Princess Catherine learns tortelli in Parma on Italy visit

Princess Catherine spent part of her Italy visit in the kitchen at Agriturismo Al Vigneto in Parma, learning to make tortelli di erbetta from chef Ivan Lampredi and earning the kind of praise locals reserve for a true rezdòra, the home kitchen authority who knows fresh pasta by instinct.

The setting mattered as much as the lesson. Parma sits in northern Italy’s food valley, a region known around the world for Parmigiano Reggiano, and the pasta stop on May 14, 2026, gave the royal trip a distinctly regional finish. Instead of a formal photo-op, Catherine joined Lampredi in a hands-on demonstration that leaned into the rural, family-style side of Emilia-Romagna cooking.

Tortelli di erbetta is exactly the sort of dish that tells you where you are. The stuffed pasta is typical of the region and is usually filled with ricotta and herbs, though local cooks also make versions with spinach, pumpkin or artichokes. In a place that treats pasta-making as inherited craft, the fact that Catherine was shown the traditional method, rather than a simplified tourist version, was the point.

The Parma stop also sharpened the contrast with the more delicate politics of royal food and public image. Catherine’s pasta lesson came after earlier recipe controversies, but here the focus was on technique, tradition and the kind of kitchen knowledge that gets passed down in Emilia-Romagna households. The rezdòra label made sense in that context: it signals not just a cook, but the woman who keeps the household’s pasta standards intact.

The visit was part of Catherine’s first official overseas trip since undergoing cancer treatment in 2024, and it capped a two-day journey centered on early childhood education in Reggio Emilia. She visited the Loris Malaguzzi Centre and connected with the Reggio Emilia Approach, the influential educational philosophy founded by Loris Malaguzzi and promoted by the Reggio Children foundation. Hundreds of people also gathered in Reggio Emilia’s main square to greet her during the visit.

That mix of education, public duty and regional cooking gave the trip an unusual shape. Catherine arrived in Parma as a royal guest, but the image that lingered was the one from the kitchen: a princess learning tortelli in the food valley, with a local chef guiding every step and a centuries-old pasta tradition doing the talking.