Meals at CCI

CCI strives to provide nutritious meals to the school community and takes full advantage of the local, organic agricultural resources.

Lanciano is surrounded by agricultural fields that produce organically grown fresh fruits and vegetables almost year round within a ten kilometre radius of the Town. During the winter months, some produce is grown in greenhouses but most of the fruits and vegetables arrive from the southern region of Puglia which is about one and a half hours away. The time lapse between when the produce is harvested from the fields to the time it reaches the table in Lanciano is about 24 hours. All of the local produce served to CCI students is organic and preservative free.

Seasonal vegetables and fruit are always a main priority in the meal plan. The only frozen foods used are French fries (which are served about once a week) and green peas (when the peas are not in season). The only canned products are chick peas, beans, olives and peeled tomatoes.

Due to the fact the Lanciano is a small hill town; international cuisines such as Thai, Japanese or Indian that some students enjoy are not available although there are two local Chinese restaurants.

The food is prepared fresh each day by our kitchen staff. Our kitchen staff uses olive oil in food preparation and sunflower oil for frying. Dinners are served the Allegria dinning call except for Fridays and Saturdays, when students eat at the Student lounge. Student lounge menu is made by student council and consists of popular dishes that students can order 'A la carte.' On Saturdays students can choose to sleep in and therefore they can eat at lunch the Student lounge from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday evening dinners are optional as many students enjoy the local restaurants. Sunday lunch is always brunch at 11:00 a.m.    

During the week, breakfast is served at the school. In order to introduce more variety in the food selections and dining styles, we have Quartieri Dinners, whereby the different student houses plan a menu around a specific theme and engage the students in preparing and serving the food for the entire school.

The following is a sample menu of what is served daily at each meal. There are variations of the pasta and protein choices as well as options for students who are vegetarians or those with gluten allergies. Italian meals usually include an antipasto, a pasta dish (un primo), a protein dish (un secondo) and fruit.