For epicures and hobby cooks
Cooking with the profi
Cooking with a professional - the Mum
A country, an area, a region is defined not only by its cultural treasures. It is the interplay of nature, culture and cuisine that makes the whole.
A trip dedicated to the culinary highlights of the Marche region of central Italy will not only introduce you to the local dishes. It should also help you to learn where the basic products come from, which you will then use in your cooking. In addition, of course, how to spoil your guests and yourself with homemade Italian delicacies in the future.
Day 1: Benvenuti in the land of harmony
Arrival at Agriturismo Vecchio Gelso, awarded best in Italy in 2007 and 2012. Here you will meet your tour guide. After check-in and an aperitif, we will discuss the program and set off for a first exploration: the Vecchio Gelso's estate, where most of the products used both in the cooking course and in the restaurant are grown. You will also have the opportunity to enjoy a swim in the covered and heated pool. After that, it's time for the first taste experience! Buon appetito with a delicious menu.
Day 2: The gold of the south and tasty drops
Today in the morning we will go to one of the 500 world's best olive oil producers near the agriturismo, Agostini. Awarded with all kinds of prizes, as probably the most imposing honor the presentation of the Golden Award for olive oils in New York, you will experience a very special tasting of oils and learn a great deal about the olive, the production of olive oil, etc. that few know about it.
Afterwards you will have a light lunch in the stronghold of green anise in Castignano. At a producer of the best distillates, the Anice and the Vino Cotto, you will have a small lunch and you will be shown what anise can be good for (please let us know if someone doesn't like anise). In this small distillery, directly from the producer Giovanni, three very special types of Anice are produced (from 27% to 47%), as well as the Vino Cotto, which accompanies the Marchigiani from birth to death (winged word). You will learn what this means and how it is made during the tasting. Now it's back to the agriturismo, where Giovanni and the with cooking tasks ready. Have fun cooking and enjoying the menu!
Day 3: Paradise of delights - the Sibillini Mountains
In the morning the journey takes you to the high mountains, the Sibillini Mountains. If you are longing for a paradise - here you have found it! First you will go to the highest place of the Sibillines, Montemonaco. There you will get to know the "treasure chamber" in the butcher's shop Corona. Hundreds of hams and salamis mature here in air-drying. The hams mature for more than two years! Each ham also has its "passport", so that it is possible to trace where the pig was born, where it grew up, and so on.
At Madonna dell'Ambro, near Montefortino, you will have lunch in a special little restaurant. In fine weather under the ancient trees, the murmur of the Ambro river as background noise...in front of you a plate of delicious specialties of the mountains....life is beautiful. It's clear that here, too, home-grown products are used.
Return to the agriturismo in the afternoon. At about 4:00 pm you will be challenged. After the previous day's introduction, today you will again learn the great art of genuine Italian cuisine under the guidance of the chef Giovanni and the hostess Anna. After finishing the menu, you will have a little breather until you enjoy your home-cooked meals for dinner.
Day 4: Black gold and 100 towers
In the morning we will start with what all countries love by now: espresso. To give you an accurate idea of the production, you will participate in the roasting process and learn some more facts about espresso that you surely didn't know before. Afterwards you will visit Ascoli Piceno, the city of 100 towers, the jewel of the Marche region, almost reminiscent of a theater set. We will roam this beautiful town, built entirely of travertine. In one of the ten most beautiful Art Nouveau cafes in Italy, the Meletti, in one of the ten most beautiful squares in Italy, you will have a specialty that you can taste only here in the original, the anisetta. A lunch with the specialty par excellence of Ascoli you will also enjoy here, the Ascolan olives and creminis. In the afternoon you will return to the agriturismo for a cooking class
Day 5: Traditions live on
Parmesan cheese is familiar to everyone, but Italians don't use it for everything - another secret of Italian cuisine! Pecorino, the sheep's milk cheese, is much better suited for some things. Today you will be present at the preparation of a handmade pecorino. There are no machines, it can only be done by hand! Let yourself be surprised and enjoy the life in the countryside. After a small lunch we will visit Cupra Marittima. Cupra Alta, or more correctly Marano, the ancient core of the town, is situated above the sea and takes its visitors into a completely different world!
Then it's back to cooking with Giovanni and the Mum
Day 6: The sea - part of our life
San Benedetto del Tronto is the largest fishing port on the Adriatic and the second largest in Italy. Therefore, in the morning you will visit the fish market. After the quite exhausting days you now have the opportunity for a little relaxation. Tuesday and Friday in the morning the biggest market in the Marche region takes place here. From cooking spoons to model dresses, everyone can find everything. Or you simply take a stroll along the longest palm corso in Italy, passed with more than 10,000 palm trees and in between fragrant oleander. Lunch is at your own choice. In the afternoon we will go to Offida, one of the small towns listed in the directory of the most beautiful places in Italy. It is not only the center of lace-making, but also the stronghold of the red Rosso Piceno Superiore and the white, the Pecorino and the Passerina. All three varieties are autochthonous vines and you will taste these wines here at one of the most renowned wine producers of the southern Marche in its wonderful showroom. But before you are treated to these physical delights, you should not miss a visit to one of the most impressive churches, S. Maria della Rocca. The visit here has little to do with faith, but with the exciting history associated with it. Let yourself be surprised!
After the last varied days you will not have a cooking class today, but you can let yourself be pampered.
So you can end the last evening comfortably with a menu at the agriturismo.
Day 7: Arrivederci!
Today you will leave the Marche with hopefully many new experiences.
©ulla kastner
Min. 2, max. 8 participants
Travel dates 2023
12. till 18. March
27 March - 01 April
16. till 22. April
14. till 20. May
11. till 17. June
01 to 07 Oct.
15 to 21 Oct.
29. oct. till 04. nov.
other travel dates on request
Services included:
6 x half board in Agriturismo Vecchio Gelso
with shower/WC, air conditioning/heating, TV, garden area, heated and covered swimming pool,
4 x lunches
4 x cooking classes
tastings incl. drinks
Permanent tour guide
Not included services:
Travel
Drinks, if not otherwise specified
Entrance fees (total approx. 5,00 €)
Transfers (these can be organized, talk to us)
Price per person in double room: € 1.530,00 for 2 persons or more
Price per person in double room for single use: € 1.680,00
Price per person in double room: € 1.375,00 from 4 persons
Price per person in double room for single use: € 1.532,00
Price per person in double room: € 1.270,00 from 6 persons
Price per person in a double room for single use: € 1.420,00
