A 7 . Special 2024 Christmas cooking class in Tuscany
At MY TUSCAN KITCHEN COOKING SCHOOL
Cooking school in the rural Tuscany
Join our fun and educational cookery class available on Friday December 20 and 27 at 03:30 pm (15:00) with dinner with a special Christmas Program!
Groups of min 4 and max 12 people. Special Christmas Tuscan Cooking program – Special focus on TUSCAN CHRISTMAS SPECIALTIES with hands-on preparation of several courses and following rich Christmas Dinner
DOWNLOAD DETAILS OF CLASSES, NEW 2024 CALENDAR & BOOKING FORM HERE
My Tuscan Kitchen is the first cooking school in the rural Tuscany at Rita’s farm in the area of Terre di Pisa, near Volterra, San Gimignano and Pisa.
The cooking venue is at an authentic farmhouse a few minutes from the village of Peccioli and Palaia, a location where you can enjoy wonderful surrounding views from a charming hilltop. Adults and children, foodies and fans of Tuscany in general are welcome to participate.
Inside our charming stone-walled kitchen, our local cooks teach you how to prepare some of the most traditional recipes of Tuscany and Italy, using just fresh and genuine ingredients.
Our guide/story tellers share with you anecdotes and facts about the country life style of Tuscany along with interesting information on its history and traditions. We welcome you in our home and we share the preparation of the food like in a family or like among friends.
At the end of this amazing hands-on and educational experience, everyone sit at the table, toast with some good local wine and enjoy the dishes prepared and the company of the whole group.
Special shared cooking class: CHRISTMAS TUSCAN COOKING CLASS
Available on Friday December 20 and 27 at 3:30 pm followed by dinner with a special Christmas Program – In this program you prepare a full dinner for about 3 hours before you sit at a table with all other participants and enjoy lunch with all prepared foods. Local wines from Rita’s farm will be served with no limit. A typical Italian dessert wine is served too.
A mysterious Temple right next door
Just next to our cooking venue is the stunningTempio a Minerva Medica a special place rich in history and mysterious legends. On the occasion of our cooking class you will have the chance to stop in front of it for a picture and learn about a few facts. You can learn more about it and enjoy a full guided visit of the temple by clicking here.
An example of our Christmas cooking class menu:
Crostini misti: fegatini, salsiccia e stracchino, funghi Mix of typical bruschettas Gnocchi di patate al ragù di salsiccia Hand-made potato gnocchi with pork ragu Arrosto di manzo alla toscana con piselli Oven-baked roast beef Tuscan art, with peas Ricciarelli Typical Christmas cookies made with almond flour Vini della fattoria Unlimited wine from the farm
We will share with you the way we prepare a traditonal Christmas meal in Italy.
This is not only cooking but an authentic Tuscan experience.
This is a list of specialties that you are likely to sample as part of the program of this class. Please, note that the specialties of the menu prepared at the class may vary according to the season and the availability of the products in the day of the class.
Ricciarelli are delicious cookies originated in Siena based on almonds and sugar. They are particularly appreciated by the Italians during the Christmas festivites and they are often gifted in decorated plates with a lovely layer of powdered sugar on top. They shall be refined with a little bit of liquor and they are served at […]
The best extra virgin olive oil is made with fresh Tuscan olives immediately squeezed after the harvest at an oil mill. The most common olives for Tuscan olive oil are frantoio, leccino, frantoio and madremignola.
Tuscan white wines are often based on a typical grape called Vermentino, which provides strong minerality and freshness to the wines made with it. Other very common grapes for white wines in Tuscany are Trebbiano and Malvasia.
The Tuscan soil provides a wide variety of red wines, from easy-to-drink young table wines to full-body and robust riservas. Tuscan red wines are often based on Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo or Colorino grapes and sometimes on international grapes like Merlot, Cabernet or Syrah.
A plate of mixed bruschettas, topped with fresh tomatoes, cheese and sausage or simply extra virgin olive oil. Bruschettas are very common appetizers in all Italy and in Tuscany they are commonly called crostini.
In our cooking class we like telling you a lot about Tuscan farms and farmers' cooking traditions, introducing you to Tuscan people with their personal stories, careers and characters.
You will have one of our guides as a language assistants and coordinator with you during the whole class. Please, see below all the guides and language assistants who can be with you.
During this experience you will also meet one of our Tuscan cooks who give you the cooking class. Please, see below which cooks you are likely to encounter.
Arianna
guide
Arianna
Founder and owner at Arianna & Friends'
And that's me, Arianna. When I was a student at the univeristy together with Massimo, we had a dream. We knew already we wanted somehow to spread our culture, but we didn't know in which ways yet. And we knew we needed to first get more educated ourselves, to go deeper in what for us belonged to our everyday life, before making it avaiable to the others. We made a lot of researches, made many contacts, and we finally found a good way to become ambassadors of the Tuscan culture, taditions and lifestyle.
Yes, I admit it, the power that moved everything was my passion for food! For good food, and in particular for the good food of my mamma and my nonna, hehehh! It was learning from them that I started thinking that I couldn't miss the opportunity to share all I knew with others. It couldn't be different because here where we live, food IS culture!
And so we made up a name for our project, our future business, that had to give this message: spend time with us, your Tuscan friends and you'll feel like in a family and you'll experience Tuscany in a very authentic way. So the name Arianna & Friends was picked as the best choice.
Personally, I love planning, making people happy, organizing, having crazy ideas .. so crazy that sometimes Massimo needs to bring me down to earth! I like making sure that people are more than satisfied when they come back home.
I'm lucky to have Massimo, Consuelo, Moira, Luca with me along with all the other "boys and girls" that help us providing excellent services, all of us, always with a big smile on our faces :)
Massimo
guide
Massimo
Co-founder and owner at Arianna & Friends'
Ciao a tutti! It’s Massimo here.
I’m the “first one” of the friends of Arianna in order of appearance, as we first met me when we were… ehm … at the high school! Well, the first “activities” we arranged together were those many teenagers do, like going to rock concerts (long live Metallica!), barbecuing, drinking inexpensive wine, mainly with no understanding of it.
In over 25 years we became more serious adults; so serious that we finished university together and we then decided to start a business from scratch, back in 2007, in an area where nothing like this existed before.
I am a natural born teacher, as I’ve always liked sharing knowledge on the beauties of the world with other people. When I started sharing the wisdom of the local cuisine with visitors to Tuscany or showing them the rooted traditions behind a wheel of local pecorino cheese, I realized how fantastic my job is. In fact I discovered that being a wine & food guide is a sophisticated way of being a good teacher, so I can’t help but love it!
In the A&F team I’m the multi-language guide or assistant in all activities we offer, from cooking classes, to wine & food tours, from Italian language classes to vespa tours. In the low season I deal with the website development and content management.
As I am very curious, I spend all my free time travelling all over the world and of course going on learning as much as I can: over the last few years I took part in several seminaries on extra virgin olive oil, I started a three-year course to become a sommelier, I experienced a professional training to become gelato maker and I decided to never give up in learning the Arabic language.
Stay connected as we will soon come up with some new great ideas for your entertainment and enjoyment of our beautiful region!
Ci vediamo in Toscana!
Ester
friend
Ester
Ciao, I'm Ester, one of the cooks of Arianna & Friends'. I've been working with them since the beginning of their adventure in 2007.
I love cooking together with people from all over the world, especailly with young kids.
What I prefer to cook is pasta dishes, pizza and desserts, like for example the stunning cake I made to celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary.
I live, like Davide (my nephew), in the little village of Lajatico, birthplace of Andrea Bocelli and from my home I can hear his voice and see something when Teatro del Silenzio takes place in July.
I live in a farm and I have chickens, rabbits, a large vegetable garden. I make my own olive oil and wine together with my family.
I hope to be able to cook with many of you in the years to come and teach you a lot of our typical Tuscan food.
Lorena
friend
Lorena
Good morning everyone! I'm the cook Lorena. I started working with Arianna & Friends a few years ago when I retired, because someone set me up. You must know that Arianna is a good friend of my daughter Martina and they had this brilliant idea of asking me to cook for Arianna's tourists. Well, I coulnd't say no! Arianna tried my food for the first time when she was still at school with my daughter and she knows that I can cook very well!! ahahah
The food I prepare is purely Tuscan: I don't use and butter or lard, but just EV olive oil, from Tuscany of course. People say my meat ragu is excellent, but also my Cacciucco - Livornese style fish soup - is simply fantastic. I make preserves and the best lasagne ever!
I live in Pontedera, the town of the vespa. I'm in my early 70s and last year I got married for the second time! I like music from 40s 50s and 60s like Glenn Miller, King Cole, Frank Sinatra etc. etc.
I cannot speak English, even if I tried to attend some English classes in these last few years... I ended up chatting about food with the other students! But no problem, when I'm with some guests in their holiday home preparing a meal, I always have my little dictionary with me that helps a lot in the conversation.
I look forward meeting you all again soon!
Silvia
friend
Silvia
Ciao, I'm Silvia, one of the youngest cooks at Arianna & Friends'. Cooking is my real passion and I like to prepare any traditional dish both for visitors and for my family. I also love baking pizza as well as trying innovative food and special contemporary techniques, especially in my kitchen at home. When I started working for this company in 2018, I met an incredible team of collaborators and with them I finally feel joy and serenity in what I do. Any time I work as a cook I can breath freedom and this makes me happy.
As I really love the sea, in my free time I like being at the beach. I have a passion for travelling and being in the company of my friends. I could define myself as a "free spirit" with a big attraction to ... hats !!!
Looking forward to meet you all!
Laura
friend
Laura
Laura is a very friendly granny who loves Tuscan food just because it is what her granmother passed her! She lives in a fantastic cottage very close to Montecastello and she enjoys nature and music. She is ready to cook for chef services in any villa in Tuscany and she is able to adapt to any condition always with the aim of preparing the most delicious delicacies for her guests.
LOCATION OF THE COOKING VENUE:
This cooking class takes place on a farm near the village of Peccioli, in central Tuscany, among Pisa, San Gimignano and Volterra.
MEET-UP LOCATION:
Unless differently specified, the meeting point with the language assistant directly at the premises of the cooking school. Detailed information and road instructions will be provided at the booking stage.
DURATION:
The experience lasts 3 hours plus time for dinner
AVAILABILITY:
The program "Christmas Tuscan Cooking" is available only on Fridays 20 and 27 December 2024.
LANGUAGE:
This class is available in English with no surcharge. German, French, Spanish, Russian or Italian are also possible upon booking with no surcharge.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL:
Easy
CHILD FRIENDLY:
Ideal for children
CLOTHING:
No particular clothing required.
FOOD RESTRICTIONS:
The foods served during this cooking class might contain gluten, lactose, nuts and alcohol. If you have any food restriction, please inform our personnel during the enquiry process.
TRANSPORTATION:
This program and its rates do not include transportation and are set on a self-driving base. For further information see the box "transportation options".
The destinations reached during this activity are in the Tuscan countryside, in areas off the beaten track that cannot be reached by public transport. We highly recommend renting a car or a scooter in order to reach them. As an alternative, we can offer a valued service by chauffeured car, van or minibus. Any cost of transportation is to be added to the rates displayed on the rate table of this page.
A special cookery lesson dedicated to the specialties of Christmas in Tuscan homes. In the warm and welcoming atmosphere of our cooking school My Tuscan Kitchen in Montefoscoli, enjoy a few hours of relaxation shared with other foodies visiting Tuscany during the festivities.
A special cookery lesson dedicated to the specialties of Christmas in Tuscan homes. In the warm and welcoming atmosphere of our cooking school My Tuscan Kitchen in Montefoscoli, enjoy a few hours of relaxation shared with other foodies visiting Tuscany during the festivities.
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