Who doesn't love Italian food?
Well, the hall team has now put together an evening of hands-on pasta rolling, wonderful home-cooked Italian food, topped off with a dash of Italian ambiance.
Oh, and maybe there might be some regional wines, beers and liqueurs available to make your evening that little bit more authentic.
So, on top of the hall team welcoming and serving you, your culinary host for the evening is Richard Parker.
He is a sfoglino (the Italian name for a person who rolls out pasta into a sheet called the sfoglia).
Born in the very north of Italy to British parents, and having moved back to the UK when he was only 5, Italy has always been in his heart – he studied Italian at university, spending a year in Bologna, and a few years after graduating he bought a flat in Abruzzo where he lived for a year teaching English.
He makes pasta the traditional way, entirely by hand, using his trusty mattarello – a 110cm long rolling pin made in Bologna from beech – on a board made in Stratford-upon-Avon from poplar.
The result is a sfoglia – a sheet of pasta – that can be turned into hundreds of different simple and filled shapes. The gentler rolling method of the mattarello helps maintain more of the air bubbles that are created in the dough during kneading, resulting in a lighter pasta
Rolling by hand allows for fuller control over the thickness, depending on the needs of the shape.
For tagliatelle, the saying in Bologna is that it should be so thin that you can see the Sanctuary of San Luca through it (or failing that, be able to read a newspaper)
What's happening on the night?
During the evening - you will get floury and busy, rolling fresh dough (and laughing at/with those that can't do it...) then sitting with friends and neighbours to enjoy a two course pasta meal, with fresh pasta, delivered that afternoon, fresh from Richard's mattarello.
Is there a vegetarian option - of course - just "send message to merchant" at checkout
Gluten free? - whilst the pasta you will be rolling is NOT gluten-free, if you "send message to merchant" - we will serve you (sorry, it WILL be shop-bought!) gluten free pasta for your dinner
Two courses - what's the second one?
Traditional OR lemon tiramisu. And if you speak VERY nicely to Linda, she might (no promises) give you a bit of each.
Your evening
Just 30 attendees for this event - so quite intimate (so be quick to book!)
- Doors open - 6:00pm
- Food service - from 7.30pm
