Cooking with Cristiana and Mamma Nora
When it comes to food-oriented vacations, Tuscany is tough to beat. You can have the best meal of your life for lunch, and somehow manage to have an even better one for dinner. It’s a food paradise. Even still, the idea of a full-day cooking class was a bit daunting at first. We were obviously excited going into the morning (otherwise we wouldn’t have signed up in the first place), but there was a degree of skepticism as to how we could cook all day without burning out or losing interest. Well, by the time it was all said and done, the cooking class was unanimously the highlight of the entire trip. There was never a dull moment in the kitchen, and even if there were, there was plenty of wine and a very cute dog to serve as distractions.
We signed up for the class through Airbnb Experiences (if you’re interested in this class you can find more details and sign up here).
The day began at 10:30 AM at a traditional Tuscan farmhouse just south of Siena. Upon arrival, we were greeted by our gregarious host Cristiana and her mother (“Mamma Nora”), who gave us the tour of the property and the spacious Tuscan kitchen. There were six of us plus two others who had signed up separately, which turned out to be a fun and manageable size group.
We began with dessert (naturally). With some guidance from our hosts, it wasn’t long before we each had successfully concocted two bowls of delicious tiramisu.
Next, Cristiana took us out to the garden to pick fresh basil, and then to the chicken coop to collect eggs for the pasta.
Read More: The Perfect One-Week Trip to Tuscany
When we came back to the kitchen, Cristiana and Mamma Nora helped us prepare bruschetta. We learned that the key to good bruschetta (other than fresh ingredients) is rubbing the bread in garlic and dipping it into the tomato juice. Then the real fun began. Despite having 6 hours to prepare our meal, somehow we had gotten behind schedule (it might have had something to do with the wine and the very distracting dog), so we really had to kick it into gear. Using fresh eggs from the chicken coop and flour, we got to work preparing ravioli and tagliatelle from scratch.
We started by mixing the eggs and flour and rolling out the dough onto the massive wooden table.
To prepare the ravioli, we made a ricotta filling which we then squeezed out onto the fresh pasta dough.
We weren’t quite as skilled as Cristiana, but overall we did ok.
Mamma Nora then taught us how to fold and cut the pasta dough to properly prepare tagliatelle and tagliolini.
After that, it wasn’t long before everything was fully cooked and ready to be served in the outdoor dining area. The finished product was incredibly delicious. Easily as good or better than anything we ate in restaurants during our week in Tuscany. The ravioli came out perfect and the bruschetta was by far the best we’ve ever had.
It was shocking how quickly the day went by. Cristiana was such a friendly and energetic host that it was impossible to ever be bored, and with so much food to prepare, there was always a job for everyone. We really can’t recommend this experience enough. Five stars on Airbnb doesn’t do it justice. If you have chance to do a cooking class in Tuscany, you should absolutely do it, and if you’re anywhere near Siena, you should sign up with Cristiana and Mamma Nora.