I N F O R M A T I O N
Extracts from magazine reviews
The highlight of the stay was to be two classes at Toscana Mia, a school run by Paola and Simonetta de'Mari, sisters in their 50s,
out of their family's Florence apartment and estate in the town of Gaiole in Chianti.
from "Budget Travel", March 2010- Finally the almond snake harks from the Chianti area [...] and a favourite of Toscana Mia
from "Taste Italia", January 2009 - A cooking school in the village of Poggio san Polo. There,
we sipped Chianti while our hosts Simonetta and Paola de'Mari and their
constantly chuckling aide, Alvaro, helped us make our own dinner: handmade
ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese, stuffed yellow peppers, a berry
tiramisù, and olive oil-infused bruschetta and Crostini.
"In Tuscany, when we say 'oil', we mean extra-virgin olive oil, - she explained- Nothing else is oil to us."
from "Cooking Light" by Doug Crichton - The secret of Italian cuisine, I am finding, is freshness.
If something comes from the garden outside the house, that's best (herbs, olive
oil, hazelnuts, cherries, figs, and some berries are grown at Toscana Mia).
[...] The only processed things Italians eat seem to be olives, capers, and wine; they'd rather eat cat than open a can
from "Mangiare Bene" by Laura Fraser in the American Airline Magazine - Culinary magic awaits in this traditional Tuscan farmhouse,
home of Toscana Mia, a center for Italian cooking, language and culture
from "Backroads Culinary Book" - Picture yourself cooking in the big kitchen of a beautiful
renovated, 13th century farmhouse on a Tuscan hilltop. You gaze out the window
at the terraced hills of olive groves, vineyards and rustic gardens in a vast,
peaceful valley. At the kitchen table you chop fresh sage, oregano and parsley,
all from the herb garden below the window.
from "Guide to decadent Cooking Schools" of Margaret Cowan - The Best For. Learning Italian insights in Tuscany
CHIANTI
Podere Le Rose is a 13th-century family home overlooking the Castello Di Ama vineyards in the Tuscan hills. Here, sisters Paola and Simonetta run Italian cookery courses. They speak good English and have a great sense of fun, but are deadly serious on the subject of food, which is eaten as soon as it's prepared - and not just by students, but Papa Luigi, the family patriach, his son-in-Iaw, who tends the kitchen garden, the sisters' children and anyone else who happens to be around. Only an hour from Florence with pretty towns like Siena and Radda along the way, this is a lovely place for a long weekend.[...]
from Waitrose Food Illustrated by Brian Saffer - [...]In the late afternoon, we carne to a hilltop borgo, or
hamlet, called Poggio
San Polo. Here was Podere Le Rose, a cooking school inside a rambling family
home. For the next six hours Paola Bevilacqua de' Mari taught us to make pasta
and turn it into tagliatelle with porcini and ravioli with sage. Under her
tutelage, we roasted and stuffed peppers with arborio rice and resuscitated that
culinary c1iché, beloved by devotees of Olive Garden, the humble tiramisu. But
this "school" had none of your Sub- Zero airs. This was Nonna's kitchen, with a
stove that might have come from Sears and plastic tablec1oths. Fueled by liberal
doses of Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Chianti's white wine, and of Chianti
Classico, this cooking school was about as disciplined as kindergarten.
from Forbes FYI -
- How to improve holidays with children
Guess what, mum, pasta doesn't grow in packets! Or why would I want to go and do it all again on holiday, especially with two kids in tow?
Well, there are many reasons, according to the increasing number of companies offering these intriguing activities. For a start, a family cookery holiday is an "ideal way to spend time being creative with your children".
But book a break with Toscana Mia for example, and you'll get a rather different angle on the whole creative thing. The owners promise a wonderful learning adventure for anyone over the age of three who wants to discover more about Italian cooking. Staying in an alluring old Tuscan farmhouse in the Chianti hills, you and your kids will be let in on all sorts of Italian culinary secrets, including the fact that pasta doesn't grow in packets
from The Indipendent By Katy Holland - In the heart of Chianti country is the 13th-century Tuscan
farmhouse Podere Le Rose. The house has been lovingly restored with terracotta
tiles and whitewashed walls by sisters Paola and Simonetta Bevilacqua de' Mari
and their father Luigi. Students prepare a complete meal each day, including
antipasta, pasta or a meat dish, and dessert. The five-day course encompasses
afternoon excursions to artisans' workshops, vineyards and olive factories.
Accommodation is in one of three bedrooms in the Tuscan farmhouse
from Sydney Morning Herald - A taste of Italy Cooking, sightseeing mix in Bend ehef's
tours
Most Americans who tour Italy just see the bustling cities with their packed art
m\l.;seums and other crowded attractions…. returned to Tuscany with a group of
nine for lessons in Itdian cooking at Podere le Rose, a 13th Century farmhouse
turned cooking and painting school. Restored'by the the de'Mari family, one of
the oldest families in Italian -history, Podere le Rose is nestled in a
wine-producing, olive tree-clad district near Siena….The students picked fresh
rosemary, basil and parsley in the de'Mari family's on-site organic garden for
use in the dishes they prepared. The cuisine emphasized traditional yet routine
foods of the home - what Italians commonly eat - as well as regional
influences on these foods and the customs associated with eating them. The
approach is informal and hands-on…. Mary Lou of Sunriver says the dishes -
pastas, pizzas and the like - were easy and fun to prepare."And the foods were
wonderfully delicious," she says. "They were quite simple and
straightforward….
from Bullettin Oregon,USA - En lection I livets goda …genom att tillbringa en
septembervecka på Toscana Mia, en matlagningsskola i en fore detta bondgård i
hjärtat av Chianti en timme från FlorensByggnaderna från 1200-talet ar varsamt
renoverade for att fungera som skola med två stora kök och gott om plats för
matlagning och maltider.Skolan ligger svindlande vackert på en av Toscanas
tusentals kullar omgiven av de egna odlingarna av grönsaker, frukt, bär, örter
och oliver. Utsikten at alla håll är förstummande….Tva äkta par, ett från New
York och ett från Colorado, två damer från Holland, en ung dam från Sydafrika,
en annu yngre dam från Australien och en svensk man i befinner sig plötsligt
kring samma bordo En utsökt måltid serveras. Stämningen är trivsam,
samtalsämnena står på bordet. Skolan leds av två systrar, Paola och Simonetta
De Mari. Den adliga familjen De Mari är en av de äldsta i ltalien. Systrarnas
pappa Luigi är markis och tidigare överste i italienska armén. …
from ITALIA by Stig Loden Sweden - Planta tem uso diário em receitas criativas
Silvia Percussi acaba de desfrutar de um breve curso de cozinha na Toscana, Italia. É nas viagens anuais que ela atualiza sua cozinha, que define como italiana e moderna FT --- Como foi o curso? Silvia Percussi - Entre as cidades de Siena e Florença há o Podere Le Rose. A propriedade tem autêntica casa medieval toscana. A familia Bevilacqua de’ Mari organizou esse curso delições práticas sobre a cozinha italiana em geral. O grupo é de, no máximo, oito pessoas e é interessantissimo. Na minha turma havia quatro jovens chefes de cozinha japonesa, de Toquio. Ninguém me tira da cabeça que quando, todo fim de tarde, iam de vespa pescar no rio, comiam um belo sashimi (fatias de peixe cru, prato da culinária japonesa) ali mesmo. Meu objetivo principal nesse curso foi dominar as técnicas das massas frescas, porque vamos fazer as nossas na Vinheria Percussi.
from FT Brasil - Joys of an Italian kitchen
Deep in the heart of Tuscany, I was learning much more about Italian cooking than how to rol1 out a sheet of fresh pasta. On a five-day cooking course which involved as much eating, drinking and wonderful1y spicy conversation with my instructors as cooking, I was sailing over several culinary hurdles: gnocchi, ravioli, panna cotta, biscotti. Bread remained the final frontier. Podere Le Rose, a 13th century Tuscan farmhouse near Radda in Chianti, is the country home and cooking school of the Bevilacqua de Mari family. Luigi, a former general from an old Italian family, and his wife transformed the then derelict farmhouse into the beautiful1y idyl1ic home it is today.
from The West Australian by Rebecca Rose
Toscana Mia - Firenze and Chianti
E-mail: info@welcometuscany.com – Skype: toscana.mia
E-mail: info@welcometuscany.com – Skype: toscana.mia
