Have you ever thought of taking part to a cookery class in Tuscany? Does this thought worry you because you do not know where and how to make it? What if the cooking class is delivered to where you stay and you do not need to arrange any trip to it or to worry about the way back?
Arianna & Friends organize private half-day cookery classes in Tuscany RIGHT AT YOUR VILLA! Our cook and our English speaking assistant will bring all the stuff to your premises, arrange and hold the course and serve dinner right after!

Our cooking classes take place in the morning or in the evening for about 3 hours.
Our English speaking assistant (also German, French, Spanish and Russian are available) and our professonal and skillful cook get to your villa and start arranging the kitchen for the cooking class. We deliver all ingredients and all necessary tools that are not in the kitchen equipment.
Then you wear your aprons and hats and you begin working at the several dishes of the menu of the day: appetizers, primo and secondo and finally a dessert.
During the preparation of the dishes you are invited to participate in chopping vegetables with a mezzaluna or streching the fresh dough for your home-made tagliatelle or ravioli by means of a mattarello. The lesson is your chance to learn many of the wise tricks that a grandma-cook know like no-one else! By chatting with us, you can also learn a lot about our uses and traditions, not only about food!
Finally, all the dishes prepared are served in your dining room or in your garden for a full dinner together with some excellent wines from farms of Tuscany.
Before leaving, the cook and the assistant will clean up your kitchen completely.
Your cooking class at Licia's will be the most striking day of your holiday in Tuscany!

Our private single-day cooking classes in short

• The preparation of your dinner or lunch includes a couple of starters, two main courses (primo and secondo according to the Italian tradition) with side dishes and a dessert - 4/5 courses.

• During your meal fitting local red or white wines will be served as well.

• There will be a professional cook and a friendly and helpful assistant speaking English (on request also German, Spanish, French, Italian or Russian) and ready to answer any question of yours.

• The cooking classes TAKE PLACE AT YOUR PREMISES. Rates below refer to classes delivered in an area within 1 driving hour from our premises in Peccioli - Pisa area. For longer distances different rates apply. Courses are held after asking the owners or the housekeepers of your villa for their permission.

Rates and enquiries

This is an email we got from KerenOr and her family from Tel Aviv on 25th August 2011 after a very intense cooking experience at their villa near Arezzo a few days before.

Dear Arianna and Friends,
we would like to thank you for a great afternoon & dinner !
the cooking class was definitely one of the highlights of our visit to Tuscany.
Ester showed us how to cook wonderful food and Massimo explained and hosted the evening with great interest. its been fun and tasty!
could you please send us the recipes so we can try it at home??

till next time,
best regards,
kerenOr

Hi Massimo
I didn't have the chance to thank you for the great evening we had together. So I do it now, thank you and your campanions for the great and happy birthday you gave me, It was absolutely a beautifull evening, full of joy and happy,
I must admit that I am not a recipe follower, which mean that I have to add my twist, but I tried some of your recipes (with changes) like the rice with regular rice which came out great.
For the mazno (the beef), sorry to say, I made some changes like use Merlot wine(I didn't have Chianti), and added some garlic tooth and mashrooms. It came out great.
So, as you can see, I like to do my version of dishes, don't take it personally, I loved you dish, but that is how I am.
Again, you and your companion gave us the best time and I'm going to tell everyone who plan to stay in Tuscany to use your services.
Massino, say thanks to Ester and (sorry, I don't remember her name) a big thanks and give them a big hag in my name.
Hope to meet you again very soon.
Kisses and love
Moshe

This is an email we received on 29th June 2011 from Kate, who took a cooking experience at her villa with her whole family:

Dear Arianna and Friends

We have all now returned from our magical holiday in Italy and are adjusting to being back in the real world.
We would all like to thank you so much for a fantastic afternoon and evening of cooking, eating and drinking. It was absolutely wonderful - we all enjoyed it so much and I think all came back with new tips on cooking.
A huge thank you to Massimo and Esta who were so warm, kind and fun - especially to the bambinis!

Massimo mentioned sending us the recipes - we would love to have them if possible!
Thanks again

Kate

P.S. We left your pamphlets in the villa and told the owner about your amazing services.

This is an email we received on 22nd May 2011 from Ruth, who booked a cooking experience and some tasting tours with us:

Liebe Arianna und Team!

Leider hat und der Alltag in Mainz wieder fest im Griff, aber die wunderschönen Tage in Siena wirken noch nach und halten uns bei Laune.
Wir möchten uns noch einmal ganz herzlich bedanken für den herzlichen Empfang in Siena und die wunderschönen events. Ganz besonders begeistert sind wir nach wie vor von dem Kochkurs, der uns allen sehr viel Spaß bereitet hat. Ein ganz großes Lob an Licia für Ihre Geduld und die guten Vorschläge. Dies war der Höhepunkt unseres Urlaubes. Wir möchten ein Kochbuch gestalten, von dem Ihr sicherlich ein Exemplar bekommen werdet - zumindest als Datei per mail!-
Die Tour mit Silvia war auch wunderschön, insbesondere die Weinprobe. Allerdings waren wir von der Olivenölprobe etwas enttäuscht. Wir hatten uns mehr Öle zum Verproben erhofft. Vor allem waren wir überrascht, dass wir das Öl aus dem Glas "trinken" sollten. Das hat uns allen ein wenig auf den Magen geschlagen und ein wenig Brot hätte dann nicht geschadet. Vielleicht könnt Ihr das beim nächsten mal berücksichtigen. Allerdings hat uns dann die Weinprobe in Rocca die Castagnoli, die sich später auch noch auf Grappa ausgeweitet hatte, vollauf entschädigt. Unsere Stimmung stieg zusehends und dazu hat nicht nur das sagenhafte alte Gemäuer beigetragen sondern auch die äußert nette und kompetente Führung durch den Weinkeller. Richtet bitte bei Eurem nächsten Besuch dort unserer spanischen Betreuerin ganz herzliche Grüße von den Mainzer Frauen aus! Da konnten wir uns dann auch nicht zurückhalten und haben eine große Bestellung aufgegeben, die wir allerdings noch sehnlichst erwarten. Auch Silvia an dieser Stelle noch ein ganz herzliches Dankeschön für Ihre tollen Fahrkünste und Erläuterungen über das Chianti-Gebiet (auch für die Übersetzungehilfen z.B. für Wechseljahre : ). Wir haben leider versäumt ganz laut "Stop" zu rufen, als wir an der wunderschönen 400-jährigen alten Eiche vorbeigefahren sind. Es hat uns bei ihrem Anblick schier die Sprache verschlagen. Falls Ihr ein Foto von diesem wunderschönen Baum habt oder eines für uns machen könnt bei der nächsten Tour, sind wir Euch sehr dankbar, wenn Ihr uns ein Bild schicken könntet.
Im Anhang habe ich Euch als Erinnerung ein paar Bilder geschickt, viel Spaß beim Anschauen.

Beim nächsten Besuch in der Toskana werden wir sicherlich wieder voneinander hören.

In diesem Sinne, ganz herzliche Grüße aus dem sonnigen Mainz, ganz besonders an Licia!!!!

Ruth und der Rest der "Hobbyköchinnen"

This is an email we received on 12th November 2010 from Michelle, who took our cooking class at her villa while staying in Tuscany:

Dear Arianna & Veronica,
I absolutely enjoyed the cooking class I had with your company and Veronica was wonderful!! I had so much fun learning from her and tasting the lovely food that was out of this world. I am a personal chef and always look forward to educating myself and tasting food. I am half Italian and so is my husband even though from different regions and our families get to share different preparations of food which is nice. I learned a lot and hope to do it again in the future and would highly recommend your company to anyone who travels to Tuscany. I would love to get Veronica's email address so that we could share recipes together. I have a lot of recipes that I could share in exchange if you all are willing. Again, Thank you so much for the experience and hope to keep in contact sharing recipes. If anyone has a website on how to get Veronica's clay pot that she cooked the beans in that would be wonderful.
Thank you,
Michelle

This is an email we received on 1st June 2010 from Gianna, who spent a week in Tuscany with her beautiful family:

Dear Arianna, Massimo, and friends!

You were a great help in making our trip a success! We really appreciated the last minute accommodation arrangements. And the whole group had a great time with the olive oil and dairy tour and then the market tour and cooking class. We learned a lot about tuscan food and wine, had great fun, and ate wonderful, local food. Rafael already made the mushroom bruschetta are we are looking forward to trying to replicate the carciofi risotto and veal in chianti.

Mille Grazie e Ciao,
Gianna

This is an email we received from Sandy, Andi, Lin and Ann:

Massimo- We wanted to share with you how much we enjoyed the cooking class with you and Luana. It was one of the highlights of our trip. I haven't even begun to put my pictures together, but once I do (probably after the holidays are over), I will sent you copies of what I took). May your holidays be the best. Thanks again for making our Italy trip so very memorable. Always,

Sandy and Andi (Rita and Lin too) (USA).