Definitely one of the highlights of my time in Italy! It was great that it was a small group of 6 of us, and everyone was so interesting, especially two young sisters from Canada who were already seasoned home chefs.
Chef Katerina was cool and classy. Having been on a few tours, I enjoyed that she stuck to facts and answered questions without making me feel like a tourist.
The most touristy part was the market tour (ours being one of many happening that morning) but I had a lot of fun learning about the regional specialities and must-eats like the Fiorentina steak (and how to cook it). Also thanks to the group for their patience as I did as any good Asian mama and buy up produce from almost every stall.
Chef bought fresh tomatoes that were going to be in (on??) the bruschetta we were making.
It was a rainy day, which was actually fantastic as it had been scorching most of my trip. We began cooking as the rain poured down - most romantic haha!
We began by making the panna cotta that was going to be dessert, so that it could sit in the fridge. Then we prepped all the veg: tomatoes and garlic left to macerate for the bruschetta, slices of pepper and onion for the pollo di modenese, mashing baked potato and mixing it with herbs for the pasta filling…
Having never handmade pasta, it was fun for me to learn how to make it from scratch. Chef coolly showed us how to mix, knead, roll and cut our pasta sheets before filling and sealing our tortellini.
It was terrific fun learning everything from how to chop your onion like a chef, down to how to sear your chicken before drowning it in a cup (!) of balsamic vinegar and leaving it to cook.
We sat around and ate our efforts with wine and many laughs.
Chef handed us a booklet of recipes, and because I asked how to make gluten-free pasta for my husband who has intolerances, she showed me how to mix and cut gnocchi (which I can make with gf flour) and gave me a recipe for it! So grateful, and I can’t wait to try it out back home.
All in a lowkey and thoroughly enjoyable way to experience Florence! Highly recommended!
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