Gourmet Cooking with Chef Paolo Monti
Cooking program starts every sunday of the year
A great Northern Italian Cooking and Wine Program in Tuscany with Chef Paolo Monti. including working alongside the chef in the restaurant kitchen! - In this comprehensive "Hands On" cooking Program, you will learn the best of "Classic" and "Contemporary" Northern Italian Cuisine with 5 exciting classes. All together more than 60 recipes! The program is enriched by field trips to the wholesale market for fish, meat, cheeses pasta, wines olive oils etc. a wine tasting at a local boutique winery and a very interesting day trip Parma and Modena for the production of parmigiano reggiano.
It includes:
7 night full board accommodation, all meals beverages included.
4 cooking classes on tuscan and northern italian cuisine.
Guided tours of Lucca, Siena, wholesale market visit, Day trip to Parma and Modena for the production Parmigiano reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and traditional 12 years old balsamic vinegar, wine tasting in a local winery, guided tour of Lucca
Transportation provided throughout.
Day 1
arrival at cooking school
accommodation in the school's apartments
Aperitif at 7,30 pm
welcome dinner Dinner
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Day 2
9.30 Breakfast
9.45 am Hands on cooking lesson with Chef Paolo Monti followed by lunch. This class is very important, we will start with lesson on the origins of the Cucina italiana, the main ingredients, fresh herbs, an Extravirgin Olive Oil seminar, explaining how extravirgin olive oil is made and taste a dozen different olive oils to recognize the differences, according to where they are produced. We will then start cooking some of the most important sauces of Italian and Tuscan cuisine. Have a light breakfast! because we will make 14 recipes and we will taste all of them! Afternoon excursion to Lucca and guided tour of the city. Return to the hotel for dinner
4 pm guided tour in Lucca
Dinner
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Day 3 Advanced fish and seafood class
8.00 am Trip to see the fish and vegetable market, for italian vegetables, herbs and fruit, salami and cheeses, but mainly to learn how to recognize fresh fish and less then fresh fish! See different types of fish and what they are used for.
Return to the cooking school and we will cook about 15 different fish dishes: appetizers, pasta, main course and dessert
afternoon free
Dinner with local Lucchese specialties
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Day 4
06.30 am Trip the Parma province , breakfast on the way, to visit Bertinelli Parmigiano Reggiano Dairy to see the production of this totally organic and wonderful cheese, followed by tasting the finished product of course! We then drive to Langhirano a "Prosciutto di Parma" maker, see how prosciutto is made in a Prosciuttificio La Perla , we visit the factory and see all the steps to produce this wonderful ham, follwed by lunch with prosciutto, salami etc, and home made fresh pasta with Lambrusco wine ! After lunch we drive to Modeana to Acetaia Malpighi and visit the barrel rooms where the original "Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale" is made an ancient tradition going back to the Roman Times...and of course taste it! Return to Lucca for dinner.
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Day 5
Breakfast
10.00 am Hands on tuscan cooking class about typical Tuscan Cuisine, we will make crostini ai fegatini, crostini alle melanzane, Panzanella: the famous tuscan bread salad. We will hand make the local vegetable ravioli and a delicious aromatic meat ragù from Lucca with unusual spices, for main dish Arista di Maiale: loin of pork with typical tuscan herbs. For dessert we will make Cantuccini also know as "Biscotti". Afternoon: free to relax, perhaps with a bicycle trip along the river or free to walkbout in Lucca.
6 pm: appetizer with a class of wine, suit up and work in the kitchen alongside our chefs for one hour, followed by dinner
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Day 6
Breakfast,
This day we will do some more advanced dishes not present n other cooking classes, spaghetti cacio e pepe al vino rosso, costoletta orecchio d'elefante, different basic sauces, basil pesto and rucola pesto, mozzarella di bufala cocktail, etc...
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Day 7
Breakfast
10 am the final Cooking Class with Chef Paolo Monti, we will be learning how to make a proper risotto with shrim and saffron, with porcini mushrooms, with red wine radicchio and speck, with squid ink. We will be preapring also 2 types of traditional beef Carpaccio and a Buffalo Mozzarella with a blended fresh tomato sauce, to finish, dessert, Semifreddo al croccantino
Farewell dinner with presentation of certificate!
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Day 8
Departure
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The Cost
For the 7 day all inclusive Gourmet Cooking package, with 5 cooking lessons, all meals, wines and tours included is as follows:
From November to end March: Euro 1590,00 per person in double room
From April to end October: Euro 1690,00 per person in double room.
Single room surcharge: Euro 30,00 per night.
For scheduled dates : This program is available all year round starting every sunday
You can reserve also for just one day, please visit Half Day Cooking Classes
Travel agents are welcome, groups are welcome,
To make we reservation we require a deposit of Euro 500 by Paypal and a second Euro 500 deposit 30 days before arrival. please visit the reservation page for instructions.
