The historical cooking week in Tuscany is a unique experience that takes you on a week-long journey through the history of Italian cuisine. During the week, you will stay in a beautiful old Italian country house. You will experience an interesting mix of educational cooking classes, tastings, field trips and shopping at a local market to buy our ingredients. Of course, there will be time to relax in and around the magnificent country house or to take a dive in the pool.
travel & covid
If the historical cooking week cannot take place due to travel restrictions or strongly restrictive covid measures, the full amount will be refunded.
Cooking week May 7-14 2022
The historical cooking week in Tuscany will take place from May 7-14 2022. This experience is meant for those who want to learn about the history of Italian food in a relaxed and educational atmosphere. In five elaborate cooking classes, you will learn what the Italian kitchen was all about. You will be inspired by the ingredients, recipes and local products from the Roman period, Middle Ages, Renaissance, 17th and 18th centuries, and the 19th and 20th centuries. For more inspiration and knowledge we will visit unique culinary heritage during our trip. This unique historical cooking week is an all-inclusive experience, meaning that all drinks, meals, trips and tips are included.
accommodation
Italian country house
The rustic character of the building is in perfect harmony with the rural decor. Many old elements such as wooden beams and fireplaces go well with the antique furniture in the living spaces and bedrooms.
Kitchen with wood oven
The house is equipped with all modern conveniences. The large fully equipped kitchen with wood oven was a decisive factor in the choice of this location. It offers many opportunities for delicious historical dishes!
Lovely bedrooms
The bedrooms have been beautifully furnished with modern, comfortable mattresses in (mostly) antique bedsteads. The sanitary has been fully modernised, and the estate has no less than five bathrooms.
Heated swimmingpool
You can sit back and relax in one of four beautifully furnished living rooms, read a book on one of the terraces with amazing views, take a dive in the heated swimming pool, or take a stroll on the estate’s 15 hectares of land.
Five cooking classes
At the heart of the historical cooking week are five cooking classes. The classes are designed to teach you everything about the history of Italian cuisine from antiquity up to the 20th century. Every class starts with a short introduction. Every period is characterized by its own ingredients, seasonings, flavour combinations and cooking techniques. You learn how to make pasta, bake bread, pizza (in the wood oven!), how to make your own risotto, sausages and, of course, ice cream.
2000 years of Italian cuisine
You will travel 2000 years back in time to ANTIQUITY in the first cooking class, which will show you a lot of interesting Roman flavour combinations for sure!
The second cooking class is centered around MEDIEVAL kitchen traditions. There are a few interesting Italian culinary manuscripts from the 14th and 15th centuries. You will be amazed by the genius recipes that go back more than 500 years!
The RENAISSANCE is not just the highlight of Italian art and culture, but also of the culinary world, it was a period of spectacular dishes and flavours. You will be cooking recipes from cookbooks from real ‘maestros’ of the Italian kitchen.
The 17th & 18th CENTURIES are subject of the fourth cooking class. During these centuries, new products from the Americas are introduced into the Italian kitchen, like tomato.
With all the knowledge that you have gained this week, you are challenged to interpret recipes from the 19th & 20th CENTURIES yourself and to turn them into beautiful dishes.
ingredients
Italy has been famous for centuries for its good quality ingredients and local products. We cook with local seasonal products as much as possible. You will also discover and cook with forgotten ingredients.
Shopping at local market
Visiting a local market in Tuscany is part of our historical cooking trip. We will buy our ingredients for the cooking classes and, of course, you can buy tasty treats to take home with you as well.
The ingredients for breakfast, lunch and snacks are from Italian origin as well. Tuscany is known for its many beautiful local products and we will make sure you taste as many of them as possible! Surrounded by the Tuscan vineyards we will also provide locally made wines during the week.
Italian culinary heritage
Italians are proud of their culinary heritage. This is expressed not only in the preservation of top ingredients and century-old recipes, but also in their love of monuments and art, related to culinary heritage.
During our cooking week I will take you to one of the Medici villas that houses the best kept secret of Tuscany: a museum with a phenomenal historical culinary collection. You will be amazed! You will be too in the medieval kitchen that we are going to visit in Florence.
dining in tuscany
Of course we will also discover what is being cooked in Tuscany today. We will have lunch in a Renaissance villa, we will enjoy a menu in which saffron has a leading role, we will eat a traditional Tuscan meal and we will enjoy a lunch with the most beautiful Italian local products.
Experienced tour guide
The cooking classes are arranged and taught by me,food historian Manon Henzen, founder of eet!verleden (eat history in English). I have been teaching cooking classes for years and I research the history of Italian food and dining. I travel to Italy regularly for culinary inspiration and I know where to find the best food spots and delicacies in Florence. I write articles, cookbooks and blog posts about Italian cuisine regularly as well.
Extra cooking class and shopping
For every guest there is an apron, notebook, recipes for the cooking classes, a culinary guide of Florence and a bibliography with historical cookbooks and books about the history of the Italian cuisine.
Optionally you can twice prepare lunch with me. I do an extra bread baking workshop, for which we will use the wood oven. You can also go shopping for the cooking classes with me. There are no additional costs, of course.
program
Day 1
Day of arrival. Getting to know each other, aperitif, and having dinner together.
Day 2
Visit to Medici villa, food & wine paring lunch at villa, Roman cooking class (dinner).
Day 3
Free morning, lunch (optional: prepare lunch), medieval cooking class (dinner).
Day 4
Visit to culinary heritage in Florence, with lunch, dinner and free time.
Day 5
Shopping at local market, lunch from market ingredients, Renaissance cooking class.
Day 6
Free morning, lunch (optional: prepare lunch), 17th &18th century cooking class (dinner).
Day 7
Visit to San Gimignano with lunch and free time, 19th & 20th century cooking class (dinner).
Day 8
Breakfast, present & goodbyes. Going home with beautiful memories and inspiration!
costs
The historical cooking week in Tuscany is all-inclusive. Every cooking class, meal, drink, way of local transport, tasting and entrance fee is included in the costs. The only thing that is not included is transport to and from the accommodation. When booking the cooking week via the link below, you make a deposit of 50% of the total amount. Details about the remaining 50% will follow shortly after booking.
Twin room
If you are coming with a friend or if you are traveling alone and want to share a room, the beautifully furnished twin rooms are a comfortable place to stay.
Total costs: € 1.750 p.p.
book twin room Double room
For couples there are a number of double rooms available with spacious beds in beautifully furnished rooms. A good night’s sleep guaranteed!
Total costs: € 1.750 p.p.
book double room
Single room
If you like to sleep alone in a room, a single room has been set up for you. The single rooms are limited, so don’t wait too long.
Total costs: € 1.950 p.p.
book single roomreviews from my guests
The historical cooking trip was like a dream! A beautiful concept at a marvelous location. Manon really thought of every detail and there was a great atmosphere amongst the guests. Well done!”
The combination of everything made this week absolutely awesome. The activities, the cooking, trips, wonderful location, the lovely group and the way Manon executed it all contributed to that.
I liked everything! Taking a dive in the pool in the morning, walking to the village down below to see the Giro, cooking with the beautiful ingredients, the wood-oven and the 2-minute-dishwasher. Eating with the whole group and enjoying the fun guide.
I never knew that there were so many different lemons!
You cannot get any closer to the way our ancestors used to eat than this.
Where can I sign up for the next trip?
Do you have questions about the historical cooking week or do you want to know if this is the trip you are dreaming of? Please contact me.
email manon