by Luiza Dawidowicz
My name is Luiza Dawidowicz. I am from Poland and I was recently one of the participants of an international Erasmus+ project called „Let’s teach Europe! European Heritage as a pedagogical and integration tool in adult education”. For one week we got to know the Calabrian region.
I would like to report on visiting very interesting places situated near San Vito sullo Ionio. Our whole group had an opportunity to visit the Caseificio Tradizionale Cosentino, where we were able to taste such excellent, local products as the traditional Calabrian types of cheese. The owner of this place told us about the methods of cheese production and showed us around the farm. We saw a flock of sheep, the place where the cheese is produced and all the necessary cheese making equipment.
The second place which we visited was a large, sustainable agriculture farm I Casali di Postaglianadi. The company deals with the production of vegetables grown with natural methods, without the use of fertilizers and pesticides of chemical origin: the products are then distributed in the Soverato area. There are also some ancient farmhouses undergoing restoration, with the aim of creating a rural accommodation project (agritourism) and a small home restaurant for tasting the farm’s productions. The owner – Roberto Galati –showed us around the most interesting places on his farm. We saw the cultivation of many kinds of vegetables (including tomato, chilli pepper, pumpkin, garlic, potatoes, onion) and fruit (grapes, prickly pear, olives, figs, Irish strawberry tree). The most interesting were the species and varieties typical of the Calabria region. We also had the opportunity to taste some of the traditional products from Roberto’s farm: tomato passata, hot pepper spread, oil with chilli pepper.
The last place we visited was a historic watermill. In the near future the entire building is to be renovated and put back into operation.
The places we visited are an example of the cultural heritage of Calabria. They were all very interesting and we learned a lot of new things about this region and its inhabitants.
