Reflections on My 39 Years in Umbria

At Genius Loci this week I spent most of the week in the kitchen with cooking lessons for an exceptional family. They had asked to spend three mornings learning some authentic, typical family style cooking.

The twin 13 year-olds were an absolute delight with their good natures, excited enthusiasm for new foods and flavors, learning of the Italian cooking techniques' terminology (like "mantecare" or "sfumare", desire to try doing things themselves (prepping artichokes, for example!), open-minded approach to new flavor combinations, and with their food "sophistication", a word I choose and use in its most positive connotation.

What a delight they were! Of course, meeting and seeing in action their exquisite parents, observing the overall ease, pleasure and reasonableness of the interaction among the family members, explained the marvel of these youngsters. Reciprocal respect, agreeableness, adaptability and understanding were in every gesture, in every caring word.