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There is a different scent in the air today on Altamarea’s square. A scent that feels like home, like fresh tomatoes, olive oil and tradition. Annalisa, known as “Tu Chef” on social media, arrives with her arms full of fresh ingredients to lead two cooking labs. Two workshops, one for children and one for adults, sharing the same spirit: doing things together, getting your hands dirty, and letting the land tell its own story, one dish at a time. With expert hands and a smiling voice, Annalisa, who comes from Imola, explains: “I always try to bring together my passion for cooking and the products of my region: whether it’s mortadella, squacquerone, or homemade pasta: passatelli, strozzapreti or garganelli, which actually comes from Imola!”

“I am someone who gets her hands in the dough, and I want to get other people’s hands in the dough too,” says Annalisa. And so the workshop begins: the children start by crushing a tarallo, crumbling it into the bottom of a small bowl, then adding vegetables, a spoonful of squacquerone, spreading pesto on a piece of pizza, topping it with a piece of mozzarella and a cherry tomato. The plastic cutlery moves quickly, the children are excited and some cannot resist the temptation to take a bite of fresh mozzarella. In the end, they even share their culinary creation with their parents.

“As a kid, I used to watch people cook at home and it was something that really sparked my passion,” the cook recalls, “so I always start from homemade food.” Now it is the adults’ turn to shape the strozzapreti, the fresh pasta typical of Romagna, simple and genuine. As the diligent students mix water, flour, a spoonful of olive oil, salt and pepper, Annalisa shares culinary traditions, grandmother’s recipes, the secrets of those who need no recipe, and above all, the story behind the famous strozzapreti and how they earned their name. Some are already familiar with this pasta, you can tell by their confident gestures when it comes to rolling the dough; others, let’s say, are more creative!

The conversation turns to memory, to how people once cooked with little but with great care. Annalisa talks about local produce, the importance of seasonality, the beauty of small local producers. At Altamarea, during this cooking lab, you cook not only to eat, but to be together, to learn, to feel part of your own land or to discover it for the very first time. A plate of strozzapreti, handmade by children and adults alike, tastes all the better when it comes to life this way: with simplicity, with care, with the desire to pass something on. Because every dish tells a beautiful story, that of a region, a family, a tradition.

Of course, everyone leaves with their fresh strozzapreti in hand, ready to be enjoyed that evening. And so the workshop comes to an end, but one thing remains: the flavour. The real one, the kind you never forget. The flavour of Romagna, made by hand.