Culinary & Wine Tours> Italy> Homestyle Tuscan Cooking
Italy: Homestyle Tuscan Cooking
(Options: Day Cooking Classes, Weekend Packages,
Wine and Food Tastings/Tours, Italian Lessons)
Tuscany, Italy - 2, 3, 4 or 5 nights
 Learn the art of Tuscan cooking, eating and living! For over 20 years, your hosts, Simonetta and Paola have been holding
hands-on cooking classes in both Florence and Chianti. You will learn traditional Italian family recipes, taught in English and will get the flavor of living in an Italian country home and being with an Italian family. You will stay a beautiful 13th century "casa colonica", a typical Italian farmhouse in the Tuscan countryside with terracotta floors and chestnut beams. Enjoy a large, comfortable room with 2 bathrooms and 2 showers just in front of the room, available only for the guests. It has been lovingly restored by the family, one of the oldest noble families in Italy. There is an
organic garden, vines, olive trees, roses, oleanders, geraniums, spices, fruit trees and other typical plants of the area.
In the area, you can discover the treasures of Chianti, an area well-known for its castles, its medieval "borghi", wine producers, skilled craftsmen, warm and hospitable people, restaurants, typical Tuscan food, Chianti Classico wine and olive oil. The Chianti region offers picture-book rural scenery, from fields to sunflowers to rows of ubiquitous pencil pines in the hazy distance. Smaller towns such as
Radda in Chianti, Monteriggioni, Volterra, San Gimignano
are all an easy drive away, with stunning atmosphere and scenery. Tuscany is centrally located and is well connected by highways and a fast rail network to the rest of Italy, so you can visit other areas after or before your stay.
Five Night Itinerary
Day One
6:00 pm Arrival in Greve by bus from Florence. Transfer by private car to your home for the week. Time to mingle with the other guests and welcome dinner offered by the family.
 Day
Two
Breakfast with the family. Hands on cooking class. You will prepare 4 or 5 different recipes. Lunch together enjoying your creations with the accompanying wine. Free afternoon to relax with a good book in the garden or in front of the fire during wintertime or walking around discovering the area. Light dinner at home, talking about Italy.
Day Three
Breakfast with the family. Hands on cooking class, preparing 4 or 5 recipes. Lunch together with the accompanying wine. Guided excursion in the Chianti area, visiting wineries, ceramics and beautiful sites. Light dinner at home, talking about Italian culture.
Day Four
Breakfast with the family. Hands on cooking class. We prepare together 4 or 5 different recipes. Lunch together with accompanying wine. Free afternoon for relaxing. Light dinner at home, talking about Italian lifestyle.
Day Five
Breakfast with the family. Hands on cooking class preparing 4 or 5 different recipes. Lunch together with the accompanying wine. Guided excursion for a culture visit and shopping. Light dinner at home, conversation.
 Day
Six
Breakfast with the family. Hands on cooking class preparing 4 or 5 different recipes.
Lunch together with accompanying wine.
Transfer by private car to Greve and bus connection to Florence.
DAY COOKING CLASS IN CHIANTI
Times: Morning Hours (9:30 am -2:00 pm); Afternoon Hours
(4:00 pm-8:30 pm)
Description: The hands-on course covers traditional,
home-style Tuscan and Italian recipes. Many people like this
approach as they come away feeling they've had a real holiday,
having enjoyed the wonderfully intense flavours and freshness of
traditional Italian dishes cooked in an evocative stone farmhouse in
the hills of Chianti, surrounded by vineyard and olive groves. The
classes are held in a friendly atmosphere and you have the chance to
make new friends and
learn a few secrets from Simonetta and Paola. Participants cook
and eat dishes prepared using fresh, natural ingredients. A complete
meal (5 recipes) such as appetizers, a pasta dish, a vegetable or
meat dish and then a dessert is prepared every day and is
accompanied by the wine which best complements it.
An example of our most popular menus:
Antipasto (Starter) Bruschetta or Crostini
First Course Fresh hand-made pasta or Potato gnocchi or
Penne agli Aromi or Ribollita (Tuscan vegetable soup)
Second Course Roasted meat (Arista alla Fiorentina) or
stuffed vegetables
Dessert Tiramisu' or Panna Cotta
Many more menus are available - do you have a special request? Just
ask!
COOKING LESSON IN CHIANTI AND WINERY
VISIT (Full Day - Eight Hours)Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Description: You can enjoy a day in the Tuscan countryside,
combining a cooking class with a visit to a winery. You take a
bus from Florence at 8:00 am to Greve in Chianti, where we pick
you up and escort to the Chianti. We welcome you with a nice
“Cappuccino “ and a snack. Then your cooking class starts. (See
Cooking Class description above). After lunch we go to a
“boutique winery” family estate where you can enjoy your wine
and oil tasting in the garden. Then we take you back to Greve
for catching the bus to Florence.
WINE
LESSON AND FOOD TASTING
Description : Lessons about Tuscan wines and Italian food
such as cheeses, salami, prosciutto, extra virgin olive oil,
balsamic vinegar, bread. You will be introduced to wines and food.
Then enjoy a visit to a “winery and their vineyard where you can
enjoy your wine and oil tasting. You will come back home for a light
meal, for tasting and for learning how to serve Italian cheeses
(pecorino, parmigiano, mozzarella di bufala, ricotta etc.), salami
(Tuscan salami, finocchiona), Tuscan prosciutto, Tuscan bread,
focaccia and typical Tuscan dessert (Cantucci with Vin Santo),
Lesson held by Simonetta or Paola who are more than willing to share
their knowledge and passion for their native land.
VISIT TO AN ITALIAN MARKET
Description : An English-speaking guide will take you to
discover an Italian open market. Discover Italian cheese, salami,
prosciutto, vegetables, fruit, kitchen and home products, clothing
and shoes or antiques or artisan products, depending on the chosen
market. We stop for a classic coffee break in a typical coffee or
wine shop. Accompanied by Simonetta or Paola and with them in the
driver’s seat, you never have to worry about getting lost. Then you
are driven back to their home for a food and wine tasting.
Depart / Meet: Simonetta and Paola's home, accommodation in
Radda in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti or Castellina in Chianti
HOW TO
ARRIVE
Closest Airports/Train
Stations:
Florence Vespucci Airport about 60
Km - 1 hour and 20 minute drive
Other airports:
Pisa Airport - 2 hour drive
Leonardo da Vinci (Rome) Airport - 3 hour drive
Malpensa (Milan) Airport - 4 hour drive
Florence SMN - Nearest train station (fast connection to
Rome, Milan, Venice, Naples, etc.) about 57 Km - 1 hour and 15
minute drive
If flying into Rome or Milan, we suggest taking a train to
Florence.
**Transfer
can be organized from your hotel in Florence or Pisa or from Florence or Pisa airport (with an extra charge that would be paid directly to the taxi driver (we can book it in advance). The cost is approximately 150-170€ (2 persons)
**We can also arrange from Rome airport, but it is quite expensive, about 300€.
We suggest catching a flight or a train to Florence and we can organize
a transfer from Florence.
| BOOKING INFORMATION |
2008 FEES PER PERSON
|
DEPOSIT |
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Five Night Program (with Italian Lessons)
Double/Single Room in Italian Home/
US$3080
Five Night Program
Double/Single Room in
Italian Home/
US$2500
Four Night Program
Double/Single Room in Italian Home US$2150
Three Night Program
Double/Single Room in
Italian Home
US$1550
Two Night Program
Double/Single Room in
Italian Home
US$1200
**Please inquire about
Optional Bed and Breakfast or Four Star Hotel Accommodations.
Hands on Cooking Class/US$265
Cooking Class and Winery Visit /US$520
Wine and Food Lesson/US$240
Visit to an Italian Market/US$240
|
After availability is confirmed, a deposit of 30% per person and the completed and
submitted registration form will secure your reservation. Final payment is due in full 60 days before your arrival date. |
| 2008 DATES |
INCLUDED |
|
Dates of courses take place every week except the week before Christmas.
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Five Night Program with Italian Lessons
*Five (5) hands-on cooking classes with the meals included
*Italian language personalized course (2 hours per day)
*Five (5) nights' accommodation with breakfast and light dinner every day with the family
*Two (2) guided excursions in the Chianti region
*Welcome dinner at home on the arrival evening
*Apron, recipe book
*Italian language teaching materials
*Transfer at the beginning and at the end of the course from/to Greve by private car to the accommodation. (Greve is connected to Florence by coach)
*Taxes
Five Night Program
*Five (5) hands-on cooking classes with the meals included
*Five (5) nights' accommodation with breakfast and light dinner every day with the family
*Two (2) guided excursions in the Chianti region
*Welcome dinner at home on the arrival evening
*Apron, recipe book
*Transfer at the beginning and at the end of the course from/to Greve by private car to the accommodation. (Greve is connected to Florence by coach)
*Taxes
Four Night Program
*Four (4) hands-on cooking classes with the meals included
*Four (4) nights' accommodation with breakfast and light dinner every day with the
family de’ Mari
*Two (2) guided excursions in the Chianti region
*Welcome dinner at home on the arrival evening
*Apron, recipe book
*Transfer at the beginning and at the end of the course from/to Greve to/from the
accommodation by private car (Greve is connected to Florence by coach)
*Taxes
Three Night Program
*Three
(3) hands-on cooking classes with the meals included
*Three (3) nights' accommodation with breakfast and light dinner every day with
the family
*One (1) guided excursion in the Chianti region
*Welcome dinner at home on the arrival evening
*Apron, recipe book
*Transfer at the beginning and at the end of the course from/to Greve to/from the
accommodation by private car (Greve is connected to Florence by coach)
*Taxes
Two Night Program
*Two
(2) hands-on cooking classes with the meals included
*Two (2) nights' accommodation with breakfast and light dinner every day with
the family
*One (1) guided excursion in the Chianti region
*Welcome dinner at home on the arrival evening
*Apron, recipe book
*Transfer at the beginning and at the end of the course from/to Greve to/from the
accommodation by private car (Greve is connected to Florence by coach)
*Taxes
Day Cooking Class in Chianti
*Hands on cooking class (5 recipes)
*Meal with wine, snack with drinks and wine during the lesson
*One (1) English speaking instructor
*Apron, recipe book
Cooking Class and Winery Visit
*Hands on cooking class (5 recipes)
*Meal with water and wine, snack with drinks and wine during the lesson
*Visit to a winery, one (1) English speaking instructor
*Transfer by private car from/to Greve *Apron, recipe book Wine and Food Lesson
*Wine and food lesson
*Wine tasting
*Light lunch
*Personal driver
*Tour manager (English speaking)
*Written notes Visit to an Italian Market
*Visit to a market
*Personal driver
*Tour manager (English speaking)
*Coffee break
*Food and wine tasting
*Written notes
Airfare and personal expenses are not included. |
For further inquiries or to register, click here.
CANCELLATION POLICY
If a client cancels 60 days prior to arrival date we will send back deposit less an administration charge of €60. If a client cancels between 60 and 30 days client will forfeit deposit. Cancellation less than 30 days prior to arrival date results in 100% of the amount being forfeited. Travel insurance is highly recommended.
CLIENT REMARKS
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