“Climate change is a known worldwide problem, and it is significantly affecting the Amalfi Coast’s lemon production, which represents a very important economy especially for family farmers.”
To make limoncello in Italy, the skin needs to be free of chemicals, and with dropping temperatures in winter; the famous Sfusato lemons haven’t been growing as frequently, thus, affecting the production of the famous liquor.
“It is also impacting foraging. This year we had the driest spring that I have seen in my life, so foraging time was shorter,” he says.
After a short trek into a more secluded part of the farm, Miola pointed to several abandoned olive trees. He explained that although they are still healthy, there is no one to look after them.
Kneeling, he picked up a handful of soil and then let it go. The soil looked damp and sticky. There used to be a stream through here, but it has dried up due to lack of rain.
Miola’s grandparents passed on the farm to him, which he transformed into an accommodation and a place for his family to “live and breathe rurality at the higher part of town in Positano.”
Once returning to Colle Dell’Ara, the Bed & Breakfast that Miola runs with his brother, the group went through the basket and divided the ingredients into four piles: salad, tempura, pesto and quiche.
Whilst half the group deep fried the borage, the other half picked lemon leaves on which heated fior di latte was placed.
Travel tips were passed around, discussions about goals and dreams, and more importantly, the obstacles, which stand in our way to those dreams; as for one young Turkish musician, her dream of moving to Boston to study music is met with anxiety and concern about whether America will welcome her.

Alfonso Pontillo, an Italian who works in Canada says that food is magical, as it brings people closer.

“Especially when you “touch” the food that later on you will eat, it has something that will immediately put you in contact with the ones you are sharing this experience with,” he says.

The group then came back together to make orecchiette, a type of pasta that means and resembles little ears.

Miola combines fine semolina flour with water and kneads the dough until it has an elastic smooth feel. He demonstrates how to make the orecchiette shape – cut, push, twirl.

For 30 minutes, in silence, we pushed, lifted and twirled the little coin-size pieces of pasta with our thumbs.

Whilst the group ate their first course, which consisted of fresh greens with edible flowers and local olive oil, a conversation about the current political status in Turkey and America had started.

Another American couple, who had quit their jobs to travel Europe, spoke of how desperately they wanted to visit Turkey – if it wasn’t for the conflict.

When the pasta with freshly ground pesto came out, talks about being “stuck in the grind” took over, and how there are more important things to life than work.

“There is a richness and fulfillment we had felt when we left and it’s something that in a way, we seek in everyday life. Every time I make fresh pasta, or pesto it brings us back to that experience,” says Feinberg.

Pontillo also shares with the group the food traditions that have been passed down in his family.

“I live in a really big family with a lot of traditions that are mostly related to food. We have four gardens where we grow all the things that we eat and drink. This is possible because my grandparents are still alive, and I hope I will have the time to learn their traditions more and more.

“Now I’m trying to learn how to keep the ‘mother yeast’ that we use for our bread. It is 100 years old and I can’t waste the tradition when my mother will not be able to do that anymore,” he says.

When the last dish of creamy spinach quiche came out, we all agreed on how great it would be if there were no borders, and politics didn’t obstruct our lives. How great it would be to just travel, meet people from different cultures, have open discussions, and most importantly, eat great sustainable food.

“Learning to appreciate the food you are cooking from picking it in the wild, rather than shopping for it, this is something that inspired us to start our own garden at home,” says Feinberg.

For Feinberg and Rose, when they host social gatherings at home, they try and capture those special moments much like the one they experienced in Positano.

“Having people around a table and to have food and wine be the centerpiece and jumping off point to share different thoughts, memories, experiences, and dreams. We believe it is one of the most important and essential things to do with other people.”

Food comes from the earth, Miola says, it is the first thing all humans have in common. “That’s why in an experience like Gastronomic Trekking you feel this energy.”

What started as a day of gathering wild herbs, turned into a special and forever memorable experience, where eight strangers felt a sense of comfort and ease to open up, discuss and question. And with a Salute, we sipped our limoncello and pondered about how the Italians have it all figured out.