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Ecco la Cucina offers a variety of immersion
style Italian cooking classes in Tuscany.
Highlights of the Week Long Culinary
Tour & Cooking Class in Tuscany:
- Four hands-on cooking sessions followed by lunch or dinner
- Wine education and tastings covering the major wines of
Tuscany
- Event meals at local Tuscan restaurants
- Regional specialities highlighted, visits to vineyards
with wine tastings; visit to Cinta Senese and artisanal goat
cheese farms with tasting; olive oil tasting and visit to
press during harvest, visit to saffron farm.
- Guided visit to medieval abbey and cloister
- Visits to Siena, San Gimignano, Montalcino, and renowned
wine estates in Chianti.
What do Gina's
students say after their time with her?
"Gina's passion for living and embracing Italy is inspiring.
We learned so much during our week. We were at different experience
levels, and Gina was so patient, never hindering the more advanced
and adventurous. The wine education was great, I didn't realize
that I would be such a Tuscan wine expert when I returned home!
Thank you! I hope I can come back and stay at the beautiful
villa and experience it all over again!"
"This week was so much more than "a
cooking class". You need to change your description!
The Tuscan wine education was a great treat and one we didn't
expect. We enjoyed the tours especially of the abbey, Siena,
countryside, Chianti - I could go on and on. Thank you for
a terrific week. You both made this trip to Italy one of
our best trips ever!" |
Day One, Saturday
Afternoon check-in.
7:00 - An aperitivo or
glass of wine at our Villa at Montestigliano in front of
a roaring fire, followed by a simple dinner of grilled
meat and salads, will give us all a chance to become acquainted
and discuss the itinerary for the week. |
Seasonal Zucchini Flowers |
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Dining Al Fresco |
Day Two, Sunday
9:00 - Breakfast
10:15 - We leave for a
visit to the Abbey of Mount Oliveto Maggiore in the Crete
Senese hills. Mass with the monks singing Gregorian chant
is at 11:00 a.m. and you can either attend the Mass or
stroll around the lovely grounds.
12:30 - Lunch in Pienza,
a beautiful hilltop town well known for its pecorino cheese.
We’ll visit several of the shops and have a tasting
of pecorino before having a typical Sunday lunch at the
Trattoria Latte della Luna.
4:00 - Following our visit
to Pienza, we’ll hop on down the road to Montalcino
and have a tasting of a flight of Brunello’s at the
Enoteca in the Medici Fortress that guards the town.
6:00 - Back to the Villa
where the evening is yours to relax or dine out. |
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Day Three, Monday
8:00 - Breakfast is available
in the Villa.
10:00 - Our first class
begins in the main estate kitchen. Today we’ll be
learning about the basics of Tuscan cooking, with an overview
of what makes it special and typically Tuscan. We’ll
make typical bread dishes like panzanella as well as braised
meat dishes and cantucci. There will also be an olive oil
tasting during class where we’ll taste different
extra virgin oils.
1:30 - Lunch, followed
by free time.
4:00 - Leave for a visit
to an olive oil press where we’ll see the olives
of Montestigliano being washed, mashed into pulp and then
pressed to remove the oil. We’ll bring some wine
and bread to toast on the open wood fire while we wait
for them to press our olives!
8:00 - Dinner at a local
trattoria. |
First Step in Making Pasta -
the Flour Well |
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Making Pasta |
Day Four, Tuesday
8:00 - Breakfast
10:00 - We’ll leave
to visit two farms in the area, a goat cheese farm and
a farm where they raise Crete Senese pigs. After the tour
there will be a light lunch where we can taste the delicious
products made on both of these estates.
1:30 - Back to the Villa
where there will be an optional mushroom hunt after lunch
for anyone interested in collecting our own mushrooms!
In the hills surrounding Montestigliano, the woods are
filled with many different kinds of edible mushrooms like
porcini, chanterelles, hedgehogs and black trumpets. Whatever
we find will be used in the class Wednesday. |
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4:30 - Our
second class will focus on making pasta and the accompanying
sauces. We’ll make ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese
and chestnuts and topped with a sage and butter sauce;
spaghetti alla chitarra, a thick square spaghetti cut on
a chitarra, or guitar, and topped with a porcini mushroom
sauce; tagliatelli topped with a wild boar ragù.
8:00 - dinner following
class, set in front of a roaring fire! |
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Day Five, Wednesday
8:00 - Breakfast
9:00 - We leave for the
market of Siena where we’ll purchase the ingredients
for cooking class in the evening. The market is filled
with stalls selling everything from clothes, shoes, scarves,
table linens, as well as accessories.
11:30 - Walking tour of
Siena with Carla Galardi
1:00- lunch in Siena on your own, time to walk around and
shop or sightsee. |
Fresh Tuscan produce |
3:00 - Return
to the Villa and rest up before class starts.
5:00 - Meet in the kitchen
for a cooking class, we’ll focus on risotto, soups
and roasted meats.
8:00 - Dinner in the main
dining room in front of the fire. |
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Ingredients Ready for Preparation |
Day Six, Thursday
8:00 - Breakfast
10:00 - Leave for a day
trip of wine tasting in Chianti! Castello Brolio is a beautiful
medieval castle sitting high on a hill overlooking the
vineyards north of Siena. We’ll walk through the
gardens and visit the family chapel, then take a tour of
the winery and taste the excellent wines. Then a quick
stop at Borgo San Felice, a lovely medieval hamlet, to
try their excellent wines.
1:30 - Lunch at La Taverna
di Vagliagli, followed by a wine tour and tasting at the
estate of Dievole.
4:00 - There will be time
to stop at the large Coop grocery store to stock up on
food items you may want to take home, then back to the
Villa. Dinner and the evening is free time and you may
want to relax at the Villa or catch a taxi out for dinner. |
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Day Seven, Friday
8:00 - Breakfast
10:00 - Class begins for
the final lunch together. We’ll focus on soups and
will make cauliflower with rosemary, cream of winter squash,
and the traditional Tuscan ribollita, followed by stuffed
crepes for a second course and a traditional fruit crostata.
1:30 - Lunch with prosciutto
tasting and prosecco, then naps all around!
7:30 - Head to Siena for
a glass of wine at the Enoteca I Terzi and then into the
Selva Contrada for their annual “Festa della Castangna” or
Chestnut Festival. Held outside in a quaint corner of the
city, the dinner includes dishes and desserts made with
chestnuts, served with excellent local wines. |
 Class
with the Pasta They Made |
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Day Eight, Saturday
Check-out at your leisure, taking with you lots of great recipes,
new skills and ideas for your own Tuscan dinners at home!
Please note: Details of the
itinerary are open to change as new discoveries are made. Customized
itinerary changes are welcome for private groups. |
| 2010 Tuscan
Cooking Class Dates: |
Fall Classes
- September 25 - October 2*
- October 9 - 16
- October 30 - November 5
- November 14 - 20
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All classes begin Saturday. $3,700 for full
week inclusive of accommodations (based on double occupancy),
tours, tastings, cooking lessons followed by lunch or dinner
with wines, all meals while group is together. Discounted
rate of $3,600 offered to students paying with cash or by
check.
* Special rate for September 2010 Class $3,300 - book
now!
Dates and prices subject to change. Single supplement
is $400. |
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| View Photos from Classes |
Price includes:
- 7 days, 7 nights accommodation
- Full-time support by specialist guides, transportation
to all events, plus any entrance or guide fees
- 4 hands-on cooking classes in Tuscany
- All meals (except 2 dinners and 1 lunch)
- Regional wines with meals, tastings of wines, pecorino
cheeses and local olive oils.
- $400 single supplement
Accommodations
- Podere Montestigliani, a recently restored villa on the
lovely estate of Montestigliano in the Montagnola hills south
of Siena.
- 6 bedrooms with twin or double beds, en suite bathrooms
- Minimum number of participants: 8; maximum participants:
12.
- Other houses available for smaller groups
Cost does not include:
- Airfare, transportation to the estate, any meals or expenses
incurred by you during shopping excursions and free time.
- A
non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to hold your reservation
in the cooking class, with the balance to be paid 30 days
prior to the scheduled start date of the class.
Prices and dates are subject to change.
Visa & Mastercard Accepted. |
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