Podere Il Casale: Family, Food and Farming in the Tuscan Countryside

by Claudia Ippolito and Robin Bretscher

Podere Il Casale, an organic farm in Pienza, Tuscany, was founded almost 30 years ago by Sandra Schmidig and Ulisse Brändli, two Swiss dreamers-turned-farmers who wanted to realize their dream of living a completely self-reliant life. It was a radical idea, and quite a change from their lives as punk music record producers in squeaky-clean and tidy Zurich.

Sandra and Ulisse's inspiring story is one of resilience, rebellion and determination and it's too good not to be told. As their lives revolve around quality food, their daughters-in-law Robin and Claudia - decided to write a cookbook that tells their story and offers you an opportunity to dive into Podere Il Casale's colourful, lively and slightly chaotic, but charming world.

About the Authors: Claudia Ippolito, part of the kitchen team at Podere Il Casale and at the same time partner of Micha, one of Sandra and Ulisse’s sons, took on the job of creating the recipes for the book. She wanted them to be unique but at the same time approachable for everyone. She was trained in culinary school in Italy and knows all the secrets of making delicious pasta and mouthwatering meat and vegetable dishes. Robin Bretscher, girlfriend of Domingo, another son (for the record: there are five of them) was responsible for the writing, photography and general management of the project. She studied English literature and linguistics in Zurich and loves capturing the world in words and images.