# Italian Cooking Schools



## Mall Guy (Sep 14, 2011)

Hi, I have a "significant" birthday coming up this summer and want to treat myself to a special trip. I have start to look into a culinary experience in Italy - cooking schools, culinary tours, wine tour (of course) that sort of thing. There are many alternatives . . . just wondering if any one has done this sort of thing ?


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Don't know anything about Italian cooking schools but this is some of my experience with Italy. 

I went on a holiday to Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice) a few years ago. Did not find that their Italian food was that good to us Canadian tourists, at least not in the tourist areas.

Got ripped off $$$ by a private driver at the Rome airport, who picked me up when I was waiting for a bus instead. Not being able to speak Italian, I was a mark for them. The hotel that I had reserved in Canada was mysteriously cancelled (according to an interpreter at the Rome airport..ahah! ), so he mentioned he knew of another hotel and "contracted" this sports car driver to pick me up, and hustle me off to hotel where they (obviously) got klckbacks.

Food was very sparse and very expensive. In Venice, I stopped for lunch at an outdoor cafe and was informed that it would cost *5,000 lira just to sit in the chair.* Food was extra..when it came the plateful of spagetti was about 3 mouthfuls and a tiny bit of marina sauce in the middle.

Paid about $20 Canadian for that. When I ordered bottle water (this is Venice with the smelly canals) they brought an OPEN bottle of water to me and charged me about 3000 lira for it. Since I didn't see the waiter open it before my eyes, I pretty much assumed it was local tap water.

They tend to rip you off and nobody cares if you are Canadian. We helped liberate their country from the Nazis in WWII and
they seemed to have forgotten that. All they want is money...American Express will do nicely thank you.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

Sounds like fun, and a good way to mark a milestone birthday.

I don't know anything about Italian cooking schools, but if you're willing to consider Greece I have heard rave reviews of the schools and tours offered by Diane Kochilas: http://dianekochilas.com/classes-tours.

One thing to consider is that taking a cooking class in Europe can be a source of frustration when you get back home because you find that many of the key ingredients that made everything taste so wonderful over there are either not available over here or are a far cry in quality from what you had over there.

So my advice would be to take cooking classes at home, and go on a culinary/wine tour instead if you want to go to Italy.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

carverman said:


> ..when it came the plateful of spagetti was about 3 mouthfuls and a tiny bit of marina sauce in the middle.


It's worth noting that pasta is considered an appetizer in Italy, not a main course, and only in North America do we smother pasta with lots of sauce. Real Italian pasta dishes tend to be quite light on the sauce.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

brad said:


> One thing to consider is that taking a cooking class in Europe can be a source of frustration when you get back home because you find that many of the key ingredients that made everything taste so wonderful over there are either not available over here or are a far cry in quality from what you had over there.
> 
> So my advice would be to take cooking classes at home, and go on a culinary/wine tour instead if you want to go to Italy.


I second this. Everything from the very basic standard ingredients are far different from Canada. Maybe you can find them in GTA etc, but it wouldn't be nearly as common/affordable/variety etc. I suppose you could probably make your own pasta, wine, and install a wood-fired oven etc but the effort would be pretty high!

Another thing to consider is that, like carver touched on, it takes a while to warm up to Europe. It took me awhile to really appreciate the strong tastes (smaller portions don't bother me, I prefer to stay slim and quality food). I just did a tour of France/Italy and I was able to avoid most of the tourist traps. My goal is always to do what the locals do and I find that much more authentic/affordable. The standard food is a huge part of the experience, and you can see many sights for free. In fact whenever I pay to see a tourist site, it's always just a bigger polished recreation of what is lying all over Europe for free. The cost of everything varies drastically, and imo it's not that hard to avoid the traps with a bit of leg work. I've had the best pizza calzone ever for €3 prepared/cooked in front of my face by fire, amazing pastries and bread made in front of me by a baker with the french beret, and the best sandwhich ever for €3 as well and it didn't even have sauce.... I've stayed in many amazing hotels for €50 and had amazing standard 3 course meals w wine for €20 even along the Cote d'Azur and Liguria, I've stayed in perfectly acceptable hotels for €20. Amazing wine that you can't even get in Canada will cost €3 to €5 per bottle as well... Bottled water is also far far cheaper than in Canada if you don't buy it at a tourist restaurants (safe drinking water is usually free at restaurants in my experience) Americans are often shocked by the prices but remember tax and gratuity is included and everything works differently here (what is the cheapest/normal in NA may not be here) I've also found that, just like in Canada, people are much much friendlier outside of the huge metropolis/tourist areas... people are very friendly especially if you show the same to them! If you can't speak any Italian, at least knowing the basics goes a long ways as far as getting friendly service. Nearly everyone in Europe can speak English, especially young people, but they can always pretend they don't understand if they want to.

I currently work alongside an Italian and I'm learning how complex the culture difference really is. Italy101 bare basics - Never ever cut your pasta! Never ever ever order a cappuccino/latte after breakfast (but do try because it's nothing like Tim Hortons!). Never go to supper before like 8pm. If you want a "normal" coffee, order an "americano", otherwise you may get an espresso. They do charge a tourist price for things like coffee but if you are friendly and return it's easy to get a discount... They also certainly don't forget the War but they don't think they should bend over backwards for all the tourists (who had nothing to do with it) and who constantly perceive them with demeaning stereotypes etc.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Nazis didn't occupy Italy--though they were part of the Axis.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

andrewf said:


> Nazis didn't occupy Italy--though they were part of the Axis.


I believe they did after '43. ...Mussolini was Hitlers ally until he was overthrown by the partisans and imprisoned. Hitler diverted some of his forces from the Ukraine directly to Italy to reinforce the Axis position in Italy in an effort to restore Mussolini back to power
after he was rescued by Hitler there. Some of the bloodiest fighting between the German army (Nazis) and the Allies
occurred there, especially the Sicily landing. 

http://www.worldwar2history.info/Italy/
_Italy was part of the Axis, but when Italy became an unwilling ally it was occupied. Finland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria were Axis allies. Of these countries, Hungary and parts of Romania were occupied._
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_countries_did_Germany_occupy_in_World_War_2

I didn't want to start a discussion in this thread on what took place in WWII, this was just my personal observations while I was
there for vacation...was that they didn't really care if you were a Canadian tourist..as long as your money was good.

A big difference from Holland, where I also spent a few days and we were treated in a more friendlly appreciative manner,
but the Dutch have never forgotten Canada's part in their liberation and Ottawa gets tulips shipped every year to
plant around the Capital.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

A new twist to Godwin's law: NA's discussing anything related to Europe leads to a discussion of Hitler in record time.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

brad said:


> It's worth noting that pasta is considered an appetizer in Italy, not a main course, and only in North America do we smother pasta with lots of sauce. Real Italian pasta dishes tend to be quite light on the sauce.


Maybe so, but considering that spaghetti costs almost nothing to make..a couple spoonfuls of sauce may have made the dinner more appealing. 
They were just cheap (in my opinion) to the tourists.


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## Mall Guy (Sep 14, 2011)

mode3sour said:


> I second this. Everything from the very basic standard ingredients are far different from Canada. Maybe you can find them in GTA etc, but it wouldn't be nearly as common/affordable/variety etc. I suppose you could probably make your own pasta, wine, and install a wood-fired oven etc but the effort would be pretty high!


Never a dull moment, thanks for the feedback and the history lesson! BTW, pasta is actually extremely easy to make from scratch (and is one of the simplest ways to impress a date), still working on the wood burning oven . . . I will most likely end up in a mountain village in Tuscany, not in one of the major cities 

Ciao


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Mall Guy said:


> Never a dull moment, thanks for the feedback and the history lesson! BTW, pasta is actually extremely easy to make from scratch (and is one of the simplest ways to impress a date), still working on the wood burning oven . . . I will most likely end up in a mountain village in Tuscany, not in one of the major cities


Of course you can. I suppose you could also start your own dairy farm to make some fancy cheese. I just meant that what is standard and readily available on every corner in Italy will take extra effort or cost in Canada. I can barely find any food in Canada without the preservatives. Most of the best wine is consumed by Italians and French themselves, and not exported at all etc. Mountain villages are the way to go, I thoroughly enjoyed the random villages that were off the radar although you can't expect to be treated like a tourist there either. They would rather enjoy a simple life than cater to the rich.


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## GreenAvenue (Dec 28, 2011)

Mall Guy said:


> Hi, I have a "significant" birthday coming up this summer and want to treat myself to a special trip. I have start to look into a culinary experience in Italy - cooking schools, culinary tours, wine tour (of course) that sort of thing. There are many alternatives . . . just wondering if any one has done this sort of thing ?



Having travelled through Europe extensively I would suggest not to plan anything but just go there. We would travel the south of France and enjoy the evenings in the small villages and boy did we have some good times. Italy is a disaster if you go to the bigger touristic (like Venice) but we found the same hospitality there, were invited into people's homes and had dinner with them, some of them till after midnight, same in Germany, Austria, Portugal and the Basque area and the rest of Spain. We were a lot younger back then but the trips didn't cost us an awful lot of money but we had the time of our lives, still have 9 or 10 photo albums from those trips. The downside is that you will gain weight, but hey.... Just go there!


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## Mall Guy (Sep 14, 2011)

GreenAvenue said:


> Having travelled through Europe extensively I would suggest not to plan anything but just go there. We would travel the south of France and enjoy the evenings in the small villages and boy did we have some good times. Italy is a disaster if you go to the bigger touristic (like Venice) but we found the same hospitality there, were invited into people's homes and had dinner with them, some of them till after midnight, same in Germany, Austria, Portugal and the Basque area and the rest of Spain. We were a lot younger back then but the trips didn't cost us an awful lot of money but we had the time of our lives, still have 9 or 10 photo albums from those trips. The downside is that you will gain weight, but hey.... Just go there!


Wow, looking forward to being "local" and not staying in the big tourist cities, maybe if it was just me (ie no travel companion to "worry" about), but not sure I could just "go" . . . Euro-pass and a hostel . . . not 18 anymore! But thank for the encouragement!!!


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