La Casa Rossa, the working farm/estate where Toscana Saporita is conducted, was once the childhood home of Italian composer, Puccini!
If your bucket list contains something like: “Cooking School in Italy,” “Cooking School in Tuscany,” “A week on a Tuscan Farm,” “A trip to Italy,” and you enjoy cooking and eating, and want to learn how real Italians and Tuscans cook, then this is for you! It doesn’t get any better, easier, or more fun or fulfilling than spending a week with Chef Sandra Rosy Lotti and family at Toscana Saporita!
Students arrive at Toscana Saporita on Sunday for the 5-day program, (instruction is Monday thru Friday for both the regular and advanced classes, students arrive on Sunday, and depart the following Saturday). Programs are taught in the spring and autumn, with the Advanced Class (also 5 days, but more time in the kitchen, and more advanced techniques) being offered in early November, at the end of the autumn sessions.
Termini Train Station in Rome (Trains in Italy, and Europe in general are a clean, fast, efficient, and inexpensive way to get around).
For the Advanced Class, I arrived on Sunday about 3pm into the Pisa Centrale train station from Rome. The trip was comfortable and took about 3 hours. Enzo, the jovial driver who has worked for Sandra Lotti and Toscana Saporita for years was there to greet me and several other participants who arrived around the same time. After a quick pit stop, and opportunity to purchase a bottle of water (or beer, or a snack), we were off to cooking school!
The ride from Pisa Centrale to Massaciuccoli, to the north takes about 30 minutes. Upon arriving, we are greeted and shown our accommodations for the week. The rooms at La Casa Rossa, an authentic Tuscan farm house and working farm “agriturismo” as they are called in Italy, when they offer accommodations to the public are comfortable, and there is Wi-Fi and laundry facilities on the property. Students may also choose to rent cars and drive there, which may or may not fit into your Italian travel plans. The Advanced Class is a full schedule from 9am until about 8pm, with lunch being around 1:30, and the evening session resuming at 5, so there really isn’t much time to explore, and paying 100 Euros (or whatever) to keep a car sitting in the parking lot may not make a lot of sense. Many students choose to walk, ride bikes, and even nap between lunch and the evening session. Some choose to take a taxi or car service into nearby Viareggio, Pisa, Lucca, Pietrasanta, or Forte dei Marmi, the staff will arrange if you wish to sightsee. Note: for the regular sessions, classes end with lunch, and students have the afternoons to explore. Sandra arranges visits to the nearby towns, (Enzo drives) and often accompanies her groups as an excellent local guide to the best snacks, gelato, caffe’s, bars, silk scarves, shoes, and more!
Back to Sunday afternoon–some students arrived earlier in the day and got to enjoy lunch (always with wine and/or beer), so most were snoozing when we arrived. It was such a warm early November day, that I quickly unpacked and decided to take a long walk around the property, which took about 90 minutes. I visited the animals (one very bodacious donkey, I nicknamed Pinocchio the previous year remembered me and came out to say hi! He greeted me and two fellow students the previous year with a 30-second long, high-pitched serenade that you could hear a mile away! Fortunately this time he was calmer).
“Pinocchio” is my buddy!
A Tuscan Sunset.
Umbrella pines and the setting Tuscan sun.
My walk went past corn fields that were in the process of being tilled over for winter, over several bridges and canals, through some umbrella pine groves, and finally back towards the main compound, past some horses, and a natural spring where the locals all go fill up, and thirsty walkers, cyclists, and runners know to fill up–the water is cold and pure!
After my walk, I got showered and dressed for dinner and brought down a bottle of wine I had purchased in Rome, and shared it out on the terrace as I got to meet some of the other students who were enjoying the last of the setting sun’s rays. I decided to bring a couple bottles to be able to enjoy that week when the kitchen was closed. The previous year, I ended up going into the town, about a mile away to buy a bottle the first afternoon, since the kitchen was closed and I felt like a glass of wine and relaxing before dinner. The walk or bike ride to town is a little tricky on the curvy, narrow road, especially carrying anything, so I would suggest bringing a bottle or two of wine and if you like water just to have in the room. Students can always purchase from a good selection of wines at a good price they have on hand at the school, just that it is not open mid afternoon on Sunday when we arrived.
Another nice thing about Toscana Saporita is that everybody speaks English– there is no language barrier. Of course a few of La Casa Rossa’s in-house staff really don’t, but all of Toscana Saporita’s people do, and are happy to help out!
The first night, we all assembled for dinner after getting to know many of each other. In came Sandra (with her ever-present smile and great sense of humor), guest Chef/Instructor from the U.S. Chris Covelli and husband Greg (helps with any administrative items for students), Sandra’s son Alessio J.M. Da Prato (a master bread and pizza maker), his girlfriend Ottavia Novelli (is especially great with desserts), and their staff of assistants, many of whom were there the previous year. Toscana Saporita is like a family. Sandra and her team, and each group that attends become bonded over an incredible culinary and cultural experience. Many attendees had also been to Toscana Saporita before–it was a homecoming of sorts, it felt great to be back!
Sandra is so much fun!
Pasta and Porchetta (above) for our first dinner!
Everybody sat around the large table and got to enjoy pasta, salad, and porchetta, along with a selection of fine Tuscan wines, and Italian beer on tap (help yourself!)–Sandra introduced herself and family of staff, and told those of us who had either never come before, or had never done the advanced, that we were in for a rigorous week, but that we would learn so much and come away more proficient cooks and having a better knowledge of authentic Tuscan and regional Italian cuisine and traditions!
Game on! We enjoyed our meal and getting to know each other, and then with a sip of Limoncello or Grappa, it was time to get some rest, we had a long and exciting week in store!
To be continued…
Chicken, Salad, Lasagna, and Gelato we made, with Amarena Cherries by Fabbri in Bologna.
