Toscana Saporita Culinary School (Sandra Lotti Rosi)
+39 335 8129442
e-mail: info@toscanasaporita.com
For a truly authentic and unforgettable Tuscan experience, any person of good taste who enjoys cooking, and wants to learn more MUST visit Toscana Saporita! Learn the essentials of true Tuscan cooking from a culinary master, Sandra Lotti, who has operated the school for twenty years and has published numerous books on authentic Tuscan cuisine and has had the honor of cooking at the James Beard House. In addition to cooking and dining, students get to visit local towns, including Lucca, Pisa, Forte dei Marmi (the marble quarries), Viareggio, Florence, and even get to participate in a white truffle hunt during truffle season at Savini Tartufi and enjoy an authentic white truffle meal, when in season.
A sample of the classic, one-week program is as follows:
You arrive on a Sunday and are welcomed with a traditional Tuscan lunch. The remainder of the day is yours to settle in, explore the estate, swim, ride a bicycle or just relax while waiting dinner to be served.
Monday though Friday you will have breakfast at 9:15 (most participants are up earlier exercising- either walking, bike riding, or jogging to stay in shape with all the great food), then lessons promptly start at 10 AM.
All lessons are hands-on and generally last 3 hours. Classes are small and make use of all-natural, seasonally-fresh ingredients from our garden. Essential Tuscan techniques you will master include: fresh homemade pasta, ravioli, gnocchi, pizza, bread, focaccia, risotto, bruschette and crostini, roasted meats, fish and meat preparation, pastry dough and desserts, biscotti, ice cream/gelato and sorbets, vegetable and grain soups…..and much more!
Lunch is generally served around 1 o’clock, and be prepared to spend at least one hour with your legs under the table. You are on vacation after all!
At 3 o’clock the English speaking tour guides will pick you up and introduce you to undiscovered local treasures such as Lucca, Pietrasanta, Forte de Marmi, Pisa, Viareggio and the Roman Ruins in Massaciuccoli. Students sometimes visit Florence and Cinque Terre (each about 1 1/2 hours away).
Dinner is served every night at 8 o’clock and it consists of several courses mainly prepared by your chefs. Each course is paired with excellent wines.
Your Tuscan Experience with us reaches its climax on Friday night at the Graduation Dinner where you receive a diploma certifying your newly acquired status as an ”Authentic Tuscan Cook” (Vero Cuoco Toscano).
The Advanced Class offers additional instruction, geared to experienced home cooks and professionals.
Head Chef Instructor: Sandra Lotti plus s staff of chef instructors from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and The French Culinary Istitute (FCI).
Duration: 5 day cooking instruction (32 hours) Sunday to Saturday.
Contact: info@toscanasaporita.com or +39 335 8129 442
The class is titled “Advanced Fundamentals of Tuscan Cuisine”
Information on the Program is as follows:
Five days of intensive hands-on instruction for advanced home cooks and professionals.
Five days of intensive hands-on instruction in the advanced fundamentals of Tuscan cuisine using professional equipment. All 32 hours are taught by Sandra Lotti and her staff of chef instructors.
Skills taught include:
-Pasta shapes and how to marry them with sauces, plus the effective use of different flours and recipes
-Pasta sauces and fillings, including the essential ”soffritto” method for making Tuscan sauces
Basic sauces and soups
-Fish: cleaning, boning, filleting and preparation
-Chicken: boning, quartering, stuffing and preparation
-Pastry, cakes and custards, doughs and breads. Includes puff pastry, pate à choux and pasta frolla
-Vegetables: carving, stuffing, preparation
-Meats: lamb, hare, wild boar; how to roast, deep-fry and braise
Other highlights:
-Wine, cheese, truffle and olive oil tastings
– White Truffle hunt with Cristiano Savini and Truffle tasting menu at his restaurant
– Wine tasting and Lesson with Emiliano Alessi from the celebrated Cennatoio Winery in Panzano in Chianti
– Every meal will be paired with the greatest wines of Italy
Toscana Saporita Cooking School announces its 11th annual Advanced Course, five days of intensive instruction in the advanced fundamentals of Tuscan cuisine, including pasta, sauces, soups, fish, meats, desserts, pastry, vegetables, cooking with wine, and wine pairing. All 32 hours of instruction are hands-on using professional equipment under the guidance of Chef Director Sandra Lotti and her staff of chef instructors.
A food and wine experience geared for both the advanced beginner and the professional chef, the Advanced Course takes you from the kitchen to the table to reveal the essential techniques behind Tuscany’s famed cuisine, and each day includes two leisurely meals featuring sumptuous dishes expertly paired with delicious Italian wines. In this course you’ll work with the key ingredients that are indigenous to Tuscany and indispensable to its cuisine, including game meats, Mediterranean fish, Tuscan vegetables, truffles, cheeses, olive oils and vinegars.
In addition to hands-on daily culinary instruction, the week includes wine, cheese, truffle and olive oil tastings, plus an amazing morning spent Truffle hunting with Cristiano Savini and his dog Giotto.
The Advanced Course builds on Toscana Saporita’s 20 years of successful culinary instruction, having taught so many people the fundamentals of Tuscan cuisine. It all takes place on a charming country estate where for a week at a time, guests ”live like true Tuscans”, living in fully updated 17th-century rooms and enjoying leisurely meals on the estate’s sun-drenched lawn.
The week’s itinerary is as follows:
SUNDAY
Arrive at Toscana Saporita
Welcome Lunch
Relaxing afternoon
Dinner and wine tasting
MONDAY
Continental breakfast
Morning lesson (4 hours)
Lunch
Afternoon lesson (4 hours)
Dinner with cheese and wine tasting
TUESDAY
Continental breakfast
Truffle hunt with Cristiano Savini
Lunch at Savini s
Afternoon lesson
Dinner
WEDNESDAY
Continental breakfast
Morning lesson (4 hours)
Lunch
Afternoon lesson (4 hours)
Dinner with wine tasting
THURSDAY
Continental breakfast
Morning lessons (4 hours)
Lunch
Afternoon lesson (4 hours)
Dinner and wine tasting
FRIDAY GRADUATION DAY
This day is dedicated to the students who will have to prepare a 5 course dinner as part of their graduation. They will cook all day with the supervision of the chef instructors. TS chef instructors will prepare lunch.
Continental breakfast
cooking
lunch
cooking
Graduation Dinner with wine pairing prepared by students
SATURDAY
breakfast
Depart Toscana Saporita
I will definitely be back for the advanced class, and highly recommend anyone looking for an amazing, authentic Tuscan experience to visit Toscana Saporita, and tell them Fred Bollaci sent you!
