News and Blog

The winter in Perugia this year was anything but oppressive – actually, it was the warmest on record since records have been, well, on record. But despite the mild temperatures it was coldish and rained quite a bit and generally grey here in our hilltop town in the middle of Umbria…until this week. In the last four days the temperatures have increased to the point that the Steps of the cathedral are full of people at lunchtime, people with their coats off and sunglasses on. Apple trees are blooming everywhere and people are smiling. We haven’t seen Umbra students out on blankets on the lawn in front of San Francesco, but it won’t be long!

This month’s Photo of the Month contest was a tie! Congratulations to Janelle Serianni from Assumption College and Mallory Hane from Lebanon Valley College. Both Janelle and Mallory will enjoy a free dinner from Quattro Passi Pizzeria.

Photo of Perugia

By: Janelle Serianni

Photo of Neuschwanstein castle in Germany

By: Mallory Hane

Yesterday night Umbra students didn’t eat their curds and whey, they separated them. In another of a series of food-making workshops, Umbra staff member Zach Nowak lead a cheesemaking class in the kitchen-classroom of the Institute’s Via Marzia building. Students first learned the theory of cheese (how early pastoralists needed to be able to store their milk, the role of bacteria in cheesemaking, how rennet works), and then used rennet to separate, quite literally, the curds from the watery whey. Nowak, an amateur cheesehead, also showed the class some of his own fresh cheese, which they spread on bread before concluding the class. Yum! (photo by Frank Seijas)

Students in Professor Peter Fischer’s History and Culture of Food class participated in their field trip on Friday to Fattoria San Corzano and Montespertoli in Tuscany. At Fattoria San Corzano students were guided through the wine-making process and then enjoyed a wine and cheese tasting. Fattoria San Corzano produces wine, cheese from sheep’s milk and olive oil. Students then headed to Montespertoli and learned how to cook a typical Tuscan meal from Jacopo Tendi. Students learned some tricks of the trade in the Italian kitchen and also made most of the dishes themselves. They then sat down to enjoy a Tuscan feast which consisted of:

Crostini di melanzane, broccoli, pomodoro, pepperoni
Ravioli fatta in casa ripieno di spinaci e ricotto con burro e salvia
Gnocchi fatta in casa con pomodoro
Pollo ai cacciatore
Patate al forno
Melanzane parmigiana
Tiramisu

In photos, Students tour Fattoria San Corzano, Frank Bushell (CU-Boulder tests his strength while making gnocchi, students create the filling for the homemade ravioli.

Last night, in another installment of the Safari series, Umbra students went after the slowest-moving prey in the Italian trophy field: a great pizza. Perugia, like every Italian city, is filled with great pizzerias, but sometimes the best are the ones you just might not notice. Umbra staff member and student guidebook coordinator Zach Nowak lead a group of Umbra students through Perugia’s back alleys to several little-known pizzerias, finally stopping at a no-name hole-in-the-wall in the Via della Viola neighborhood where the pizzaiolo (pizza maker) is called Felice (“Happy”) and the pizza is delicious. Over their slices the students discussed different toppings, why pizza is associated with Naples, and the extra-price-for-extra-goodness Italian favorite, mozzarella di bufala. A good time – and what’s better, a good pizza – was had by all.

All-year student, Paul Schiller, has the exciting opportunity to work for the city of Perugia as part of his honor’s course, Perugia Practicum. Schiller is helping with translations for the city’s newspaper and website, tackling translations of such words as aggiudicataria (highest bidder), cianografia (blueprint), and fascicolato (bound). After his first hectic day at the office, Schiller commented that after “two and a half hours and four espressos, I had the pleasure of seeing what it’s like to work in the Italian office.”

For three students, this weekend’s optional trip to Civita’ di Bagnoregio, Viterbo, Orvieto and Todi was especially meaningful. Three students from the Franciscan Heritage Program at Umbra along with Professor Micheal Chiariello and his wife, Judy, from St. Bonaventure University in New York state were among the group of Umbra students who embarked on this two-day excursion. Our first stop at Civita’ di Bagnoregio is the birthplace of St. Bonaventure after whom the university was named. “To be able to visit the birthplace of St. Bonaventure, while studying his philosophy, is only possible with this unique program,” said Professor Chiariello. St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, born Giovanni di Fidanza in 1221, was cured of a childhood illness by St. Francis of Assisi became a Franciscan friar and a Cardinal. St. Bonaventure is said to be one of the most prominent men in Latin Christianity.

Coffee, caffè, Koffee, café: a cup of Joe by any other name would…still be black and inky but oh so irresistible! Last night was another edition of the Umbra Institute’s semi-regular Coffee Safaris. Six students, with staff member Zachary Nowak as their guide, braved the inclement weather for a round of the Perugia’s possibilities for an espresso, cappuccino, or whatever suits you. Stops included Sandri (the most chic), Caffè di Roma (which Perugians call “lo Starbucks” for its American-style layout), and Caffè Morlacchi, haunt of many a student and professor from the nearby Faculty of Humanities. The Safari series will continue next week with pizza!

Valentine’s Day is a little more special in Umbria than in other Italian regions as the third-century bishop was from the nearby city of Terni. Saint Valentine supposedly married a Christian woman and a pagan man and got the normal Roman thanks for his act: his head was lopped off, followed by sainthood.