About Sapori & Saperi Adventures

Sapori e Saperi Adventures

Sapori e Saperi means flavours and knowledge. It grew out of my search for a fourth career, this time in the field of food. I had no idea it would take me to Lucca in northwest Tuscany. What we eat and how it’s produced had fascinated me even before my first career as an archaeologist studying the early history of agriculture. Outside the renaissance walls of Lucca, I discovered the modern version of those earlier inhabitants: people who know the hard work and satisfaction of producing the food of their ancestors—nutritious, full of flavour and never boring or standard.

These people have become my friends, and for me there is no greater pleasure than taking you to learn with them and experience the delight of a new spectrum of flavours. Before I appeared at their workshops, they had rarely seen a foreign tourist, and most speak only Italian, but they’re delighted to welcome you. Your visit puts money in their pockets, but even more importantly boosts their self-esteem and makes it more likely that their children will carry on after them.

Alongside the bakers, butchers, cheesemakers and farmers are mediaeval castles, romanesque churches, weavers, blacksmiths, broom and paper makers, concerts and village festivals. A world away from fevered urban bustle, clamorous noise and frightening events. A world where people don’t lock their doors and children play in cobbled streets.

“The greatest treasure that can be found during a tour with Sapori & Saperi Adventures is the emotional connection you will develop with people who live authentic and genuine lives centered around the well being of their communities and culture.” - CC, USA, May 2017

The Team

Erica Jarman
Throughout my several careers eating, drinking and cooking have been abiding passions. As an archaeologist researching the early history of agriculture, I spent more time in Mediterranean markets and cooking for the excavators than in the trenches. While General Manager of the Academy of Ancient Music and Personal Manager of Christopher Hogwood, I researched and cooked sixteenth- to eighteenth-century feasts to suit the music performed at concerts. For the sheer joy of it, I cooked alternate Sundays at the Good Food Guide restaurant The Old Fire Engine House in Ely, disturbing the equilibrium by demanding unusual ingredients for historical English dishes. More interested in eating than publicity, I nevertheless did occasional programmes on eighteenth-century cuisine for the BBC and organised the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum into cooking their own seventeenth-century banquet. I was a founder member of the Cambridge Convivium of Slow Food, organised Neal's Yard Dairy's appearance at Slow Food Cheese in Bra, Italy, in 2005 and their sold-out cheese workshops in London. None of this can compare in job satisfaction to introducing like-minded food-lovers to the traditional flavours and knowledge of the Garfagnana and beyond. (My parents named me Heather, but since Italians can’t pronounce it, I adopted the Latin name for the heather plant, Erica.)

Mattia Campetti
Mattia is a baritone, opera agent and impresario, but he dreams of being a farmer. Borne and bred in Lucca, he's the insider's insider. If you spend a day with him on one of our Day Adventures, you're sure to be entertained.

Michelle Buscemi
Michelle is a soprano. She was born in Melbourne (Australia) to Italian parents. She's also Mattia's wife and dreams of life as a farmer. She makes a warm and sympathetic assistant on our small group tours.

Simone Romei
Simone is our driver. He's from the mountains of the Garfagnana and takes the twists and turns of our routes with care and gentleness. Nothing is too much trouble for him. His smile brightens every day.

Photographers
A special thanks to all the photographers, both professional and amateur, without whose photos this website would be a much duller place to visit: Keith Barry · Andrew Bartley · Anne Becker · Betsy Bothe · Adrian Brooks · Vittoria Cardella · Sarah Carter · Stephen Dunn · Marion Edwards · Roberto Giomo · Antonella Giusti · Janette Gross · Klaus Falbe-Hansen · Duncan Fielden · Helen Higgs · Andrew Houston · Margie Isom · Neal Johnson · Tina MacPhail · Stefania Maffei · Brian Marshall · Tracey Meredith · John Morrison · Nick Morrison · Lucia Norrito · O'Connor · Harold Partain · Nina Peskett · Leslie Powell · Cindy Rosendorff · Dan Santoro · Libby Saylor · Anne Shelley · Colin Tweedy · Robyn Vulinovich · Kathy Weston

Responsible Tourism

Let's face it—the only truly responsible tourism is staying at home and exploring your own back garden, walking or cycling to those interesting places you've always been meaning visit. Yet, there's much truth in the old adage, 'travel broadens the mind', and there are lessons to be learned from faraway people and places that can be applied to your life at home. Sapori e Saperi's mission is to guide you to those life-enhancing experiences while making tourism work to sustain the rural economy and its people. You will encounter an endangered lifestyle which we don't want to disappear. The accommodation we use is owned by Italian farmers; all the farmers, food artisans, cooking teachers and craftspeople are Italian and we pay them for visits and lessons.