The culinary secrets of one of Italy's least explored regions: Abruzzo

+ not one, but two Italian recipes to make at home!

Years ago I took a fabulous cooking course with Australian born Audrey in Trevignano just north of Rome. Her classes were outstanding because of her teaching technique coupled with her historical and culinary knowledge of Italian food.

I've completely lost track of Audrey and everyone I’ve reached out to who took her classes has no idea where to find her. Maybe she went back to Australia or maybe she's simply retired and somewhere in Italy.

I don't remember her last name but the classes were under the umbrella of her Roman Cooking School. (As an aside, if one of you newsletter readers knows anything about Audrey's whereabouts let me know.) 

My Podcast episode this week link was about a sustainable farm in the Abruzzo region and its rare heritage breeds, and the tasty salami products they make with them - especially the nero d’abruzzo black pigs. 

The episode had me thinking about Abruzzese food all this week so I flipped through some of Audrey's regional recipes and came upon her Cassata Abruzzese recipe. Perfect timing because one of the main ingredients in this tasty dessert recipe is Torrone - a classic holiday treat - and I happen to have a lot of it left over from Christmas and New Year's.