Fall 2015 Einkorn Culinary Getaway Week

We shouldn’t say this, but after spending a fabulous week with our guests at the fall session of jovial’s gluten free getaway, we doubted we’d be lucky enough to have such a fantastic group for the einkorn week that followed. The gluten free week is quite a lot of work for the jovial staff and on Saturday morning, as we said goodbye to the guests we had grown to call friends, we felt tired and nervous about starting all over again with new faces.

As we prepped for the welcome dinner, one excited einkorn guest after another arrived, many traveling to Italy for the first time to spend the week with us. As we greeted each new face, our enthusiasm toward the next seven days grew and the welcome dinner was a delicious success, as well as a nice time to start meeting this new group.

The following afternoon, we began our work in the kitchen at the session’s first cooking class, making fresh pasta with einkorn flour. Guests watched a short demonstration on the pasta line-up- fresh tagliatelle with ragù bolognese, potato gnocchi with fresh tomato sauce, and gnudi with sage butter, then making dinner was in their hands. We started to see that this group had talent, and making hundreds of gnocchi and gnudi, as well as pounds of tagliatelle, was not going to take as long as we anticipated. In about two hours, we all sat down to prosecco and appetizers, followed by a trio of the pasta the guests had prepared during the class. The class was a tremendous success!

Each guest has a different expectation from their week at the villa. Some are happy to sharpen their cooking skills while relaxing at a safe place where they don’t have to worry about their food sensitivities. Some come for a combination of cooking and travel, utilizing all of their free time for sightseeing around Tuscany.  Things really came together for this group on Monday night, gathering after dinner for a surprise birthday celebration and an introduction to einkorn sourdough starter. Learning how to make and maintain a starter and baking bread with it is an intimidating process, and that’s why the class is divided into two nights and one morning.
The sourdough intro class is normally an informal gathering that lasts about an hour. Carla noticed the intense concentration of the guests and was excited about their strong desire to learn. Question after question, the class continued until 11:30pm.  That night, everyone went back to their rooms feeling the momentum of what was going to be a most productive week of einkorn baking.

Bread baking day started at 10am on Tuesday, when the group met after breakfast to mix up six types of bread doughs. The morning work allows the dough to be ready for practicing shaping different types of bread at the start of the class in the afternoon. Guests were free to explore Tuscany until the afternoon, but to Carla’s delight, many decided to stay at the villa and practice recipes from her new einkorn cookbook.
At 5pm, the group gathered again for the bread class and six more types of breads doughs were mixed up. Carla and staff would stay up late after the class to bake up those breads for the breakfast table. During the class, students shaped and baked many kinds of bread, including french boule, ciabatta, walnut raisin whole grain bread, sandwich loaves, flatbreads, sweet potato rolls, and hamburger buns. While the students were getting their hands literally into the bread dough, learning the proper consistency and hydration for einkorn bread, jovial’s staff was balancing the carbs with a gigantic buffet of fresh seasonal vegetables from the morning market. The highlight of the night for everyone was learning how to make einkorn bagels.

By Thursday, the group continued to get hands-on experience with einkorn during the day, baking from the cookbook and practicing new recipes from the classes. An unforgettable moment in jovial’s getaway, the pastry class proved to be a great night. Six groups prepared a pastry from the cookbook and were judged on presentation, flavor and texture, with the hopes of winning a case of jovial’s organic extra virgin olive oil.

We’ve got a little clip of the pastry bake off to share with you!

Thanks to everyone who attended the fall session of jovial’s culinary getaways, two fantastic weeks that we will never forget! We are currently taking bookings for the spring class now.