Submitted by Andie Kalkstein on the 2024 Winter NURS program in Italy…
This week I am staying in Naples, Italy. We took a day trip to the Amalfi Coast to a town called Sorento. While there we visited a local family farm and participated in a gnocchi making class. We handmade the gnocchi from the mashed potatoes, flour, and eggs. It was very fun making this pasta and the lady who ran the class was an Italian grandma who had to be translated by her granddaughter, which made for some laughs.
After we finished making the gnocchi, they took it to boil for us and we watched a mozzarella making demonstration by another member of the farm. They explained how they stretch the cheese and how it goes from milk to what we know as mozzarella cheese and all of the steps in between.
We then went inside the dining room to have a charcuterie of the cheeses they just showed us how to make and then we finally got to try our gnocchi. It was so good, they served it in a dish called Gnocchi a la Sorento, which is traditionally with tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and basil on top.
After tasting all of our delicious creations, we got the chance to also sample some of their homemade limoncello varieties.
Overall, I am loving Italy so far and am so excited to see what the rest of this trip has to offer. The culture here is so welcoming and the food is amazing! (Submitted on January 8, 2024)