Chef Tassinari will select restaurants that prepare typical regional dishes.

Wednesday, 3/15/06
Here are some pictures of our latest adventures. We visited a parmaggiano reggiano factory -- in the background you can see wheels of the cheese. In the next photo, we are sitting outside of the restaurant we cooked at called Bellavista, or "beautiful view." Finally, a picture of our group sitting outside a church in Urbino.

Hayley