Tuscan rustic cuisine is simpler than most people imagine, and depends entirely on seasonal ingredients. We gather our herbs from the herb garden, and all local cheeses and meats come from the neighboring valleys.

In our program you are immersed in a culinary paradise, where you will live on the very farm where sheep graze, will walk the vineyards where the finest malvasia and sangiovese grapes grow and are harvested, to create ruby-colored perfect Chianti.

As a pre-requisite we recommend the TUSCAN COOKBOOK, to preview some of the Tuscan delectables you will be creating. The program includes four full days of cooking in a rustic Italian kitchen where we will learn recipes that can be easily duplicated at home:

Pappa al Pomodoro:     bread and tomato soup
Zuppa di Fagioli:     white bean Tuscan soup
Panzanella:     bread and vegetable salad with red-wine vinegar
Alla Brace:     grilled herbed meat delicacies
Carpaccio:     paper-thin slices of raw beef or fish served with Parmigiano-Reggiano and drizzled with olive oil
Cantucci di Prato:     traditional biscotti (twice-cooked) dessert bisquits
Tiramisù:     favorite recipe with custard, pan di Spagna and liquori (not Tuscan by origin)

Each participant will receive a printed recipe book with conversions from metric system.

WINE TASTING We will be visited by a local enologist and will sample the many traditional wines of Tuscany and beverages, such as Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino, Morellino di Scansano, Vin Santo, Limoncino and Grappa.

What’s up with DOC? We will learn how to read a wine label, why wine tastes different in Italy, how to transport wine, which glasses are used for which wines, and why. We will know which wines to serve with what, and at what temperature, and when and how to decant wine properly. We will also study the geographic conditions necessary to produce great wine, and why Italy is one of the largest producers of the finest wine world-wide.