Umbria Cooks 4 U

Rafaella was super quick on my last minute request for a class and was able to accommodate us the very next day! The instructor was super sweet and funny! She really loved food and to cook and it showed! The food was delicious, torta with stracchino cheese with rocket, homemade pasta with pork cheek, zucchini and saffron, chicken arribiata and a fig and walnut crostada… OMG I am salivating as I type! Can’t wait to try these recipes at home (yes, they give you the recipes to take with you, along with a cute certificate we framed and have hanging in our kitchen, and an apron!) Met 2 wonderful ladies in the class too! The one issue we had was finding the place… Perugia is tough to get around… would have been helpful to have directions given to us… otherwise it was PERFECTO!!!

This is a MUST if you ever find yourself in Umbria. Nonie and Tita are wonderful to work with! We were staying in Umbria at a villa for a week and wanted to experience a cooking class but wanted to do so at our house. Nonie and Tita came to our villa (which was quite out of the way) and for a very reasonable price, brought all the food, the cooking utensils and years of knowledge and walked away leaving 5 new Italian cooks! They were both so great to work with and patient. Whenever we threw a curve ball their way as far as something they had planned or not understanding and asking questions, Nonie would reassure us that this was our class and they would do whatever they needed so that we enjoyed ourselves and learned. AND WE DID! From those decadent lava cakes to flat breads and pastas (oh — we can’t forget parmesan baskets with pears! Fancy!), we learned how to make everything traditionally Umbrian in a very easy and hands on manner. We all given our own packets with all the recipes in them and our work spaces and ingredients. I personally loved all the history that Nonie gave as we walked through the recipes. Why they used certain ingredients, the differences you would find regionally in those ingredients, why a dish was traditional and such.
The best part was when we were finished cooking and Nonie and Tita shooed us into the living room while they set the table and prepared our plates and then called us in and served us 4 courses with all the embellishments. And once we had finished, there was no clean up as they took care of it all. The whole while talking and laughing with us.
Umbriacook4u was definitely one of the very top highlights of our 2 week Italian holiday and I would recommend this activity to everyone! There are options for experiencing the same thing in Tita’s farmhouse which would probably give you the feel of having experienced something «local». Either way — you’ll get the package deal with Nonie (an ex-​pat American who is the English portion of the class) and Tita who is the native Italian. You can’t miss an opportunity to meet these two wonderful women and enjoy their true Umbrian hospitality!!!