Olive Garden Trip to Italy
Expense-paid trip to Italy. Eight days of discovering the secrets to Italian cuisine. Taking interactive classes at the Culinary Institute of Tuscany. What’s not to like, right?
Edgewater, NJ resident, William Chang, thought so when he entered AND won last year’s Olive Garden Culinary Tour of Italy sweepstakes. He just returned from the eight-day trip to Italy, taking guided tours around the most famous sites and getting hands-on cooking lessons at Olive Garden’s Culinary Institute of Tuscany.
Chang was one of the four lucky winners in the 2009 sweepstakes. Now through Sunday, May 9 Olive Garden is hosting the sweepstakes again, offering Italian food lovers a chance to win a culinary tour of Italy and an insider’s look at Olive Garden’s Culinary Institute of Tuscany. In addition to the eight-day guided trip grand prize, 500 first prize winners will be awarded a $25 Olive Garden gift card. Readers can enter at olivegardentriptoitaly.com.
Here is a short Q&A with William:
Was this your first time going to Italy?
No I had previously visited Italy twice before, however this trip was unique in that everything was planned out for you, especially all the meals. Almost all the dishes were the specialties of the region we were in. Chef Paolo, the executive Chef of Olive Garden, explained each dish. The meals was definitely one of the highlights.
What’s your favorite dish at The Olive Garden?
My favorite dish is actually the Unlimited Soup, Salad and Breadsticks. I usually go to Olive Garden during lunch and I love soups. In terms of value, it is an unbeatable value and the choices of soups is great.
What was your favorite tour?
My favorite part of the trip was spending time in the Culinary Institute of Tuscany. The Institute is in the middle of a vineyard and is part of the Rocca della Macie Reserve. We had cooking classes and tours of the Rocca della Macie Winery. It was surreal to stay in the heart of Tuscany with the rolling hills of vineyards. Every place we were, seemed like it was straight out of a postcard.
How many cooking lessons did you take?
We had about 3 lessons. The first was an overview of the foods of Italy (Vegetables, Spices, Cheeses, Cured Meats, Pastas). The second was a cooking demonstration with Chef Romana, where she demonstrated 3 sauces. The last was a hands-on class where everyone did a variety of tasks in preparation for the night’s dinner.
What was the highlight of these lessons?
The highlight was Chef Romana’s demonstration. I filmed the whole thing so I would not forgot. She demonstrated a base sauce and 2 Ragus with meat. After the demonstration we had lunch with everything that was prepared. It was amazing how simple everything was to prepare and more importantly how delicious it was.
Would you recommend the Culinary Institute of Tuscany?
Yes, absolutely. I’m not sure if it’s open to the public or if it’s for Olive Garden personnel only. Chef Paolo explained that we would have only a small sampling of what is traditionally taught at the Institute for the Olive Garden people. However for that small sampling I would gladly go back for the full course offering.
What’s your favorite dish to prepare now?
The most simple was the a pasta dish of cherry tomatoes and basil. It was basically those two main ingredients with a dash of salt and olive oil. I was amazed at how quick and simple it was to prepare and how great it tasted!