Summer Cooking School in Tuscany, Italy

Organic Tuscany Cooking School:
Our cooking courses are very hands-on. They are taught in English, but you will acquire a smattering of culinary Italian. Local chefs will guide you through the preparation of simple but delicious dishes (from Tuscany and from other Italian regions) and reveal some of their culinary secrets. Groups are small (maximum 8 people), so that everyone gets a chance to try their hand at every technique, from making fresh egg pasta dough to lovingly stirring an artichoke risotto to perfection. Rather than cooking a "usual" meal of first course, second course and dessert we teach you several dishes on each day, so that you go home with quite an extensive repertoire!

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You are free to pick and choose whether you'd like to join in the cooking school activities on a particular day or not. If you fancy a day horse-riding, hot-air ballooning or just going to the beach, let us know and we'll help you do just that.

You will be staying in a magnificent 19th century Tuscan villa on a farm which has 340 acres of vineyards and olive groves. The cooking classes will take place on site, in a spacious ground floor kitchen.

The double bedrooms in the villa are spacious and have their own keys and private bathrooms. The shared villa kitchen is separate from the ground-floor kitchen where the classes will take place, and is a lovely traditional room (with fireplace), ideal for breakfasts and for the odd time you might possibly want to prepare a light snack.

There are several sitting rooms and dining rooms where you can relax. Find a shady corner to read in the beautiful garden, take a moment to enjoy the quiet of the chapel, or enjoy the pool with its stunning view of the vineyards in the valley below.

Courses:
The week-long cooking courses are held from May to September. Traditional Tuscan and Italian recipes - fresh pastas, hearty salads, the perfect risotto and delectable desserts. Two of the cooking courses are vegetarian and the others can be vegetarian friendly.

We run the courses from Villa San Giuseppe, three miles outside the medieval town of Certaldo. Certaldo is a little off the usual tour routes, so its charming historic centre is refreshingly free of tourists. Its claim to fame is that the author of the Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio, lived and died there. Forty minutes away are the unique art towns of Florence and Siena, and half an hour away is the little medieval gem of San Gimignano (which we can see from the garden).



Prices:
The 2009 cooking course price of €1300 is per person, based on two people sharing a bedroom with private bathroom. This is around $1600 (US Dollars) or £1000 (British Pounds). Check the current exchange rate below. The price for a non-cooking guest, based on two people sharing a double room, is €900 per person. Non-cooking guests are welcome to join us for all non-cooking activities, including all trips, meals and wine-tastings. There is a wealth of activities to enjoy while the rest of us cook, including walking, horseriding or just lazing by the pool.