Event

Flavors of Roma

with Viola Buitoni
{A 3.5 hour hands-on cooking class, culminating in dinner with wine.}
Wednesday, April 30, 6:00-9:30pm
Tickets: $65 for 18 Reasons members, $75 for the general public

Join Italian instructor Viola Buitoni in preparing a meal from her birth city of Rome and learning about the culinary history and traditions behind the bold flavors of the Eternal City.

In Roman cuisine, the necessity of the many took over the privilege of the few and became tradition. The dishes of Rome cherished today are those of a vast population of hard working peasants and servants who needed nourishing foods yet had to make do with what was left after choice bites went to the tables of the aristocracy. Offals, known as quinto quarto-the fifth quarter figure prominently in the traditions, as do long cooking dishes filled with fortifying and filling pulses.

MENU

Filetti di Baccalà
Fried Salt Cod

Bucatini alla Gricia
Bucatini with Guanciale and Pecorino

Coda alla Vaccinara
Oxtail in Celery and Tomato Sauce

Puntarelle in Salsa d'Alici
Puntarelle in Anchovy Sauce

Zeppole di San Giuseppe
St.Joseph's Beignets

About Viola
Viola Buitoni, a direct descendant of the famed pasta and chocolate family, hails from Perugia, in the heart of Umbria. She came to the US in 1985 for a business degree, but soon after graduation found herself drawn back into the genetic passion for food. In New York City she started Buitoni & Garretti, a catering kitchen and Italian fine foods shop. Here in San Francisco Viola can be found giving lectures on Italian food traditions and trends and cooking classes in collaboration with the SF Italian Cultural Institute and Italian Consulate. She also teaches "The Italian Kitchen", a monthly workshop at the Cavallo Point Lodge Cooking School; and an ongoing series of food articles and cooking videos for MissionLocal.org, a UC Berkeley's School of Journalism blog based in San Francisco's Mission District where Viola lives.