Long weekend cooking in Italy
| country: | Italy |
| departures: | 2007: 13 Dec |
| price: | From €860 (5 days) excluding flights. Price includes accommodation, cookery lessons, excursion, all meals, wine and airport transfers. Free for children up to 9 years, 9 to 14 years pay half price, dates upon request |
read 3 travellers reviews
the amazing things you'll be doing
Ever dream of waking up in a rustic farmhouse north of Rome, in a room with a view over unspoiled landscape including 500 olive trees, and to a wholesome breakfast made with fresh country ingredients?
Dedicated to preserving their rich heritage and traditions through cooking classes, Claudio and Assuntina welcome you to their home and their country. The location is a stunning restoration of a Sixteenth century stone farmhouse, which is set amidst its own set olive grove in the rolling hills of the Tolfa Mountains just outside the small town of Tolfa, north of Rome and only a short drive away from the port of Civitavecchia.
The restoration has been lovingly done with attention to architectural detail evident everywhere you look from the fixtures, furnishings, and the beautiful and historically correct tiled floors and ceilings but with all the modern conveniences of home.
The cookery programmes offer the unique opportunity to experience Italy through its cuisine, in an authentic Italian home setting, where time at the table is sacred and food is celebrated. Your teacher during your stay is Anna who teaches traditional Italian family recipes, demonstrating cooking techniques which have been passed down through the generations from mothers and grandmothers. Anna herself is a grandmother and cooking does not get much better than this! You will learn as she did . . . hands on or in the pasta! Claudio, expert Sommelier will share with you his knowledge in wines, grappa & olive oil through tastings. Before lunch or dinner he will propose different types of wine from all over Italy. His aim is to make learning about wine fun!
The selected red wines can be: Barolo, Barbaresco, Nebbiolo, Bardolino from Piedmont, Chianti, Amarone, San Giovese, Morellino di Scansano from Tuscany, Taurasi, Aglianico from Campania, Nero D’avola from Sicily, Teroldego from Trentino, Cesanese del Piglio from Latium, Cannonau e Vermentino di Sardegna, Cabernet Merlot from Friuli. The selected white wines can be: Gavi, Pinot, Chardonnait, Passito di Pantelleria, Moscato di Sicilia from Sicily.
The classes are small, informal and taught in their own kitchen. The produce used is picked fresh from their garden and the organic extra virgin olive oil is their own. Vegetarian cooking courses and programs suitable for children can also be arranged . For those of you wanting to practice your Italian, the classes are taught in Italian and are translated into English! We may take you on walks in the surrounding countryside to pick and learn about wild mushrooms and salads herbs, according to the season. October to December sees the olive harvest, wild mushrooms and chestnuts.
Programmes are one-day, long week-end or week-long and it's possible to create your own personalized program combining cooking classes with touring.
If you don't want to cook every day, we will help you with any information to discover this unspoilt and unknown area. Monti della Tolfa northern Lazio makes a perfect base for exploring the sights of Rome and the stunning area of Etruria. There are plenty of places for hiking, climbing, trekking, mountain biking, archaeology, horse riding, bird watching, walking, hiking, pottery. We can organise guides to Rome, Viterbo, Orvieto and Assisi as well activities upon request. Rome is one hour's drive away, or 50 minutes from Fiumicino airport and transfers can be arranged to/from Rome airport or Civitavecchia train station or port.
Included in our 5 day course:
Dedicated to preserving their rich heritage and traditions through cooking classes, Claudio and Assuntina welcome you to their home and their country. The location is a stunning restoration of a Sixteenth century stone farmhouse, which is set amidst its own set olive grove in the rolling hills of the Tolfa Mountains just outside the small town of Tolfa, north of Rome and only a short drive away from the port of Civitavecchia.
The restoration has been lovingly done with attention to architectural detail evident everywhere you look from the fixtures, furnishings, and the beautiful and historically correct tiled floors and ceilings but with all the modern conveniences of home.
The cookery programmes offer the unique opportunity to experience Italy through its cuisine, in an authentic Italian home setting, where time at the table is sacred and food is celebrated. Your teacher during your stay is Anna who teaches traditional Italian family recipes, demonstrating cooking techniques which have been passed down through the generations from mothers and grandmothers. Anna herself is a grandmother and cooking does not get much better than this! You will learn as she did . . . hands on or in the pasta! Claudio, expert Sommelier will share with you his knowledge in wines, grappa & olive oil through tastings. Before lunch or dinner he will propose different types of wine from all over Italy. His aim is to make learning about wine fun!
The selected red wines can be: Barolo, Barbaresco, Nebbiolo, Bardolino from Piedmont, Chianti, Amarone, San Giovese, Morellino di Scansano from Tuscany, Taurasi, Aglianico from Campania, Nero D’avola from Sicily, Teroldego from Trentino, Cesanese del Piglio from Latium, Cannonau e Vermentino di Sardegna, Cabernet Merlot from Friuli. The selected white wines can be: Gavi, Pinot, Chardonnait, Passito di Pantelleria, Moscato di Sicilia from Sicily.
The classes are small, informal and taught in their own kitchen. The produce used is picked fresh from their garden and the organic extra virgin olive oil is their own. Vegetarian cooking courses and programs suitable for children can also be arranged . For those of you wanting to practice your Italian, the classes are taught in Italian and are translated into English! We may take you on walks in the surrounding countryside to pick and learn about wild mushrooms and salads herbs, according to the season. October to December sees the olive harvest, wild mushrooms and chestnuts.
Programmes are one-day, long week-end or week-long and it's possible to create your own personalized program combining cooking classes with touring.
If you don't want to cook every day, we will help you with any information to discover this unspoilt and unknown area. Monti della Tolfa northern Lazio makes a perfect base for exploring the sights of Rome and the stunning area of Etruria. There are plenty of places for hiking, climbing, trekking, mountain biking, archaeology, horse riding, bird watching, walking, hiking, pottery. We can organise guides to Rome, Viterbo, Orvieto and Assisi as well activities upon request. Rome is one hour's drive away, or 50 minutes from Fiumicino airport and transfers can be arranged to/from Rome airport or Civitavecchia train station or port.
Included in our 5 day course:
- Cookery lessons
- Lodging
- Tutored wine tasting with best Italian wine
- All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) except lunch in Rome
- Selected fine wines, from Claudio's "cantina", with lunch and dinner also pre and after dinner drinks
- 1 full day in Rome on your own (upon request English speaking guide)
- Transportation and transfer to/from Rome airport (please note transfer to/from Ciampino E40 more per person)
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Transfer from Rome (Fiumicino) airport. Welcome drinks and candlelit dinner |
| Day 2: | Weekly market. Spend the morning in the kitchen with our cook, enjoy lunch, visit Etruscan Museum in Tarquinia, late afternoon. Tutored wine tasting with Claudio before dinner. |
| Day 3: | Breakfast and full day in Rome, at leisure. Return late afternoon for dinner. |
| Day 4: | Cooking in the morning, followed by lunch. Afternoon walk around Tolfa, stop for gelato and then cook "pizza" before dinner. |
| Day 5: | After breakfast depart to the airport. |
travellers' tales
Our hosts welcomed us as part of their family and we had no language problems at all. The food was excellent and we met many new friends. Would definitely recommend and would certainly consider revisiting. (more)
how this holiday makes a difference
 We promote pure food that is local, seasonal and organically grown. Our olive oil is certified BIOLOGICO (organic) by Suolo & Salute (Association for the Organic Agriculture). We promote our country through cookery courses & activity holidays to preserve our heritage and traditions and offer small classes hands-on cookery & activity holidays, living with us, lodging in our just restored "casa in campagna". Local women teach our classes and enjoy sharing our culture and traditions. We operate in a way that increases the positive impacts and decrease the negative ones on the local community and the environment. We support the local community economically by bringing our groups to this rural area in Italy. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've lead the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |