"Get off the road..." {car passing by}
Hi I'm Mike of Mike's Road Trip ....on this episode I feature a very special
experience here in Montefollonico, Italy brought to you by Allianz Travel. For
the next week I'm here at Cook in Tuscany, which is a cooking school
located on a rural hilltop village overlooking the fertile farmlands and
rolling hills of Tuscany, so come along with me and let me show you around.
"Hi, I'm George, and I'm Linda, and welcome to Cook in Tuscany!"
Attending Cook in Tuscany is the quintessential experience that everyone
dreams about when they think of this part of central Italy. Tthe region is the
personification of the country with a terroir that produces the best wine and
olive oil the world over. The days are sunny and warm, while cool breezy
evenings make for the perfect al fresco dining. In addition to learning how to
cook some classic Italian dishes, each day is filled with a new and unique
experience. When you attend Cook in Tuscany,
you're not just stuck in one location for the entire week, you take daily field
trips to neighboring villages where you learn from local chefs, wine taste with
connoisseurs, and sight see some lesser known and undiscovered parts of Tuscany.
While at Cook in Tuscany they have a number of side excursions where you get
an opportunity to stroll around some other neighboring hilltop communities.
DAY ONE is arrival, with an introductory meal to get to know everyone, along with
an overview of the itinerary and a tour of the La Chiusa Hotel, the host
hotel of Cook in Tuscany. And by the way, the accommodations are quite special,
with each of the 18 rooms offering all of the comforts of a luxury hotel.
After donning our aprons, Day Two took us to the Tuscan village of Cortona where
we met with a Antonieta of Netta's Kitchen. After doing a little shopping at a local
market for some supplies, we headed back to the kitchen to learn how to make
pasta which was just one of the elements for our delicious lunch. We then had an
opportunity to explore the village and do a bit of shopping. By the way,
Cortona is the place where the famed book and movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" took place.
That evening we strolled up the street from La Chiusa to the walled part
of Montefollonico where we had an exceptional meal at La Botte Piena.
[Next day] So we're strolling the streets of Montefollonico right now and my sister
has joined me on this trip. I should have introduced her earlier, this is my big Sis Suzanne. So what do you think so far the cooking school and of Tuscany it's general?
"It's been magical, beyond anything I could imagine what was gonna happen here. We've made new friends..." I know it has been so much fun and I'll tell you it's pretty much
exceeded my expectation so far, what do you think? "Absolutely!"
later that morning we were back at La Botte Piena for a cooking class
where some serious fun ensued. George queued up some music and everyone
started dancing while making pasta. Soon it was line dancing around the
restaurant. After lunch we headed to a couple of nearby villages,
the first was Bagno Vignoni which is a popular place for its hot spring. Our
next stop was to Pienza, which was named for Pope Pius ii who was born here in
the early 15th century. Here we had a chance to explore a bit while taking in
this superb Renaissance architecture and the incredible views that make Tuscany
so popular.
On day four we took over the kitchen at La Chiusa where we started off making a
fried eggplant dish then we started on a chicken dish and other accoutrements to
the meal.
Finally, we headed out to the courtyard to prepare a few final items for our
feast of a lunch.
Of course, while cooking in Tuscany, a glass of wine is always essential.
After lunch we headed off to explore Montepulciano, this is another medieval
hilltop town surrounded by vineyards and is known for its noble red wine. In
addition to seeing artisans at work, we toured this incredible wine and vinegar
cellar and shop, we then did something I have never done before, truffle hunting.
We went to Tenimenti Andreucci, a 7th generation winery where we
boarded a truffled transport that took us to the back of the vineyards to a
lush forest. Here we met up with one of the country's top truffle hunters who
explained the process of finding these sought-after subterranean fungus often
used in fine-dining meals. After meeting the dogs that would sniff out this
elusive delicacy, we were off ...! It didn't take long at all for the dogs to catch the
scent, soon we were holding our first of many truffles.
We then took our truffles back to the winery where they used them in our
incredible meal, and where we had one of the best wine tastings of the Cook and
Tuscany experience.
[on camera] Right now we're at an organic farm where we're learning how cheese is made
and also getting our hands into some artisan bread, and then we're gonna have
lunch overlooking this incredible valley of Tuscany.
Later that afternoon we headed back to La Chiusa for a relaxing afternoon.
We finished the night off with dinner at the on-site restaurant where someone had a birthday.
Each morning my sister and I would enjoy breakfast outside, taking
full advantage of those Tuscan views. This would be our last full day at
Cookin Tuscany and we were in for a treat. We stayed at La Chiusa for the day
and our cooking class was taught by none other than Dania Masotti, famed Michelin
star chef, cookbook author and former owner of the restaurant and hotel in
which Cook and Tuscany takes place. We headed out to the garden to grab a few
items for our meal, then marched back into the kitchen to get to work. Some of
the items we prepared were stuffed squash blooms, risotto, and a chicken dish.
When it came to dessert, one of the items we made was a spun sugar garnish which
is when the entertainment portion of our program really kicked off. Everyone was
dancing to music and it was a riot watching everyone's unique technique.
We weren't quite done with our preparations, we still had a pasta dish
to prepare, so we went outside to the courtyard where we made some ravioli and where the dancing continued. After our meal and having a few autographs signed,
we said our goodbyes to our new friends.
Well that's it from Cook in Tuscany here in Montefollonico Italy. I hope you
enjoyed this video, and if so, please hit the like button and don't forget to
subscribe for more Road Trip Travel videos. I'd like to thank George and
Linda Myers for completely exceeding my expectations on this experience. And also,
to Allianz Travel for making this video possible. So, until next time, we'll see on
the road...
MikesRoadTrip.com