Food made on the spot is a must for us Cuoche in Vacanza.

If you’re in Tuscany on holiday we’ll come to your villa and prepare an entire meal by scratch, from starter to dessert, fresh handmade pasta included.

Further more we pay the utmost attention to the quality of ingredients, only seasonal and local produce.

I think this is a big added value and one of the first reasons that satisfy our customers, even if often they can’t imagine all the work that lies behind a dinner preparation like this.

Food made on the spot means a particular way to work.

We do the shopping early in the morning, we drive and we arrive at our customers’ villas around 3 hours before starting dinner.

In case of Private Cooking Classes we shop in the morning as well and we come to your holidays villa around 15 minutes before course, than we’ll run the class and you’ll prepare your dinner/lunch by scratch. All our courses are hands-on and food made on the spot.

If you’d like to know more about our Cooking Classes in Tuscany click HERE

If you’d like to know more about our Private Dinners in Tuscany click HERE

IMPORTANT TIPS IF YOU HIRE A PRIVATE CHEF or a COOKING CLASSES COACH

1. Remember, if some private chefs come to your home just 1 or max 2 hours in advance, this means that probably they bought some ready food. Food made on the spot requires time, you know.
2. By working in this field for the past 8 years I know that many people, (especially ones that make you a bargain price), buy most of the ingredients (ready Italian sauces for example, but even the whole pot) from the superstores; than they “assemble” according to your choice. In this way you have certainly paid little, but the real real value/cost of this dish is less than 1/5 of the price you pay. That’s why their gain is therefore rather high, despite the low cost. But what are you eating?
   

   A real chef does not need to prepare food in advance; food made on the spot is the best guarantee.

   

3. If you want to spend your time happily with your family and friends, your Private Cooking Classes must be hands-on. Don’t risk to boaring you with dead times between preparations or just watching someone else cooking.
4. To be assured of seriousness, find someone who is part of an association dedicated to food quality. Cuoche in Vacanza is part of Slow Food, an International association working to ensure everyone has access to good, clean and fair food.
5. The Costs of a Private Service (Privated Dinner or Cooking Class) mostly depend on work of cooks/coaches and assistants. If you’re password is “food made on the spot”, the chef or the cooking coach can’t come to your home without an assistant. They need this even for a few amount of customers. With no assistant food made on the spot is impossible.

Here in this post you can see pictures from our private dinners in Tuscany and cooking classes as well.

Click on the link for recipes from our menus:

perfect pizza

parmigiana aubergines

spaghetti clams

chocolate salami

zuppa inglese

fresh homemade pasta

tortellini

L'articolo Food made on the spot in Tuscany: from starters to dessert with “Cuoche in Vacanza” proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

My granny (like all the grannies here in Italy) used to say many proverbs and she often said: “Il fritto è buono anche in capo a un tignoso” that’s italian for: “fried food is good even if eaten on a dirty head”…how to blame her? If there’s something we don’t like,  we’ll probably like it if fried.

Probably that’s why Frati Toscani (Tuscan Doughnuts) are one of the most requested desserts in our Cooking Classes in Tuscany, mostly in our kids’ cookery classes, when there’s someone who like kneading and working by hands. Anyway ours are definitely all hands-on cookery courses on vacation and we often prepare Tuscan Doughnuts in our couple cookery courses with and for adults as well.

In Spring or Summer, when sun is high and a swimming pool is waiting for you, you can mostly enjoy your holiday learning to make a typical Tuscan Menu at your holiday home; there’s no bigger gift to me than see the smiles and happiness of our cooks-students together with their family and friends.

Last Summer we run a Private Cooking Class for a family of 4 that came from U.K.; they were here in Tuscany on vacation in a beautiful B&B among olives trees, between Pisa and Lucca: La Lucertola. The parents like cooking and kids are used to read culinary books and try recipes, anyway they were curious how to prepare Tuscan Donuts and Tortelli Maremmani and their cooking class was focused on these.

Tuscan Doughnuts are very simple to make, but (as everything simple) it needs to be respected each step; in addiction to this, I’m passing you a small trick from my granny: using fresh heavy cream in the dough, to give an amazing soft and light texture.

The name is “Frati” (italian for monk) because of the “ring” of hair that monks have on their head.

If you prepare them without the “hole” in the center, here in Tuscany they are named Bomboloni (Italian for Krapfen) and you can fill them with a Chocolate Cream or Custard…I leave you to imagine how they’re amazing.

Here in Tuscany we used to prepare Frati Doughnuts during Carnival festivity, together with other fried delicacies sold “on the road” during country fairs. In fact nowadays you can find these doughnuts in every season of the year, but they’re still sold as a street food, or prepared at home from mothers and grannies.

Like everything “easy to taste”, Tuscan Doughnuts are perfect at any time of the day: snack, lunch or dinner time; the left doughnuts from our cookery lessons in Tuscany (we often prepare a lots) are perfect as breakfast for the day after.

My granny’s tips:

1. Use heavy fresh cream
2. Be sure having set all you need handy when you’re frying
3. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to thread it into the hole of the doughnut and get it spinning while frying
4. Put in the caster sugar immediately after drained in oil absorbing cooking paper; they’ll be very hot, but it’s important that they’re in contact with the sugar just when they’re still hot

Click the links below to read, share or print some other recipes in our Cooking Classes in Tuscany:

• Fresh-Handmade Pasta and Italian sauces
• Bruschetta 
• Chocolate Salami or Tiramisu

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L'articolo Tuscany: Enjoing Cooking Classes at your Holiday Home with Frati Toscani (Italian for Tuscan Doughnuts). Here’s my Granny’s authentic recipe! proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

groupcookingclasses, cuocheinvacanza,cookingclassesintuscany, tuscancookery

Today I’d like tell you about 2 beautiful cooking classes experiences that I lived last Summer.

You know that CuocheinVacanza is an Itinerant Cookery School: “we come directly to wherever you’re staying in Tuscany for Cooking Classes and Private Dinners”, well, this time I was at one of my fav places where I’m working for 6 years, Poggio al Casone Resort.

It’s a very quite, full of charme resort here in Tuscany, located on a small hill, surrounded by vineyards of Castellani winery; spectacular view from a huge terrace and many luxury apartments with everything you need to enjoy your holiday in Tuscany in the best way.

cuocheinvacanza, traditional lasagne, ragu sauce

I was waiting in both cases for people coming from USA, California; a group came from Pappalecco, an “inspired Caffè” located in San Diego, where America meets Italy.

What I most love in my job is always the same: the smile, the expression of people tasting a dish made by them with fresh and seasonal ingredients, the life experiences that we like sharing, while drinking a good glass of wine or taking a bite of a slice of Bruschetta.

cooking traditional lasagne

I like calling these: “Tuscan experiences”; yes, because I can’t forget what my granny taught me and I had the same identical espression of my customers when I was child and she showed me and let me tasting the “wonders” of authentic Tuscan cuisine. She had always few words while preparing a perfect Tuscan meal: “Look at my hands, check the heat on the stove, smell everything, so that you may know if you’re on the right way”.

Nowadays I know if a steak is salted enough just smelling it…exactly as my granny knew.

Do you know why is possible? Because if a steak is not salted enough, you’ll feel the smell of blood covering that one of the meat. Of course, you need a practiced nose, but it’s not so difficult, by the way.

lasagne Tuscan cookery course, cuocheinvacanza, holiday, summer

The Menu chosen by our customers and “students” was very tasteful and based on fresh homemade pasta, absolutely one of our Hands-on Cookery Courses: Panzanella, Polenta with Stracchino and Gorgonzola cheese, Fresh Handmade Pasta, Tagliatelle, Traditional Lasagne with Bolognese Sauce, Tiramisu.

Thinking to Traditional Lasagne, we need:

1. Fresh homemade pasta (cut in stripes)Lasagne: a) Pour the pasta stripes in a big pot with boiling salted water b) let cooking 3 minutes c) drain the pasta stripes with a perforated spoon d) spread the pasta stripes over a cloth and wait 5 minutes. Assembling Lasagne: a) put 3 or 4 tablespoons of besciamella sauce on the bottom of a baking tray b) put the pasta stripes to cover the bottom c) spread the pasta with besciamella sauce, then with ragu sauce (alternating the layers so that they are at least 5) d) finish with ragu sauce and sprinkle generously with parmigiano cheese e) bake 25 minutes at 380°C (until a golden crust on the surface) f) IMPORTANT: let that lasagne rest out of the oven at least 10 minutes, before cutting the portions

2. Ragu Bolognese sauce

3. Besciamella sauce (recipe below)
   

private dinners in Tuscany, cuocheinvacanza, lasagne veggie ragu

Lasagne is not only in the traditional version, you can also season them with an amazing Veggie Ragu Sauce (I recommend only seasonal and fresh ingredients); the taste is more delicate but full of a fresh flavor!

I already wrote some posts with recipes:

• you can find how making Fresh Homemade Pasta Here (don’t forget, generally each person: 1 egg, 4oz flour)

• you can find how making Bolognese Ragu Sauce Here

And Besciamella Sauce?

Well, it’s a very simple and amazing sauce that you can use in a lots of dishes; it’s a must here in Italy and it’s one of the cornerstones in cuisine in general.

Following these steps, you’ll obtain a perfect one, I personally tested the recipe many many times, but remember: Simple it’s Not Easy…you need to put a heart into your job!

private cooking classes, lasagne veggie, holiday in Tuscany

L'articolo Itinerant Cookery Courses in Tuscany, fresh homemade Pasta, Lasagne and a special recipe for Besciamella sauce proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

After a few moments of thoughtful, I decided to go there by train, carrying all my job-tools with me, in a suitcase with wheels.

I went to pick up the ladies and to put my job-tools at their apartment and, all together, we started this particular and interesting coolinary adventure. 
You can imagine my surprise to see there wasn’t the kitchen! 

While I was looking around the apartment, a lady opened the closet and…tadaaaaaa: here is a very small sink, a very small stove and a pantry, everything inside the closet.

Just to tell you we’re ready going everywhere in Tuscany and with every kind of kitchen!

The Central Market in Florence is always open and shows many kind of veggies, meats, breads and fish. Food is fresh and you usually can trust the sellers…
anyway 3 suggestions:

1. you can also find some “sly-one”, just interested on tourist wallet, who sell you not local products for local ones. If you’ll go with an italian person who can make the shopping for you, you’ll haven’t this problem.
2. don’t go to the Market with a tourist guide who often goes there with many tourists. These people have often some interests to buy in a particular shop rather than in another. Maybe the food could be better elsewhere…
3. If you’re going to pay the shopping, don’t believe those who tell you it’ll be expensive; don’t forget that you’re at the Market: you can have very good quality at a good price! The ingredients for hands-on cooking classes must be simple and seasonal (this means first quality). It’s you, with your work that make “special” a dish and give it a value.
4. Our shopping for a 4 people cooking class, didn’t exceed €30 (Extra Virgin Oil not included) and we bought very good ingredients!

 Solution? 

1. Go there with a simple local person who can make you this favor
2. Go there with a serious Professional (chef, teacher or guide) who thinks above all to your interests and to teach you what’s the best food at that moment.

My students from Australia choosed the cooking class Menu: Tortelli Maremmani and they choosed Chocolate Salami as dessert. 

• Eggs
• Flour
• Tuscan Bread
• Ricotta Cheese
• Spinach
• Parmesan
• Basil
• Fresh Tomatoes
• Beef minced meat
• Tuscan Sausage
• Peeled Tomatoes
• Carot, Celery, Onion, Garlic
• Cookies
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• Sugar
• Butter

Once came-back home we start our hands-on work making Fresh Homemade Pasta, Pasta sauces and Dessert, to be ready to eat with the special guest they hosted for lunch.

During the Cooking Class we talked not only about food, but our lives and wishes too. The ladies told me about their very long travel all around the world and gave me a beautiful australian keychain that I always bring with me.

On my way back to the train station I met a “just married” couple in Santa Maria Novella…I could not help but take a picture…another beautiful surprise in an unforgettable day!

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L'articolo #Florence: Trip to the Market and Private Cooking Class; 3 ladies from Australia and a special guest at lunch proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

Sorry guys if I didn’t write for many days, but I was in a really secluted, quite and “lost” place. I spent my time around the Appenino Modenese, near Sestola.

 

Over there, between the woods, the iced rivers, the snow and the mountains, we are lucky enough to have got (and a bit wild) stone-house. It’s in a very small village…10 people in total…and…One of these people is…“ta-daààààà”: the only, the great, the one and wonderful chef: Adriana.

She tought me to prepare an old and traditional dish of this land, the incomparable: TORTELLINI Emiliani!

You need to be patient and to have time (it takes around 3 hours).

Tortellini, the original Recipe

Recipe by Erika Elia (CuocheinVacanza.it)

Prep time: 2,50 hours
Cook time: 8 minutes
Total time: 3 hours

Ingredients
The filling 

• 7 oz (200gr)minced meat (beef)
• 2 oz (50gr)mortadella (typical italian cold cut) or sausage
• 2 oz (50gr)raw ham (Parma)
• 4 oz (100gr)grated parmesan
• 1egg
• to tastesalt and pepper
• 1 lb (500 gr)00 flour
• 5eggs

The Fresh handmade Pasta

• 1 lb (500 gr) Flour 00
• 5 eggs

Cooking Directions

1. Mince the mortadella and the ham, add them to the beef meat and mix together.
2. Add all the other ingredients and work to amalgamate with the tip of your fingers, kneading all together.
3. Knead the “pasta” ingredients (follow my tortelli Maremmani recipe).
4. When you obtained the “sfoglia” (a sheet of thin-dough), cut the sfoglia in many strips (horizontal and then vertical) to make some very little squares. If you want to obtain the real Tortellini Modenesi, you need only 2 cm side! Otherwise you can try with an about 5cm…it’s easier
5. Pic up the meat (large as a pearl) and put it in the center of the square.
6. At this point you have the most difficult task: close two opposite corners and roll up the other two sides around your forefinger; now close them: the Tortellini have done!

• Quantity: 5 oz (150gr) per person (if the dough is fresh), 3 oz (80gr) per person (if dry)

• Cooking time: 8/10 minutes

• Suggested sauces: Ragu, fresh cream and ham (the best for me and your children!), pummarola, gorgonzola cheese and fresh cream…

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L'articolo Cooking Classes at your Holiday Home: I TORTELLINI EMILIANI, Recipe and Video proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.