Overlake Latin Ancient Field Studies: A Culinary Experience Like No Other--by Heidi

Story by Heidi, photos and captions by Kelli

If nothing else, this trip has thoroughly wowed each and every one of my taste buds, and I'm afraid anything I eat back home will pale in comparison to the amazing food of Italy. Today's surprise visit to Cecilia Bellelli Baratta's agriturismo only strengthened this notion. (By the way, Cecilia is a baroness).

An agriturismo, like the word implies, is like an agricultural tour, and before we were actually shown around the farm and saw a bunch of water buffalo (including adorable baby water buffalo and pregnant water buffalos), we had a 4-course meal cooked from locally sourced ingredients. Our meal began with an antipasta of prosciutto, fresh buffalo ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella balls, grilled local artichokes, and for lack of better terms, these "hot pocket" type things (nicknamed by Kelli).

Being lactose-intolerant, I didn't have the cheese, but I heard it was the best some people had. The prosciutto was very savory and thin. And the hot pockets were not really hot pockets. They were these warm and fluffy breads stuffed with vegetables that were really good. The second course was a pasta type dish, and the tomato sauce was sweet and acidic. The pasta was served with parmesan cheese and chili peppers that really had a kick to them.

The third course was water-buffalo meat and sausages, which was such a nice break from all the carbs we've had on the trip. If anyone is curious as to how the water-buffalo tasted, it was like the softest and most delicious steak ever.

We were also served an eggplant dish (imagine lasagna with no noodles and instead eggplants) that just melted in my mouth.

Last but not least, we had pastries filled with really light whipped cream. I loved how subtle the sweetness of the dessert was. There were small chips of mint chocolate in it as well which were heavenly.

We were also served some black coffee (espresso) to top it all off.

All the different foods were like explosions of happiness in my mouth. The meal was a culinary experience like none other I've ever had. By far today's lunch was one of the best meals of my life, and it made me so glad I came on this trip. :)