Latest news with #ChristianeWassmann
Times
04-07-2025
- Times
I live in Italy — this Umbrian village is one of my best discoveries
Every autumn, the people of Umbria reach for their rakes and head for the hills. There they come together for an ancestral ritual: the olive harvest. For centuries this was papal territory and, fittingly, this is a rite of self-sacrifice and resurrection. The olives are collected by sweaty hand, using those rakes to shake down bunches at a time; then they are transfigured into a sacred nectar. Here the harvest isn't just about preparing for the year ahead; it's a bonding event where families work together to create something unique. After the toil comes joy: a picnic under the centuries-old trees. It's the creation of community — and it all starts with a simple rake. Rastrello is Italian for rake, and Rastrello is what Christiane Wassmann named her hotel when she opened a nine-room Umbrian retreat in 2020 in a 14th-century house in Panicale, a sleepy medieval village perched on a hill overlooking Lake Trasimeno, an hour's drive west of Perugia. 'It symbolises the harvest when we all come together under the trees,' she told me over a blind tasting of olive oils when I visited in June. That sense of kinship, of simple pleasures shared, is what she wanted to instil in the guests of her hotel. Of course, communities grow and so has Rastrello. In May Wassmann opened a garden annexe — the neighbouring house, adding a further seven rooms. As homes, the buildings used to be separated by gardens; today they're connected by an outdoor area comprising the farm-to-table restaurant, Cucina & Giardino, and — new for 2025 — a tiny plunge pool, perfect for Panicale's scorching summer days. The rooms (all named after local olive varieties) are beautifully back to basics: exposed stone walls and beams, terracotta floors and local pietra serena stone in the bathrooms, matched with furniture picked out from local antiques markets and brightly patterned headboards upcycled from car upholstery. All have views unspooling down Panicale's hillside towards Lake Trasimeno; some have balconies, hoisted over the cypress trees that were planted here by local families in memory of their children lost in the First World War. • Discover our full guide to Italy Wassmann — who first visited Umbria when her parents moved here in 1995 — is obsessed with olives. A city slicker who has swapped Central America (she was born in Nicaragua) for central Italy, now living between Panicale and Miami, she has thrown herself wholeheartedly into the local religion. Today she's a qualified olive oil sommelier and leads tastings at Rastrello. Her laser focus on quality means their oil, produced at her parents' home, has won five gold medals around the world. Olives are everywhere here. In the stairwell of the hotel's new annexe sits a bowl-like sculpture made from leftover mulch. Upstairs in a bijou new spa and meditation room, guests can be massaged with Rastrello's oil (extra virgin, of course) infused with homegrown lavender. On my first day Wassmann loaded me into her Fiat Panda to drive to her grove outside the village, where her 400-year-old trees slope down the hillside in wide rows. Driving through, the Panda was filled with the scent of wild mint and fennel growing between the trees. That explains the unmistakably sweet tang to Rastrello's oil. Of course, Wassmann is not the only person in Umbria to be fanatical about olives. Three days around Lake Trasimeno is a full immersion in olio d'oliva culture. At Castiglione del Lago — a village cantilevered over the lake on a rocky bluff — the first shop we visited, Battilani, sold everything from bottle stoppers to chopping boards, hand-carved from olive wood ( At the skincare store Agilla, Augusta Giuliani slathered me in face and body creams made with her home-grown olives, grapes and herbs ( 'I dedicate my soul to this,' she said, thrusting a spoonful of her oil — made from centuries-old leccino olive trees — at me. There's a lot of dedicating of souls to food around Trasimeno. Everywhere I went, people seemed to have a vocation that revolved around hyper-local produce. At Cucina & Giardino the chef Nicola Fanfano whisked up salad bowls of fresh veg from Wassmann's garden with the fagiolina del Trasimeno, a nutty local black-eyed pea (mains from £11; Close by in the town square, Lorena Buttiglieri was blending the recipes of her native Sicily with those of her Panicalese husband, Simone Gallo, at their restaurant, Il Gallo nel Pozzo (mains from £16; A Sicilian rotolo — a savoury Swiss roll of tissue-thin pasta wrapped around a ricotta and spinach filling — preceded pork medallions smothered in dolceforte, a sauce of red wine, cocoa, pine nuts and currants, invented in medieval Tuscany and then rolled out around central Italy. Thick, tart and gritty on the tongue, it tasted of pure history. • 15 of the best tours of Italy for your next getaway Umbria is the only landlocked region on the Italian peninsula, yet there was local fish too. La Locanda dei Pescatori is a restaurant run by a cooperative of Trasimeno fishermen, perched on the lakefront beneath Panicale (mains from £11; Beside their boats I feasted on Trasimeno's signature dish, carpa regina alla porchetta, carp seasoned and roasted just like porchetta (garlic and herb-stuffed pork, which Umbrians claim to have invented). I closed my eyes and took a bite — a melt-in-mouth, crumbly, herby steak that was so bizarrely meaty that I regretted the white wine I had ordered. Luckily that local white went down perfectly with the antipasto — a platter of nine lake-fish snacks from creamed pike to sweet-and-sour-marinated perch and tench flan. Of course, there's culture here too. Raphael's master Perugino was born in nearby Citta della Pieve, and painted one of his masterpieces in the Chiesa di San Sebastiano on the outskirts of Panicale. From outside, it's so unassuming that I wondered if I had got the right place; then I stepped inside to find a scene of balletic violence frescoed across the back wall. A near-death St Sebastian stood nonchalantly on a pedestal while curly-haired archers in glorious scarlet, blue and green leggings positioned themselves to shoot him. Behind them arced a precisely painted landscape — hills unrolling to flat plains, water behind them — that seemed familiar. Stepping outside I looked lakewards and saw almost exactly the same view. Only now there were more olive trees (£3; See, Panicale may be pint-sized (and its attractions equally bijou) but it's a diamond — and not yet hit by mass tourism like Cortona, across the lake. Entry to the church costs £3.50, but for another £2 you can get a guided tour of the village's other attractions: the 18th-century theatre, the 16th-century Sant'Agostino church, where a pianist practised as I wafted in to see Panicale's collection of tulle, and the church of Santa Maria della Sbarra, with religious art in the eaves (twice daily from the tourist office; The guide left me at the swaggeringly big main church of San Michele Arcangelo. Behind the altar was a striking Annunciation — a resigned-looking Mary accepting her fate from a fierce angel. I looked closer — it was attributed to Masolino, a Panicale lad who would later make his name by ushering in the Renaissance in Florence with Masaccio. Truly, this is a town that keeps its light under a bushel. (The Perugino church even has a frescoed angel thought to be by Raphael.) • 10 of the most beautiful places in Italy But then, the whole area does. Next to Trasimeno, just across the Tuscan border, is Chiusi, an important city for the pre-Roman Etruscans. It's home to magical painted tombs that are closed at the moment, but its museum, the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Chiusi is stuffed with phenomenal finds (£5; At La Citta Sotteranea, in a basement below a 16th-century palazzo, Etruscan tunnels have been repurposed as a museum of the dead, with thousands of gravestones, each marked with a name, plus sculptures of winged horses and banqueting Etruscans (£3; The Etruscans were called dissolute by the Romans for two things: gender equality and the fact that they didn't dilute their wine. So it's fitting that one of the area's best vineyards, Colle Santa Mustiola, has its cellar converted from an Etruscan woman's tomb (tastings £26; Fabio Cenni, the one-man-band winemaker, led me out of the June heat into the tomb (a cave sculpted from the hillside) then through the hill, following tunnels blasted to age his vino at constant, cool temperatures. Cenni grows that great Tuscan varietal, sangiovese, but unlike other Tuscan vintners he grows nothing else, turning it instead into red and rosé, still and sparkling. The soil here used to be under the sea — in the tomb he showed me a layer of fossilised oyster shells embedded in the hillside — and the reds have a thrilling hint of salinity. 'You have to respect the territory,' he said as we swilled his rosé, Kernos, named after the vessels used at wine-fuelled Etruscan banquets. 'You respect it by producing what we always produced, not by looking for varietals that aren't ours.' That night at Cucina & Giardino I ate a parmigiana of caramelised onions from Wassmann's garden, followed by aubergine rolls stuffed with lake perch, olive oil gelato and olive leaf tea. As the sun set over that Perugino view and swallows circled overhead, I remembered Cenni's words and thought, he's right. Here, home really is where the heart is. This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue Julia Buckley was a guest of Rastrello, which has B&B doubles from £236 ( Fly to Perugia, Florence or Rome Lovely Pienza was rebuilt as the 'ideal' Renaissance city by 15th-century pope and local lad, Pius II. Today it's the jewel of Tuscany's Val d'Orcia, probably Italy's most ravishing landscape: a slim village of princely palazzos and perfect perspective perched on a bluff overlooking the rolling hills. La Bandita Townhouse is a former convent in the centre, converted into a slick 12-room design hotel that pits original details such as exposed-stone walls and ancient beams with minimalist bedframes, egg-shaped bathtubs and pops of primary colours. Details B&B doubles from £338 ( Fly to Rome Baroque Lecce sizzles in Puglia's summer heat, but La Fiermontina offers welcome respite without trekking out to the countryside. You're within the city walls, an easy walk to the sights; yet you're in a corner of bucolic bliss, in a walled garden of olive trees, fragrant herbs and that all-important swimming pool. Inside this home-from-home you'll find cool stone walls and floors, modern art scattered around the public areas, and a restaurant downstairs, Zephyr, which focuses meticulously on local produce. Details B&B doubles from £249 ( Fly to Brindisi Man bows to nature in Matera, where sassi houses are dug out of the cliffside spiralling down to canyons and gorges. This wonderful albergo diffuso, or scattered hotel, puts you in the centre of things, with 18 rooms converted from abandoned cave homes to show how people used to live. Beds sprawl under walls carved from the rockface, candles illuminate the darkness, and (some) windows and even balconies overlook the gorge and the Murgia National Park beyond. It's a step back in time, only comfy. Details B&B doubles from £214 ( Fly to Bari
Buzz Feed
19-05-2025
- Health
- Buzz Feed
How To Avoid Olive Oil Scams And Fraud At The Store
You've been there. It's Saturday. You just came back from the farmer's market with fresh strawberries, two baguettes, and a moral superiority complex. You walk into the grocery store still high on your crunchy lifestyle choices when bam — you see it. A glistening bottle of olive oil sits on the top shelf. Curved glass. Sexy label. Imported. You think, This is it. My wellness era begins now. You've heard the seed oil slander on the health bro podcasts. Andrew Huberman basically whispered in your ear that canola oil is the devil. This olive oil? It's your redemption arc. Then you see the price tag. Thirty dollars. For oil. Your wellness era suddenly feels… expensive. And here's the kicker — it might not even be the good stuff. That artisanal-looking bottle? Basically your situationship with Mediterranean vibes and zero commitment. Turns out, the olive oil industry is shady (basically like everything). Your overpriced 'pure' EVOO might be mixed with seed oils (the betrayal) or heated within an inch of its life until it loses all its health benefits. 🫒 Wait, So Olive Oil Can Be Fake? Yes. Shocker. The billion-dollar olive oil industry isn't exactly run by a grandma in a Tuscan farmhouse. There are middlemen, bulk distributors, and importers who cut corners to increase profit, sometimes literally cutting olive oil with cheaper oils like soybean, sunflower, and/or canola. This isn't paranoia. Investigations over the last couple of decades have uncovered widespread fraud in the olive oil market. And because the FDA doesn't tightly regulate olive oil classifications in the U.S., it's basically the Wild West out there. According to olive oil expert (who knew there was such a thing) Christiane Wassmann, co-founder of Rastrello Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a single origin olive oil made in Italy, 'You need to purchase 'extra virgin' olive oil when you want to buy a 'real' or authentic one. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is simply the olive, which is a fruit, pressed, and the oil extracted. To be labeled 'extra virgin,' it legally has to be cold pressed and first pressed, so you don't need to look for that on the label. You only need to look for 'extra virgin.' All other olive oils are heated or chemically processed oils and, therefore, not healthy for you.' But there's more. It's not just enough for the olive oil to be labeled EVOO. It also matters where the olives come from and the time period from picking to processing. 'You always want to buy olive oil that comes from the same country where the olives were grown and pressed,' says Wassmann. 'Think about it — olives are fruit. If they're shipped across the world just to be pressed somewhere else for the sake of a label, how many chemical preservatives had to be sprayed on them to survive the trip? Those chemicals don't disappear. They end up in your oil and in you.' She adds: 'By law, the country of origin must be listed on the bottle. If it's not? Don't buy it.' Jesus Christ. Who knew you had to do a full investigation to incorporate some healthy fats in your diet? 🫒 The Bottle Test: Nicole Kidman and Olive Oil Have This in Common And here's another thing. If your olive oil comes in a plastic bottle? You've been played. Clear glass? Still no. That high-end liquid is basically the vampire of oils — sunlight will mess it up real fast. Think about it like this: Olive oil is the Nicole Kidman of your pantry. Or Emma Stone. Or any ethereal, Oscar-winning icon whose skin hasn't seen direct sunlight since the early 2000s. Just like those A-listers dodging UV rays on the red carpet under a giant umbrella held by a glam team intern, your olive oil needs to be protected from the light. 'When you are purchasing EVOO, make sure you only purchase in a dark bottle,' says Wassmann. 'Never a clear transparent glass bottle and never in plastic. Olive oil is very susceptible to being 'photo-oxidized' or harmed by sunlight.' Here's the science-y part (don't worry, it's quick): Photo-oxidation is what happens when light exposure triggers a chemical reaction that degrades the quality of the oil. When this happens, your EVOO starts losing its antioxidants, its flavor gets dull and flat, and it basically turns into the oil equivalent of expired perfume: still there, but a little sad. So yeah — that $30 bottle you bought in clear glass because it 'looked premium'? If the label didn't lie to you, the packaging probably did. Rule of thumb: dark glass only. Think of it like giving your oil its own pair of designer sunglasses. Green or darker bottles are best. No plastic. No clear. No exceptions. 🫒 But Why Is It All So Confusing? Because the olive oil industry knows we're busy. And stressed. And tired. And likely to reach for something that looks trustworthy on a grocery store shelf. 'Labels are so misleading nowadays,' says Wassmann. 'Brands understand what customers are looking for and present olive oil in a 'healthy' way, even if it's been made from unhealthy, lower-quality olive oil.' We've all fallen for it. I, too, have spent $36 on a bottle because the label said it was 'handcrafted.' I also once convinced myself that the right olive oil would fix my digestion, clear my skin, and maybe even my commitment issues. Spoiler: it didn't. 🫒 So... WTF Do We Do? Alright, to avoid getting duped by a $30 bottle of Mediterranean mystery oil, let's break it down. Here's your Olive Oil Red Flag Checklist: And what you do want to see: The truth is, if you're not doing your homework, there's a good chance you're getting scammed. That sleek, minimalist bottle might be serving aesthetics, but that doesn't mean the oil inside is worth the price tag. That said, the placebo effect is real. Maybe believing in your premium oil is enough to justify the premium salad it's dressing. Or maybe you do what we all secretly fantasize about: pull a full Eat, Pray, Love, move to Italy, and get your olive oil straight from a family-run grove where the vines grow alongside emotional healing and someone's vintage Vespa. Until then? Read the label. Protect the bottle. Trust no plastic. And remember: Not all olive oils are created equal — no matter how cute the branding. Hungry for more? Download the free Tasty app for iOS and Android to explore our library of 7,500+ recipes — no subscription required!
