Stile Mediterraneo Cooking and Wine School in Puglia (Apulia), Southern Italy: "Stile Mediterraneo" Cooking and Wine School promotes the Mediterranean Lifestyle. It provides an authentic and tailor made experience of Puglia and Southern Italy: something unique you will never experience using a tourist guide book. You get to know the region and its traditions and culture with local people (who had international exposure). It is an amazing opportunity to know the "unknown and authentic" Southern Italy, so different from the tourist destinations. Moreover, accommodations included in the programs are carefully selected in order to provide first class services in charming private villas.
Accommodation and Classes:
Accommodation and classes for this 8-day program are provided in one of the most beautiful villas within Italy (Elle Décor 2005 et House & Garden 2007), in the Lecce countryside and 15 min by the sea.
The villa dates back to the 18th Century and belonged to a local noble family. You and the Stile Mediterraneo staff will be the only guests at this villa! The property has recently been restored using the skills of local craftsmen and furnished with the owners’ art collections. The architecture and the insides are a stunning blend of modern and traditional Italian style. The garden is entirely surrounded by ancient walls and acres of olive groves. The Villa has a huge swimming pool and lots of gardens and terraces where our guests can take a cooking class or enjoy a dinner al fresco. The villa palace is not a hotel, to guarantee the guests' privacy. The program is for 12 people maximum and they will be the only guests.
The property includes several bedrooms, each with private bathrooms (wth showers) and air conditioning, many dining rooms, large kitchens and much more. There will be a cook for all meals at the palace and two maids who provide breakfast and general housekeeping and room cleaning. There will be private transfer service. The villa is located in a small village off the tourist tracks, where our guests can experience the authentic and relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle.
Puglia's Cuisine and Cooking Classes:
Puglia is a food and wine lover's paradise. It is home to the true Mediterranean Cuisine with an emphasis on seafood, vegetables, hand made pasta and bread, artisan mozzarella, olive oil. The cuisine from Puglia and Lecce is different from the typical Italian one: it is the true peasant cuisine, and it is home-based in its essence. Recipes are based on seasonal ingredients and vary from month to month. Recipes are very healthy since ingredients are very fresh and made with ancient and artisan methods.
Lecce and Puglia produce excellent extra virgin olive oils, with its more than 50 millions olive trees. Pugliese vintners pursue wines that balance sweetness, acid, alcohol content and density. The region counts 25 D.O.C. wines.
Cooking classes are provided by local women and are hands-on. We, at the Stile Mediterraneo School show how families eat and cook in Southern Italy which is different from the Italian cuisine you will learn in other regions. Cooking classes always include: visits of traditional fruit, vegetables and fish markets, visits of artisans hand making their products (mozzarella, cheese, bread, pasta, salami, ice creams, sweets, liquors, jams, chocolate) with ancient and traditional methods. Programs always include visits of the best olive oil producers, wine makers and vineyards.
Date of the Program: The program runs from May 31, to June 7. It is a 8-day program. You may ask for a similar program customized at a different time of the year. Also given that in Puglia every province has different culinary traditions you may extend this tour up to 1 month.
Weather in Puglia: Puglia has a typical Mediterranean climate. It is sunny 99% of the year. Winters are very mild: at midday temperature can be 15-20°C.
People and Partners not Attending Classes: Guests not attending classes included in this tour will be free to play golf, use the bicycles for a ride along the coast, relax by the swimming pool.
Location: Salento, Lecce
The villa is located in a beautiful small village, counting not more than 3,000 inhabitants and faraway from the tourist tracks: life here is very relaxed and slow; people are very friendly and welcoming; food is very traditional, made with ancient methods and recipes. In the countryside there are elegant and historical villas as well as white roof cone trulli houses scattered among olive groves and vineyards. In the area (called Grecìa Salentina), more than 2,500 years after the Greek colonizers established flourishing city-states, their heirs still speak Griko, a dialect of archaic Greek.
Your Hosts: The school is run by the two sisters Cinzia and Marika Rascazzo who were born and brought up in Puglia. Their grandmother taught them all the little secrets about the Pugliese recipes. Their grandfather used to take them to the vineyard during the grape harvest and to teach them how to make the wine. After spending many years abroad studying and working in Boston, New York and London and being exposed to the most diverse and international cultures, Cinzia decided to move back to her home town and started the Stile Mediterraneo School. They both speak fluent English and French...and Italian of course. People attending the Stile Mediterraneo classes discover the authentic secrets of Southern Italy and Puglia!
At the Stile Mediterraneo School, guests do what the local Italians do: eat at the most authentic local restaurants, mingle with interesting local people, learn about the real local culture, visit the best artisans, learn about the authentic local cuisine and wines. The school approach is relaxed and friendly but very professional at the same time: guests will experience only the Best of Southern Italy.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival in Brindisi in the afternoon and private transfer to the villa. Relax at the villa by the pool. Welcome aperitif. Dinner at the villa (selection of the best local wines included).
Day 2: After breakfast, visit of a mozzarella artisan in a farm. Lunch at a seafood restaurant by the sea in Otranto, the beautiful sea town famous for its clean waters and oriental architecture.
Free time in the historical center and shopping. Dinner at the villa (selection of the best local wines included).
Day 3: After breakfast, visit of an ancient olive oil mill (frantoio ipogeo). Lunch at a seafood restaurant by the sea in Gallipoli, a beautiful fishermen town, famous for its fish market, white beaches and amazing sunsets. After the siesta, first cooking class at the villa, followed by dinner.
Day 4: Wine day (DOC Roads). After breakfast, whole day visit of three wineries producing some of the best wines within Italy.
Lunch at a local restaurant. Dinner at the villa.
Day 5: After breakfast, visit of a food market in a small village.
Lunch at a fisherman’s trattoria based on sea urchins, cheese, artisan bread and white wine all combined with a spectacular view.
Visit of a traditional pasta maker. Dinner at the villa.
Day 6: After breakfast, second cooking class at the villa followed by lunch. After the siesta, we drive to Lecce, the baroque capital of Puglia. Visit of a famous papier-maché artisan and free time for shopping. Dinner at one of the most traditional restaurants in Lecce.
Day 7: After breakfast, visit of a beautiful winery in a castle.
We drive along the beautiful Adriatic coast to get to the Southern end of the Italian boot, Santa Maria di Leuca. Lunch at a famous seafood restaurant by the sea. After the siesta, third cooking class at the villa. Farewell dinner!
Day 8: End of our activities. Private transfer to Brindisi airport.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price will be different for guests and partners not attending the cooking classes.
Price includes:
- a tour escort
- all meals (both at the villa and at restaurants)
- 3 cooking classes (3-hour each) with a local chef followed by lunch
- selection of best wines at all meals
- winery tours and wine tasting at the vineyard
- 7-night accommodation at the luxurious villa
- personal cook
- two maids who provide breakfast and 8 hours general housekeeping and room cleaning during the whole tour
- all transfers including from and to the airport
Prices are based on double occupancy.
Prices are based on bank money transfer payments.
Additional charge will be added for credit card payment.
Price does not include:
- travel insurance
- optional activities
- airfares
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