Flavours Italian Cookery Holidays
Various Locations in Italy

You could take several courses with Flavours Holidays and never tire of the location. That’s because this Scotland-based company hosts programs at a variety of private villas and palazzos in Lazio, Puglia, Rome, Bologna, Ravenna, Tuscany and Sicily. The company’s Scottish founder, Lorne Blyth, is the real deal, having built her business out of love over the past ten years. In each destination, the small classes are taught by local chefs excited to share their regional specialties with you. Many of them also run their own restaurants. The four- or eight-day long getaways are great for singles, couples, mothers and daughters, or groups of friends.

Flavours Holidays 
132 St. Stephen Street
Edinburgh EH3 5AA
Scotland
+44 (0)131 625 7002
info@flavoursholidays.com

Back in the 11th century, monks at this abbey in Chianti began planting vineyards. Today, Badia a Colitbuono is a beautifully restored private estate and resort, and a renowned producer of top-quality wines and olive oils. The cooking school was founded more than twenty years ago by the proprietress, Lorenza de’ Medici, a culinary celebrity and author. It’s the place to learn the art of Tuscan cooking—and sample fine wines to match. The daily, three-day and weekly courses are now taught by Lorenza’s son, Guido Stucchi Prinetti, who instructs foodies how to prepare a full meal, from bread to dessert. You’ll have to book well in advance to secure a spot in the course held during Siena’s renowned Palio horse race in July—all students get a coveted seat in the Piazza del Campo.

Coltibuono 
Badia a Coltibuono
Gaiole in Chianti, Siena 53013
Italy
+39 0577 744832
badia@coltibuono.com

Mamma Agata
Ravello, Italy

How can you not trust the culinary skills of a jovial Italian woman called Mamma Agata, especially one who early in her career prepared meals for the likes of Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis? It’s a family affair at Mamma Agata’s home on the Amalfi coast: her husband, Salvatore, tends to the organic garden and farm and makes homemade limoncello, and their daughter, Chiara, plays translator and hostess to English-speaking visitors. This is not a residential cooking school (we recommend that you stay in the nearby Palazzo Sasso hotel) but it’s a place to spend a half-day with Mamma, who welcomes guests for morning cooking demonstrations. She prepares basic but delicious Italian staples, such as eggplant parmesan, spaghetti with tomato sauce, and chicken with herbs and lemon, which everyone then eats for lunch on her terrace overlooking the Mediterranean. Finish off the big meal with some homemade limoncello. For a special romantic evening, you can arrange to have Mamma orchestrate a private dinner served on the terrace at sunset.

Mamma Agata 
Piazza S. Cosma 9
Ravello, Salerno 84010
Italy
+39 089 858432
info@mammaagata.com

For a laid-back cooking program that includes several excursions to local villages, produce markets, Chianti vineyards and dinners in local restaurants, book one of the spring or fall courses led by the handsome Chef Valter Roman, also known as the Tuscan Chef. Experienced cooks might want something more intense, as Valter tends to cover traditional basics, but he always has some new tricks to share and occasionally brings in guest chefs such as Alvaro Maccioni of La Famiglia restaurant in London. The six-day residential courses are held at a 17th-century villa with olive groves, or at another spacious and authentic house in Lucca, both with outdoor pools. Are you renting a villa with family or friends in Tuscany this summer? Ask Valter to come over and conduct a private lesson or prepare dinner in your kitchen.

The Tuscan Chef 
Via del Folle Manzi 8
Vorno, Lucca 55060
Italy
+39 348 4406367
valter@thetuscanchef.com