Green Italian Kitchen.
by Jessica McCannon Micheli. Welcome.
This is Green Italian Kitchen, more than a weekly newsletter, brought to you from my kitchens in the West of Ireland and the region of Sabina in Central Italy. Here you will find accessible and seasonal, plant inspired regional Italian recipes, as well as notes on Rural Food + Lifestyle Traditions, Slow Food + Travel, Sustainability and the Healing Power of Good Food. I write, cook and curate with these themes in mind to inspire people to turn back to their roots to embrace a traditional way of slow eating.
I am a gluten-free home cook, storyteller, and an extremely curious enogastronomic event producer @ RURALIA. I genuinely live for the crusty bits at the bottom of the pan and the magic that happens when people are connected to and through good food. If any of these topics happen to tap into your interests, well then, I would love for you to follow along. Hit the subscribe button below and Green Italian Kitchen will come directly to you.
As a young girl growing up in Massachusetts, I found myself sitting around vibrant tables in Italian homes and instantly found a love for La Cucina Italiana that I haven’t been able to shake. A series of life sparks brought me to Rome in 2009 during a time when I was struggling with my new diagnosis of celiac disease.
What seemed like a bit of a foodie nightmare, was actually an immense gift. I discovered that the abundance of the authentic regional Italian kitchen offers a glorious edible experience for those of us who follow an “alternative” diet for reasons of health or ethical beliefs — hence the name. Green Italian Kitchen was the title of my thesis while studying the Culture of Nutrition and Enogastronomic Traditions at the University of Rome, Tor Vergata.
Italy’s food-centric lifestyle, her innovative and world class sustainable food and tourism models, and the rural culture of la Sabina have shaped the way that I see the world and prompted me to re-examine my own rural roots which run deep into the West of Ireland.
Through this lens I have also understood the power of a table filled with good seasonal, local and nutrient dense food and how our fork is the greatest tool that we have for healing our bodies, communities and the planet.
La cucina sabina + rural spaces. A sustainable inspiration.
naturally gluten free. dairy free. grain free and more.
I absolutely love the beating heart of a big city, but when we follow the stories of our plates, we are drawn back underground to roots that grow deep and long back into rural spaces and it is in this dimension that we encounter the cuisine of the historical and geopolitical region known as ‘la Sabina’ which stretches into parts of modern day Lazio, Umbria, Le Marche and Abruzzo.
Driving an hour northeast along the via Salaria from Rome, we are led into higher elevations, to the base of Mount Terminillo to encounter the ancient city walls of Rieti, the geographical centre of Italy and the modern capital of Sabina. Her borders outline a rich history that is interwoven into a bountiful landscape that boasts an exceptional water and agricultural heritage, and from her heart in Rieti’s Holy Valley, comes the humble teachings of St. Francis who joins our world’s indigenous cultures with the most important message that we can heed today –
Everything is connected. We are one with the earth, and we cannot regard ourselves as separate from the ecosystems in which we live.
And it is the inspiring and mystical energy of these values that vibrates from and through this region, the people, its lifestyle and the local cuisine.
La cucina sabina is an honest, genuine and unpretentious ‘cucina povera’ and like the inhabitants of this space, it is closely connected to this generous and fertile land. Her kitchen respects nature and swears obedience to the seasons and its local produce forming an important part of this region’s cultural heritage. It is this seasonality and respect for the rhythm of the earth that is translated with passion into the unforgettable flavour that is found in every single dish. And in all of this I find my inspiration for what you will experience here.
If you are interested in knowing more about me, you can also find me here. Thank you for reading and for supporting my work, I look forward to sharing this journey with you.
Cari saluti,
Jessica
come to the table with green italian kitchen. going underground.
What else should you expect? AUTHENTIC RECIPES EVERY WEEK, LOTS OF STORIES. PRODUCER PROFILES. SEASONAL and naturally ‘FREE FROM’ plant forward FOOD + EATING GUIDES. WELLNESS. Insider knowledge. CENTRAL ITALY focused Food + Travel. SLOW TRAVEL TIPS. Product recommendations. Shopping Lists. Conversations around ITALY’s Sustainable Inspiration + Local Food Systems. …and maybe even a podcast.
Be the first to learn about the RURALIA series. Slow travel experiences in RURAL SPACES between the WEST OF IRELAND and CENTRAL ITALY.
Jessica McCannon Micheli is a qualified Integrative Health Coach and Regional Tour Guide with extensive experience in hospitality and event management. She holds a B.Sc. in Marketing Communications from NYC's Fashion Institute of Technology as well as a M.Sc. in the Culture of Nutrition and Enogastronomic Traditions from the University of Rome, Tor Vergata.
