Last updated 05:00 26/07/2014
DENISE IRVINE
Waikato Times

On the first morning of our cooking school in Italy, there is an almost-crisis over a few stalks of celery.

Ezio Gentile, the school's chef-tutor, is making chicken stock, and it absolutely must contain celery. Despite careful assembly of umpteen other ingredients, there is no celery in the house. Most of us would have made the stock without it. But not Ezio. He holds the line, the stock must be authentic.

So the call for celery goes out in the village of Vittorito, in the Abruzzo region, east of Rome. Many people and places are canvassed in the hunt, and thankfully some green sticks turn up at the home of cookschool participant Virginia Giovannitti's Aunty Maria. They are ferried up to the kitchen, we breathe easy.

Gail and Wayne Hopkins live off Italy's tourist trail.

Why did you move to Vittorito?

We have always loved the people and history of Italy. Driving through the San Venanzio gorge with the lines of ancient cypresses, villages dotted here and there and cheap housing in this area were all factors in the decision to take the plunge and buy a house in Italy. The Valley Peligna - two hours east of Rome and 40 minutes from Pescara on the Adriatic, not on the tourist trail - is where we spend half our lives. Situated in the foothills of the Appenines, Vittorito is a small medieval village, population 1000, with an agricultural soul. With three national parks close by, it's a great area for walking and cycling.