Cooking Schools in Tuscany and Asdo

Renaissance Tuscany plus Medieval Umbria ...In a hands-on program celebrating the cuisine of two important central Italian regions, implement recipes using ingredients native to each cuisine and common to both. Then with the help of a master sommelier, match each culinary masterpiece with one of the area's highly acclaimed wines.

Discover how to differentiate between the various grades of olive oil and exactly which oil to select when preparing regional dishes, using delicacies such as fresh porcini mushrooms from the forests of Tuscany and Umbria, black celery from Trevi or delicate black truffles from the Norcia area of Umbria.

Culinary and winery excursions are scheduled throughout the program with stops in the hilltop towns of San Gimignano, Cortona, Montepulciano, Montalcino and Spoleto.

Mystical Medieval Umbria ...Embark on a magical journey into the Umbria region's Medieval past and learn to cook typical dishes in the town of Spoleto.

Begin by learning to select the right olive oil to enhance Umbria's true provincial-style traditional dishes using local pecorino cheese, prized black truffles, black celery, porcini mushrooms, sausages, salamis and much more.

During the course of the hands-on program, relive the history of the region as you learn the legends around Umbria's saltless bread and dishes such as strengozzi alla Spolentina. Enjoy a full day dedicated to breads and focaccia including those made with chick pea, spelt, chestnut, corn and potato flours and integrated with sunflower, sesame, anise and poppy seeds and a variety of herbs. Impress even the most gifted chefs with your ability to create strufoli or tiny delicate mignon desserts filled with crema pasticcera and wild berries dipped in fine Italian chocolate.

Culinary excursions include a visit to one of the oldest frantoio (oil press) in Italy, to an ancient winery producing the famed Sangrantino di Montefalco DOCG wine and to the forests of Sellano in the hills beyond Spoleto to learn the secrets behind hunting black truffles (season permitting).