Do you like cooking, Italian food, and have dreamed about cooking “real” Italian food? Well, if you happen to be in the Tuscany region, this activity is a must! Pros: Family owned business, small group (ours was private), and personalized to our interest. Additionally it’s not your standard 1-2 hours and then you get kicked out. Cons: To be honest the only con that we can thing of is possibly the proximity / location to other things in Italy. Barga is AMAZING, but it’s a bit of a drive from other tourist attractions.

Cooking in Tuscany with Rita

A few years back we had an opportunity to take a couples trip with some of our best friends. We spent about 12 days in Europe between France and Italy, and covered a lot of ground (check out our Central Italy post on our site). As part of this itinerary, we decided to stay in a the small town of Barga, since there was a Marriott Renaissance property there and we used points.

One of the things we wanted to do when we were in Italy was to take an Italian Cooking class.   When we checked-in to the hotel we noticed a sign advertising for an in-house cooking class.

After talking with the front desk, we learned that there was another cooking class that they highly recommended which was located in the city of Barga with a lady named Rita (and it was cheaper!). We gladly accepted and the font desk called and set everything up for the following day.  As we left the front desk, we were told make sure to come hungry – WHICH IS VERY TRUE!!

Our Experience with Rita

The following day we head to the small town of Barga to meet up with Rita, because we new that we would be eating a lot that day we decided to skip breakfast. (Note, Italian food does take some time to cook, if you need food to function I might have a snack or something before going so you don’t get lightheaded or hangry).

• Caprese salad (w/ fresh buffalo mozzarella)
• Tiramisu
• Zuppa di farro
• Ravioli w/ ricotta herb filling & sage butter sauce
• Two different tomato based sauces (base ragu and ragu de carne or w/ meat)
• Homemade pasta (both Tagliatelle and Pappardelle) in plan / spinach flavor

Cooking in Tuscany

Cooking in Tuscany

After cooking most of the day, we sat down together to have dinner and share all the food we had worked on all day – which was a lot. We had so much food, Rita actually invited a local friend to come over and join us for dinner. We sat around the table and shared stories, enjoyed great food, and gained several pounds I’m sure!  

Cooking in Tuscany

 

Over all, cooking and dining with Rita was one of the highlights of our entire 12 night trip to Europe. We learned how to cook some amazing things, which we brought back home to share with our families. 

 

Cook & Dine With Rita

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