Cooking at Il Castello

Thanks to your research you found an outstanding cooking school for our group in beautiful Tuscany. We had a marvelous experience, not only in developing and refining our culinary skills, but enjoying wonderful accommodations and the gorgeous countryside of this 750 acre estate. We were truly treated as part of family by our hosts, the Pelligrino family. They were attentive to our needs and desires in all respects, taking time to visit with us during cooking school and at almost every meal we had on the property. They skillfully coordinated offsite transportation to nearby cities with drivers who spoke fluent English and who understood and skillfully explained local geography, history, and agriculture. We thoroughly enjoyed our chef, Gabriella, who was skillful in her artistry, very desirous of pleasing us, full of humor and one who teaches well in a participative setting. Her assistant, Claudio, anticipated her needs and supported beautifully, especially in serving the fruits of our labor. As a group of eight we cooked in two kitchens on the property. The Inn kitchen was small, dark and poorly ventilated. The Castle kitchen was spacious (yet would not accommodate a group much larger than ours), light and airy. The oven here was not working well. The knives used for preparation were old and, sometimes, not sharp. Despite these criticisms, we cooked some of our best Tuscan eating in this beautiful setting. The long term success of this school will be dependent upon the building of a properly designed and equipped kitchen to accommodate specific sized groups. We were impressed by the quality of the produce, meats and spices brought to our cooking table each day. A trip to market to experience where and how locals buy what they cook might be an interesting side trip. We hope these comments will be helpful ... Thanks for all you did to make this trip a lifetime memory. Nan and John H.

The Tuscany trip was all I could have hoped to experience and more!  .....thank you, thank you! Specifically, cooking school with Gabriella was special because it was authentic.  It was Tuscany!  It felt like Gabriella was teaching us just as her mother had taught her!  The kitchen added to the authenticity...it was a real Tuscan kitchen used for ten decades! We worked with the freshest of ingredients (Tuscan garlic is much easier to work with....more like a small onion than lots of little cloves).  She measured with serving spoons heaped high and seasoned generously with pinched fingers from bowls of salt and pepper .  Gabriella used her hands in her cooking...the ricotta and spinach for the ravioli, meatballs were a hands on experience from start to finish, as was the flour, butter and sugar for the tart.  She used onions, sugar, eggs and herbs liberally!  We learned ?the secreto? such as beating the egg whites in only one direction for tiramisu, using the heal of the hand kneading technique with pasta dough, adding the extra yolk to the tagliatelle and dusting with cocoa from ?on high? (while standing on a chair)! Gabriella made everyone comfortable by involving us as we were ready.  She was flexible in accommodating our interest in Béchamel sauce, her own tomato sauce and preparing rabbit.  While she was serious in her preparation and final presentation, she made everything in between great fun! Since returning I have made her ragu and tiramisu twice.  My first attempt at tiramisu was shared with five Italian neighbors!  I figured they would be my toughest audience....they were impressed, and I was called on to make one for a special dinner party for one of them! This cooking experience gave me an understanding of Tuscany cooking, the genuiness of the people, their respect for food and their delight and generosity in sharing with others.  I continually wanted to pinch myself...it was quite hard to believe this trip was for real! I loved [the estate]!  It was beautiful and comfortable.  The apartment was perfect, the grounds were full of roses, lavender, sage, rosemary (outside my bedroom terrace were two at least 6 feet in diameter!), thyme and fig trees ripe and bursting with fruit.  Branches of fig with bursting fruit appeared on our luncheon table one afternoon!   The plans for the day were productive and flexible.  Our needs were paramount with everyone and adjusting was easily accomplished; stopping for honey at the bottom of the road, no problem!!! However, it was the Pelligrino family that made this trip memorable.  I feel I have friends to go back and visit.  Everyone of them greeted us and were anxious to accommodate our desires.  I was especially enchanted with Maria Latacia.  She invited us to eat in her dining room in the castle, and then entertained us at her apartment in Arezzo.  She invited me to accompany her on errands in Montepulciano which included the weekly market.  Four of us had the best time watching her deal with the purveyors of olives, pecorino and pottery.   Susan R.