Training trip with Wilden.herbals: experiences at Casadonna and UNISG

Wilden.herbals is not just a brand of organic herbal teas; it is an ambassador for a new approach that comes throughfood education and the rediscovery of healthy, tasty ingredients. However, it is not possible to spread the philosophy of natural and organic herbal teas without first educating the consumer and those in the industry. Educating for Wilden.herbals means telling with commitment and passion a work that is not limited to the finished product, but continues in restaurants, bars, among people and with friends to network in a virtuous way. Here is the story of Nicola Robecchi, one of the founders of Wilden.herbals. The end of May 2021 was very busy for Wilden. In just one week, we were faced with two different occasions that are very important for our journey that is still in the making: in fact, we organized two training moments for two dynamic and inspiring realities for us, Casadonna – Niko Romito’s Ristorante Reale and the Food Lab of theUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo. Here’s how it went.

Casadonna by Niko Romito: a sensory tasting.

When we first went to Abruzzo in late February to meet Cristiana and Niko Romito, it was a real thrill just to have received their invitation. In the weeks that followed, as their reopening approached and when the first order came in, we were invited back to visit them at Casadonna to tell the entire hospitality staff about our world of infusions in herbal tea cuts, designed to accompany guests warmly and gently throughout the day.

It was an important opportunity for us to grow and compare with curious and very knowledgeable hospitality professionals. It was really nice to be able to open the doors of perception of the herbal tea world to them, tell them about our Remedia line and the details of our wild adventure. One of our founders put together a training and tasting workshop, inviting chef Niko Romito “s staff to embark on a new sensory journey into a yet little-explored beverage, the herbal tea. Places are made of people, and the beauty of Casadonna is precisely in the details and in the attention to knowledge that the people who animate it put into their work. To have been able to contribute, in our own small way, to add important details to their guests” experience makes us proud. We can only wish the best of luck to all the staff of Casadonna and Ristorante Reale for this new start after months of searching and thank everyone for the wonderful welcome.

The chemistry of herbal tea at UNISG’s Food Lab.

Our founder Nicola Robecchi, spent three unforgettable years as a student at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo between 2007 and 2010. If today Wilden.herbals had the strength, energy and passion to be born, it is undoubtedly also thanks to those invaluable years of knowledge and passionate research towards a better, more sustainable and high cultural impact world of food. When Carol Povigne, academic director of the UNISG Food Lab, contacted us in early 2021 to ask for our availability to imagine a small lecture on the world of infusions in herbal tea blends, on the sidelines of the Infusion & Extraction module of the Master’s Program in Applied Gastronomy, given by prof. Leonardo Scaglioni of the University of Milan, Nicola still remembers the incredulity and at the same time the happiness of being able to be called upon and to contribute, as former Alumna, to deepen a topic that is so close to our hearts, which is the basis of the work we do with Wilden.
It was great to set out to study so that we could then be in class to share and pass on, in the most natural and open source way possible, our knowledge and methods of blending plants, the processes we follow to develop new products, and the new balances we seek day after day.

It has been just over two years since we began this wild adventure and we find ourselves month after month building a new path in the world of infusions. We try to imagine that with education and passion we can help evolve this sector and give it the importance it deserves. Indeed, infusions are a cultural tradition to be recovered and promoted even as an ingredient in cooking and/or pairing with dishes during a dinner party. It was really exciting to be able to engage with the students, Carol and the beautiful ecosystem of her work as a cook and trainer. It’s great to know that there are passionate people who are training to have an impact on cooking, hospitality and food supply chains. People who are constantly evolving to help make mealtimes an educational, formative experience, studded with exciting paths capable of telling the story of a territory through its raw materials. It is great, with and through Wilden.herbals, to contribute and participate in these processes of growth and education. Giving lessons, as well as organizing a hospitality workshop, are moments in which even those who teach learn and in which those who welcome feel like guests.