Salvatore's Olive Oil Harvest™

Imagine standing under a silvery grey canopy of olive branches on a bright fall Italian day, helping Salvatore and his family harvest their precious olives and taking them straight to the mill where they’ll be transformed into olive oil. Then joining Signorina Maria in her kitchen for hands-on cooking with seasonal products and regional recipes!

How often do you get a chance to participate in one of the great Italian traditions – the making of what is arguably the most important ingredient in Italian cooking – freshly pressed olive oil? Our Oil Harvest program takes you right to the heart of the Diglio family’s olive oil operation, a business and passion that has been handed from generation to generation. It started in 1925, but since then the olive oil mill has been modernized, permitting the Diglio family to produce a much higher quantity, and more importantly, higher quality, of olive oil. All olives used are harvested by hand and pressed within twenty-four hours to produce a superior cold pressed extra virgin olive oil.

The varieties of olives used are mostly leccino, coratina, frantoio and curatora. The mix of these varieties gives an excellent quality of extra-virgin olive oil that contains only 0,25% acidity, and is green and fruity, with hints of fresh cut grass and leaves. The sensation of bitterness and pungency is mild and balanced and the taste offers slight hints of green apple and almond.

Harvesting Olives

During your stay you will gather olives from the trees with Salvatore in the morning, have lunch on the mountain with your fellow harvesters under the olive trees, enjoying views of Naples and Vesuvius in the distance, and spend the afternoon at the mill finding out more about the cold pressing produce Salvatore uses to make his olive oil. Then, with that very same oil, head into the kitchen with Chef Maria, where you’ll pick up tips on how to create delicious dishes using your super fresh oil, from simple antipasti and bruschette to delicious pasta sauces and salad dressings – all recipes that enhance the particular qualities of this cold pressed oil made from Salvatore’s olives.

Cooking Classes

Cooking classes are held in a professional kitchen under the expert tutelage of Signorina Maria in Durazzano, Salvatore’s hometown. Signorina Maria welcomes each guest into her kitchen with open arms, season ingredients and regional recipes. But best of all, you’ll also be using the very olive oil you made the day before! We’re guessing that you’ve never cooked with oil that fresh before, and you’ll be astonished at the natural affinity between local produce and Salvatore’s extra-virgin olive oil, as if both express a common element of the earth it came from. Signorina Maria leads hands-on cooking in a full menu from antipasto, pasta, fish, meat or vegetarian and dessert, featuring ham from Pietraroia, cheese from Castelfranco in Miscano, and excellent local meats. Sample the area’s delicious porcini mushrooms and the typical annurca apples and wash everything down with local wine. If you are vegetarian or prefer a special cooking menu, she will accommodate your request!

Accommodations

Your bed and breakfast accommodation is in the town of Sant’Agata de’ Goti, immersed in the surrounding countryside and offering views of the Medieval town nearby. All rooms are prettily furnished, have air conditioning & heating, en suite bathrooms and a TV, and you can also use the hotel’s solarium and stroll round the well kept grounds. Breakfast is served in the attractive breakfast room, or, weather permitting, outside on the terrace.

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Kings, Castles, Vineyards & Churches

But there’s also time to go exploring. Visit the magnificent Reggia di Caserta, whose palace and grounds were inspired by those at Versailles, with its sumptuous state apartments, theater and gardens, and learn more about the social and political model it pioneered. Take a tour of a local winery and taste some of Campania’s best red and white wines, and a local cheese artisan where you’ll enjoy lunch. Stroll round the ancient streets of the fortified medieval town of Sant’Agata de’ Goti and take in the cathedral, castle and old churches. Here, far from the hustle and bustle of modern life, and walking along alleyways whose paving stones are shiny from centuries of use, you’ll feel as is you’ve stepped back in time.

Reggia di Caserta

The Royal Palace of Caserta is a former royal residence constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Palace was one of the largest and most important constructions undertaken in Europe during the 18th century. Begun in 1752 for Charles VII of Naples who sought a magnificent new royal court and administrative centre for his Kingdom in a location protected from sea attack, the architect Luigi Vanvitelli looked to Versailles for inspiration in his creation of a massive structure that could provide for king, court and government with the social structure of a small city. As it happened, Charles was never to spend a single night at the Reggia as he had abdicated in 1759 to become the King of Spain, and the project was carried to completion for his third son and successor, Ferdinand IV of Naples.

The Reggia di Caserta has some 1,200 rooms, including two dozen state apartments, a large library, and a theatre modeled after the Teatro San Carlo of Naples. The park, again inspired by that at Versailles, is just as impressive as the Palace, with its formal vistas and beautiful fountains and cascades, and with the Botanical Garden, the English Garden, a particular favorite with visitors. The Reggia was also the site of the historic signing of terms of the unconditional German surrender of forces in Italy, covering between 600,000 and 900,000 soldiers along the Italian Front including troops in sections of Austria.

Sant’Agata de’ Goti

Named after the 14th-century De Goth family and not the 5th-century Goths as one might expect, the historic part of Sant’Agata de’ Goti is accessed over a deep, leafy gorge that divides the town in two and offers amazing views of the old town’s fortifications and the houses and churches that cling precariously to the top of them. There are lots of narrow streets and alleyways to be explored on foot (traffic is limited here), pretty shops and a decidedly medieval atmosphere. Also worth visiting is the cathedral, the castle and a number of Churches, including the 10th-century Santa Menna.

Itinerary – 4 days/3 nights

Day 1 – Arrival & Welcome

• Early afternoon – welcome, check in to your Bed & Breakfast accommodation.
• Afternoon – set out on a guided tour of Sant’Agata. Enjoy learning more about this fascinating fortified town.
• Time for an aperitivo then sit back and relax at our welcome dinner at the traditional trattoria, wine included.

Day 2 – Olive Harvest & Mill

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, it’s off to Durazzano to help Salvatore with the olive harvest. As you work, Salvatore will explain more about the different olive varieties used to make his oil, and advise how best to pick them to preserve their important qualities. Lunch is shared with Salvatore and his helpers under the olive trees enjoying a hearty country style picnic.
• In the afternoon, accompany Salvatore to the mill and watch the process of turning olives into top quality oil. It’s quick work, as with every hour that passes, the olives lose more of their precious qualities, so the faster they’re turned into oil, the better. Sample the brand new oil on some bread.
• Later in the afternoon, return to your Bed & Breakfast.
• In the evening, enjoy a wander through Sant’Agata de’ Goti’s historic center with its cathedral, castle and old churches.
• Dinner on your own.

Day 3 – Reggia di Caserta & Cooking Class

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, you’ll be picked up for a guided tour of the magnificent Reggia of Caserta. Truly one of Europe’s most important Royal Residences, the Reggia and its gardens will leave you speechless. The extravagance, beauty and stately aspect of the main construction and the grandeur of the gardens are utterly unique, and offer a singular insight into the lifestyle of 18th-century Royals. Between visiting the Reggia and touring the gardens, enjoy a quick bite to eat at the Reggia’s restaurant.
• Early afternoon, return to Bed & Breakfast, after which it’s off to Durazzano for your coking class. Here you’ll meet Chef Maria in her professional kitchen and create a full menu, antipasto to dolce, making special use of the olive oil you helped make the day before. After class, everyone enjoys the foods prepared with Chef Maria, with a toast of local wine.
• Return to Bed & Breakfast.

Day 4 – Winery & Artisan Cheese Maker’s Visit & Check out

• Breakfast is served
• After breakfast, visit an artisan cheese maker’s where you’ll see local cheeses being created. Then it’s off to a nearby winery to discover more about the area’s grape varieties and wines. Lunch is at the winery and includes both tastings of the cheese and, of course, wine.
• Return to Bed & Breakfast.
• Check out and Arrivederci!