Italy Culinary Tour: Chef Francesco of Comfort Cooking in Sorrento

November 19, 2020 | By Peg Kern

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Meet the wonderful chef Francesco of our Sorrento cooking vacation! For the next issue of our series of The International Kitchen chefs’ interviews, we asked Chef Francesco about his love for food and his history in the kitchen. Or, as one of our clients explained it: “Chef Francisco was marvelous. He never needed a written recipe. We scurried and got most of the recipes that we cooked for lunch. My favorites were the eggplant parmesan and mussels in pasta. I also learned how to filet a fish and cook squid. The gnocchi was fun to make. This has already appeared on my kitchen table at home. The whole experience was wonderful.”

Chef Francesco no longer offers classes for our culinary travelers, but we have numerous other cooking vacations available in Sorrento!

What is your first memory of cooking?
My first memory of Cooking is a 10 year old, I cooked spaghetti “Aglio Olio.”

Where or from whom did you learn about cooking?
I learned cooking with my mother when I was 8 or 9 years old

What is your favorite ingredient or food to cook with? Least favorite?
My favorite ingredient is fish, and the ingredient that I don’t want into my kitchen is “cream.”

What’s your favorite dish?
My favorite dish is “Risotto alla Pescatora” (Rice with sea food).

What is the best piece of advice you would give someone just starting to cook?
My best advice I would give someone is just use all the passion possible!!

Have any funny or embarrassing stories you’d like to share?
The only really funny story I remember, is one day I was starting cooking a lobster and I put it on a desk, after few second I didn’t find it anymore. It was falled on the floor and I find the lobster the day after, under a fridge.

Why do you like teaching cooking classes?
I only like teaching at someone who has passion for this job.