The Sunny Kitchen - An Italian cook in Amsterdam

Cooking Holidays in Tuscany, April and Sep.-Oct. 08

Cooking Holidays in Italy with Nicoletta Tavella
of Italian cooking school La Cucina del Sole

Update 2008: HERE YOU CAN FIND THE LATEST SCHEDULE OF THE 2008 CULINARY HOLIDAYS IN TUSCANY

NEW!
October 14-21, 2007
COOKING HOLIDAY IN TUSCANY!

TUSCANY, October 14-21, 2007: We cook at agriturismo "Il Cantastorie" next to Montecatini Terme (in the Pistoia province), a lovely resort with a breathtaking view on the beautiful green valley with lots of olive trees, charming and peaceful surroundings and a fantastic, brand new professional kitchen where every evening we will prepare a complete meal with dishes from different Italian regions, Tuscany included of course!
During each hands-on cooking lesson we will prepare a complete four-course meal and then eat together at a nicely set table. We will explore the dishes typical of the rich Tuscan tradition and that of other Italian regions and drink wines that go perfectly well with what we cook.
We can choose between the Roman, Tuscan, Milanese, Piemontese, Neapolitan and Sicilian cuisine, or pick several other Italian regions. We could also dedicate a lesson to the yummiest antipasti (the rich starters and nibbles, the "Italian tapas"), other interesting dishes from the Ancient Roman cuisine or from the Italian Renaissance and of course the fresh pastas that make the Italian cuisine so famous: ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach, tagliatelle, spaghetti alla chitarra and maltagliati, all of them with their own specific sauces that will make our cooking experience complete.
For our cooking lessons we always use seasonal ingredients of the very best quality.

PROGRAM (slight changes are possibile):

The cooking lessons are given in English by Nicoletta Tavella, chef cook and owner of Italian cooking school La Cucina del Sole in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Nicoletta was born and raised in Italy and and teaches Italian cooking since 2001. She published het first cookbook "Antipasti" in 2006. Before becoming a cooking teacher she has been a professional interpreter and translator for 15 years.

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13-14 October arrival at agriturismo "Il Cantastorie"
14 Oct.    welcome dinner cooked by Nicoletta

15 Oct.    morning: free;

              afternoon (starting at about 17.00 hrs): cooking lesson with dinner

16 Oct.    morning: visit to Pistoia's historical center with a professional guide, then lunch in Pistoia;

              afternoon (starting at about 17.00 hrs): cooking lesson with dinner

17 Oct.    morning: stroll in the woods around the estate with an expert game keeper. We'll be looking for wild edible mushrooms that we will use during our cooking lessons.

              afternoon (starting at about 17.00 hrs): cooking lesson with dinner

18 Oct.    morning: free;

              afternoon (starting at about 17.00 hrs): cooking lesson with dinner

19 Oct.    morning: visit to a wine maker, wine tasting and lunch

                           OR visit to an artisanal chocolate producer, tasting and lunch

              afternoon (starting at about 17.00 hrs): cooking lesson with dinner

20-21 October departure

Prices

• Price € 945,00 based on a 2 persons room (extra for a 1 persons room: € 180,00)
• 7 night stay at a 3-star hotel in the centre of Montecatini Terme incl. breaksfast
• Welcome dinner cooked by Nicoletta at "Il Cantastorie" on Sunday evening by arrival
• 5 cooking lessons at "Il Cantastorie" in its professional kitchen
• 3 excursions incl. lunches

Transfers from and to the airports of Pisa and Florence are possibile, upon request and for an extra fee.

For info and for booking this October cooking holiday in Tuscany
please call Cristina and Michael at "Il Cantastorie",
tel. +39 0572 67 44 96
of send an e-mail to info @ ilcantastorie.eu (without spaces)

Cristina and Michael speak English, Italian and Dutch

Click on pictures to enlarge. For more pictures of "Il Cantastorie" click here.

Nicoletta Tavella, the cooking teacher
(photo: De Telegraaf)

Click on pictures to enlarge

Culinary holiday in Italy

In October I'm going to cook in Italy again. To be completely honest, I'm going to let other people cook in Italy. :)

Together with Strada Nuova I've organized a week-long cooking holiday. We had the "tryout" with a small group during October last year. The holiday has been fantastic and the people in the group were extremely nice, curious about the local eating habits and products, and very, very enthousiastic. We've had fun, seen and tasted a lot of food and wine and, most of all, we've cooked lots of nice Italian stuff!

This Autumn we're going back to Nepi - about 50 km from Rome.
From a culinary point of view, this is de-fi-ni-te-ly my favourite season. I'm namely crazy about chestnuts, truffles, porcini mushroom, polenta, you name it. And I find a cozy after-dinner fireplace totally irresistible.
But, I admit, we could be in for some "unpleasant" surprises. Last year, for example, we've had fabulous sunshiny days and we've used the fireplace just a few times. :)

I surely hope the weather is going to be as nice as last year's. Warm sunny days are the perfect natural excursion-enhancer. And Rome in the Autumn sun is one of the things in life that make me deeply happy. A visit to the ricotta and pecorino maker, the great olive oil producer and the many local markets in the area is, of course, much more pleasurable when the sun is shining. And we're definitely going to visit the beautiful markets! First of all to learn how to buy "the Italian way" and IN Italian, and then to see, smell and taste everything that can be seen, smelled and tasted. After that, we're going to prepare everything we bought in the best and most appetizing possible way, and then - you can be sure about that - we'll eat everything we've made accompanied by some great local wines!

Should you wish to receive more information about this culinary holiday, please click here.

Arrivederci in Italia!