Join us on a 7-day Italian cookery tour in Abruzzo, central Italy! You will be part of a small group of people and will be able to develop your cooking skills, expand your wine knowledge and discover the region’s off-the-beaten-track secrets.
The highlight of this tour is the chance to learn how to make authentic Italian gelato, to replicate it at home and surprise your friends and relatives and yourself!

HIGHLIGHTS

• Italian ice cream gelato making class
• Hands on cooking classes: pasta, pizza and fish
• Award winning winery tour, wine tasting
• Olive oil tasting, cheese making, cheese tasting
• Fishing demonstration, visiting artisans, farm, castle, abbey
• Personalized cooking booklet, apron
• 6 nights accommodation
• 6 breakfasts, 8 meals in selected restaurants, farmhouses or wineries
• Small groups up to 16 people

ITINERARY

* B= Breakfast | L=Lunch | D=Dinner | T=Tasting | C=Cooking Lesson

Day 1 | Airport pick up and welcome to Abruzzo dinner! (*D)

PM

Rome Fiumicino airport pick up at 2:30 pm and transfer to the ancient Roman town of Vasto on the Adriatic Coast after crossing beautiful Abruzzo mountains looking at amazing landscapes. After checking at charming and family run Hotel San Marco (or a similar accommodation) in the historical downtown, get to know your guide and learn more about the 7-day Italian cookery holiday and enjoy a welcome dinner in a traditional restaurant in the heart of Vasto.

Day 2 | A visit to market, cooking pasta with Mamma, exploring Vasto’s historic center (B, C, L)

AM

After a leisurely traditional breakfast of freshly baked bread, whole fruit country-style preserves, cake, pastries, coffee, tea and freshly squeezed juice, we will visit Vasto’s colorful market to get seasonal products
Next we will have an exclusive cooking class with a housewife in her house and we will learn how easy fresh pasta is to make and be introduced to her favorite seasonal sauces. An example menu includes Bread with meat sauce, Pasta alla chitarra with meat sauce and polpette (meatballs), Cavatelli with vegetables and Tarallucci (typical biscuits from Abruzzo) – naturally this depends on seasonal availability

PM

Lunch will consist of the scrumptious dishes that have been prepared in the morning
In the afternoon we will explore Loggia Amblingh, a promenade overlooking the fascinating crescent-shaped coastline, the old town with its medieval Castle, charming lanes, a tower, the Cathedral and Piazza Rossetti, dedicated to Gabriele Rossetti, a poet from the town and father of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Before free time, we will meet some local artisans
Tonight you may experience dinner on your own in one of the many restaurants of Vasto

Day 3 | Exploring Punta Aderci Nature Reserve, fish cookery class on a trabocco fishing house, visit 6th century Abbey (B, C, L, D)

AM

After breakfast we will explore the Abruzzo coast line. After a short and easy walk inside Punta Aderci Nature Reserve, one of the 10 most beautiful Italian beaches according to the British daily The Telegraph
Next we will visit a trabocco that is constructed mostly from acacia wood and railway iron sleepers
Weather permitting, Rinaldo our host will show us how to fish from it and the secrets and history behind Abruzzo’s unique fishing platforms that have been featured in the BBC TV show: Escape to the Continent
His wife Maria who comes from a family of well-known cooks will give us our fish cookery class sourcing fish from the Adriatic where possible – Marinated fresh anchovies | Mariner’s-style clams | Octopus in tomato sauce with polenta | Stuffed mussels | Fish soup alla vastese and Pizzelle (typical sweets from Abruzzo) with home-made fruit conserve

PM

In the afternoon after relaxing and trying our hand at fishing, taking some photos of the surrounding beautiful marinescape
To close the day we will visit the enchanting San Giovanni in Venere Abbey that sits on a hill dominating the coastline, surrounded by orange, olive, oak and pine trees
Dinner in a traditional restaurant in the heart of Vasto

Day 4 | Free morning and gelato making class (B, L, C, T)

AM

Free morning for your own activities, which could be: to go to one of the many beaches, visit a natural reserve, biking, take part to some extra activities/excursions or whatever you prefer.

PM

Lunch in a traditional restaurant in the heart of Vasto or Vasto Marina
Handmade Gelato making class
Tonight you may experience dinner on your own in one of the many restaurants of Vasto

Day 5 | Learning to make cheese at a small local artisan farm with its own creamery and Roccascalegna Medieval Castle  (B, C, T, L)

AM

After breakfast we will make our way to the farm where Pina and Berardino will reveal the secrets of sheep and cows farming to us and guide those that would like to learn how to milk a sheep or a cow
After a snack of cheese, we will learn how to prepare ricotta cheese in their creamery
We will also learn how to make a special bread called “pizza scima – stupid pizza”
A delicious traditional lunch will be prepared and served. This will be the time to savor just made warm ricotta cheese

PM

we will explore the enchanting Abruzzo’s castle in the sky in Roccascalegna
Tonight you may experience dinner on your own in one of the many restaurants of Vasto

Day 6 | Olive oil tasting, wine-tasting, pizza cooking class & tiramisù (B, T, L, C, D)

AM

Following breakfast we will visit the La Selvotta Olive Grove that has been farmed by Giovanni’s family for 3 generations to produce DOP olive oils. He will  unfurl he secrets of what Homer described as “liquid gold”and we will finish with an olive oil tasting
Next we will visit Fontefico, an award winning winery that sits between a marine park and the mountains. we will have a wine tasting with pairings from local cheeses and salami and tour of the vineyard and cellars by owners Emanuele and Nicola

PM

After lunch we will have an homemade pizza cooking class that includes the teaching of traditional bruschette and tiramisù

Day 7 | Goodbye

After breakfast departure (normally at 09:00 am) for Rome Fiumicino airport or your next destination (around 3,5 hours driving from Vasto to Rome Fiumicino airport)

* Recipes subject to the availability of seasonal produce

DATES AND PRICES – ITALIAN COOKERY BREAK AND GELATO MAKING IN ABRUZZO

16-22 June 2019: € 1.545,00*

* All prices are land only and based on double or single occupancy. Airfare and travel insurance are not included. There is no single-room supplement.

Pick up and drop off at Rome airports

Small groups up to 16 people

Our 7-day Italian cookery tour in Vasto Italy includes:

• 6 Nights accommodation at Hotel San Marco in the historic centre of Vasto or similar accommodation
• Breakfast Buffet Daily
• 8 meals (food, water, house wine) in selected restaurants, farmhouses, private homes, wineries based on traditional regional dishes
• 4 hands-on cooking classes and associated food costs
• Daily trips and excursions
• Pick up and drop off at Rome Fiumicino airport
• Personalized cooking booklet and apron
• All transport for daily trips and excursions
• All entry fees for excursions, tours and wine, olive oil and cheese tastings
• English-speaking tour manager throughout the duration
• All taxes

What’s not included

• Airfares
• Snacks/Drinks between meals, or any meals not listed on the itinerary
• Personal expenses like phone calls, visa costs, laundry or tips
• Travel insurance (not obligatory, but recommended)
• Drinks not listed in the itinerary (an extra bottle of wine, for example)
• The cost of additional excursions or activities