Tuscookany – Casa Ombuto – One Week Italian Cooking Class

This is a hands-on cooking school with an excellent, patient, inspiring, and fun instructor – Chef Paola Baccetti.

Her energy, and knowledge of and pride in Italian food was an inspiration to us all. We were a class of nine who had the opportunity to prepare appetizers, first courses, second courses, and deserts. We learned to make pasta and pizza. There were about 11+ recipes that were prepared daily. Although the brochure stated that we would prepare dinners on four afternoons, some of the food we prepared was eaten for lunches, and for dinner on the day of our outing. We gathered herbs and vegetables from the Ombuto gardens. We took the class in August and the garden was near its peak. The orchard was beginning to bear fruit.

As noted, this is a hands-on cooking school. We all learned about the food and cooking techniques. Each day there was about a 1 and ½ hour discussion about the items we were going to make that evening. In the discussions, we learned about changes and substitutions - same recipes with different fruits, vegetables, pastas, sauces, or meats. There was time to ask questions. In addition, we learned the importance of sourcing ingredients. After the discussion, we would split into teams and prepare the recipes

The students had different levels of cooking skills. We all left feeling comfortable in the kitchen cooking Tuscan food. Paola ensured we were all engaged. I, who never baked a desert, have conquered my fear.

The rest of the staff was courteous, friendly and helpful. The pool, sauna and facilities were a great way to spend the mornings. The one-day outing took us to an olive grove to learn about making olive oil, a vineyard to understand wine making, and a restaurant when all the ingredients are locally sourced.

We started our Tuscookany adventure with a group of strangers who became friends. This was really evidenced on our free day when we returned to prepare the evening meal as a group with no Paola or other staff to assist.

This was a first-class experience. We had breakfast every day. We had three course lunches and four course dinners. Many of these courses had several items on each plate (in essence they were tasting menus). We learned about wines of Italy and the Tuscan region. Wine was served at lunch and dinner. Aside from regular good local wines dinner also included two special wines, one red and one white. Every...