Tuscany

Siena is a perfect medieval city, centered around the famous Piazza del Campo, where the Palio is run twice a year. A medieval parade in full costume precedes the race. Seventeen contradas compete to have their horse and jockey run a treacherous three-minute race around the ancient square. Each contrada has a special identity, colors, flag, and song. Children and adults proudly support their contrada all year long in anticipation of this exciting event.

Siena is an elegant town, from which the names burnt siena and raw siena are clearly derived. She has a long history of artistic rivalry with Florence. Siena boasts a magnificent Duomo which took over three hundred years to complete and is famous for its black and white striated marble. An artist’s dream, Siena is at once enchanted and romantic. We will take a walking tour of Siena, (comfortable shoes and ability to navigate hills a must) and sample her delicious specialties, panforte, ricciarelli and outstanding rustic cuisine.

TUSCAN COOKING SCHOOL offers a full-immersion opportunity to work with the finest chefs in Tuscany, creating characteristic recipes which have made Tuscany famous.

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.