COOKING CLASS
Discover the secrets of my region’s recipes while enjoying the unique beauty of the Amalfi Coast; a coastal region with its stunning landscape that many have fallen in love with. For those who would like to combine their travel adventures with a “cooking adventure”, we offer cooking lessons that are 100% Mediterranean, using only quality ingredients sourced locally (in the true sense of Zero Kilometre and Slow Food). Each dish, be it bruschetta, fresh pasta or chocolate cake, is according to its traditional recipe that has been handed down over the generations, always staying true to the original flavours. I will share these recipes with you and show you how tradition can be served with a modern touch that gives that “wow” factor. You will be shown step-by-step how to prepare each dish, how to knead pasta dough, fillet fish and even how to stuff zucchini flowers. Each step is very much a tactile experience, so let your hands do all the work and become an Italian Chef for the day!
CHEF
For me, creating delicious concepts, you first have to love cooking with a passion, and then be prepared to work hard and persevere. I always believe that the most essential ingredient for a chef is understanding ‘the culture of food’. With this understanding, creating your very own style of cooking naturally unfolds. From a very young age, the concept of cooking really intrigued me, especially every time I watched my mother prepare our family meals. I started helping out in the kitchen and found that I really enjoyed cooking. I was only 15 years old when I started cooking professionally. Over time, travel has been an essential component in developing my skills as a chef. In my cooking class I want to not only show how delicious food is created, but also create an experience that is informative, fun and memorable. Cooking for me is a gesture of love; magic that transports me back to those wonderful childhood years in our family kitchen.
"Cooking is like love.It should be entered into with abandonor not at all."
Harriet Van Horne
TRADITIONAL EXPERIENCE
The best of the past brought into the future.
This menu has been created based on our more famous traditional dishes that are prepared daily in domestic as well as professional kitchens in southern Italy. Even though the dishes are simple using minimal ingredients, the results are always great. My recipes are true to the original recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation, so the authentic flavour of each dish is never compromised.
NEAPOLITAN PIZZA (Neapolitan pizza dough cooked in roccbox oven) HOMEMADE PASTA WITH BASIL PESTO (Made in the traditional way) EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA (Sliced, crumbed eggplant baked with mozzarella and tomato sauce) CAPRESE (Chocolate and almond-meal cake) Cooking Lesson: 4 hours | Level of Difficulty **
AMALFI COAST LEMON EXPERIENCE
The aromatic flavours of Amalfi lemons.
The combination of the mountain air with that of the sea, and that of the hot mediterranean sun are the crucial elements that make up a unique micro climate, just perfect for growing the lemons known as “sfusato amalfitano”. An extraordinary produce of “mia terra” my land, that has gained notoriety around the world because of its amazing intense perfume and its flavour of not only its flesh, but also its thick rind containing essential oils. This lemon is the produce I identify with the most, not only because it originates from where I do, but because of its amazing properties, ideal for cooking with. The Amalfi Coast Lemon Menu utilizes all components of this lemon, its juice, its flesh and its rind, as well as its leaves.
ZUCCHINI FLOWERS FILLED WITH LEMON FLAVOURED RICOTTA CHEESE, DRESSED WITH TOMATO AND GINGER COULIS HOMEMADE "TAGLIOLINI PASTA" WITH CLAMS AND LEMON SEA BREAM IN "ACQUA PAZZA" (Cooked in a light fish soup with locally grown cherry tomatoes, parsley, lemon and oregano) AMALFI LEMON CAKE Cooking Lesson: 3 hours | Level of Difficulty **
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
A personal tribute to my mother’s cuisine.
The person who has inspired and encouraged me the most in both my personal and professional life is my mother, mamma Elisa. She has not only taught me the love of food, but also how to work consistently well in the kitchen. From her, I have learnt many techniques on how to prepare the standard tomato sauce to more complicated dishes. Basic cooking techniques found in any true Italian family kitchen with “mamma” in charge.
FRIED PIZZA WITH LOCALLY GROWN CHERRY TOMATOES AND BURRATA CHEESE HOMEMADE "GNOCCHI" WITH TOMATO SAUCE AND MOZZARELLA MEATBALLS COOKED IN A TRADITIONAL MAMMA'S WAY TIRAMISÙ Cooking Lesson: 3 hours | Level of Difficulty *
HOMEMADE PASTA
will be prepared during the lesson
"This is my invariable advice to people:learn how to cook, try new recipes,learn from your mistakes, be fearless,and above all have fun!"
Julia Child
"Cooking is time and memory"
Gualtiero Marchesi
LASTING MEMORIES
A professional photographic record of your Cooking Class.
Valle delle Ferriere Cooking Class loves not only cooking, but all forms of art and that is precisely why we offer a professional photographic record of each class. Thanks to the collaboration of our very own local talented photographer, Daniele will capture the best moments; candid, action shots that create a personalised photographic record of you being an Italian Chef for the day. Lasting memories of an extraordinary cooking experience .
