7 Days, 6 Nights
1-6
Mt. Fumaiolo
Cooking Classes
Arezzo or Cesena railway stations
Take a deeper dive into the craft of authentic Italian cooking during a 7-day culinary immersion with Chef Stefano in his historic 19th-century home on Mt. Fumaiolo near Tuscany. Inspired by Pellegrino Artusi—the father of modern Italian cuisine—this is our most comprehensive hands-on cooking program, created for passionate home cooks, serious food lovers, and culinary professionals who want to develop a broader range of skills.
Over approximately 36 hours of hands-on cooking classes, you’ll progress from the foundations of Italian cuisine to more advanced techniques. The program includes traditional and filled pastas, regional sauces, meat and fish preparation, deboning, filleting, stuffing, and the time-honored art of curing meats.
You’ll work with a wide variety of proteins, including poultry, pork, beef, lamb, rabbit, fish, and seafood, while learning how the season, the cut, and the cooking method influence every dish. You’ll also explore regional cheeses, fresh vegetables, wild mushrooms, truffles when in season, and other ingredients central to the cuisines of Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.
Your home for the week is a private stone house that was once part of a monastery, complete with fireplaces, a traditional stone oven, and a peaceful garden along the early waters of the Tevere, or Tiber, River. Local market visits are woven into the experience, helping you understand how Italian cooks select ingredients and build menus around what is fresh and available.
Rather than simply learning recipes, you’ll develop the techniques, confidence, and culinary instincts to approach food as an Italian cook would—guided by seasonality, simplicity, respect for ingredients, and generations of tradition.
Staying at Chef Stefano’s historic home was by far the most relaxing part of our Italian vacation. It was the reset my soul needed.
Each day includes intensive hands-on cooking with Chef Stefano using fresh, seasonal ingredients sourced from local markets and regional producers. The program is structured to build progressively, beginning with essential Italian cooking techniques before moving into more advanced pasta making, butchery, fish preparation, meat curing, and complete menu development.
You’ll prepare a wide variety of dishes throughout the week, with morning and late-afternoon cooking sessions leading into shared lunches and dinners. Because the longer program allows more time for repetition and refinement, you’ll have opportunities to practice core techniques, compare different preparations, and understand how one foundational skill can be applied across several dishes.
Chef Stefano customizes the curriculum according to the season, market availability, and your group’s interests and experience. This may include working with whole fish, deboning and stuffing poultry or rabbit, preparing larger cuts of meat, making filled pastas, or learning traditional methods for homemade guanciale, pancetta, sausages, and salame.
There are no formal guided tours during this 7-day culinary immersion. Breaks between classes allow time to visit the nearby village of Balze, enjoy a coffee or aperitivo in the piazza, hike on Mt. Fumaiolo, explore nearby villages independently, or rest at the house.
This experience is designed for guests who want more than an introduction. It offers the time, range, and personal instruction needed to understand not only how traditional Italian dishes are made, but how Italian cooks think, adapt, and create.
Special note: This cooking experience vacation package includes an immersive 36 hours of hands-on Italian cooking classes.
The exact curriculum varies according to seasonality, guest interests, and ingredient availability, but the 7-day program offers a broad and progressive exploration of authentic Italian cuisine.
| 4-Day Retreat | 7-Day Culinary Immersion | |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Food lovers & home cooks | Passionate cooks & culinary professionals |
| Cooking Hours | 20 | 36 |
| Pasta | Essential techniques | Essential + advanced filled pastas |
| Proteins | Chicken, pork & beef | Poultry, beef, pork, lamb, seafood & fish |
| Butchery | Fundamental techniques | Advanced butchery & fish preparation |
| Meat Curing | — | ✓ |
| Skill Level | Beginner to intermediate | Intermediate to advanced (still welcoming enthusiastic beginners) |
During your stay, you’ll have exclusive access to Chef Stefano’s 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom historic stone house — completely private for you and your group. This 19th-century retreat features charming antiques, two fireplaces, a traditional stone oven, and a peaceful garden along the early waters of the Tevere (Tiber) River. It’s quiet, authentic, and the perfect place to unwind after a day of cooking and exploring.
This all-inclusive retreat is available year-round, based on availability. Pricing is listed per person, and includes everything during your stay — accommodations, meals, wine, transportation, cooking classes, and ingredient shopping with Chef Stefano.
Every day with Chef Stefano reminded me that food isn’t about recipes—it’s about tradition, patience and the people who share it with you.
Yes. While the curriculum explores more advanced techniques than our 4-day retreat, the experience is designed for enthusiastic home cooks of all skill levels. Chef Stefano adapts his instruction to each guest, allowing beginners to build confidence while offering experienced cooks opportunities to refine more advanced skills.
The 7-day program provides nearly twice as much hands-on instruction, allowing you to move beyond the fundamentals of Italian cooking. In addition to classic handmade pasta and regional dishes, you’ll have time to explore filled pastas, advanced butchery, fish preparation, meat curing, a wider variety of proteins, and complete multi-course menu development.
Rather than simply learning more recipes, you’ll develop a deeper understanding of the techniques, traditions, and culinary philosophy that shape authentic Italian cooking.
Yes. Menus change throughout the week based on the season, market availability, and your group’s interests. While certain techniques build upon one another, you’ll prepare a wide variety of regional dishes so that each day introduces new ingredients, recipes, and skills.
The program emphasizes authentic Italian culinary techniques rather than restaurant-style presentation. Depending on the season and menu, you may learn handmade pasta production, filled pasta preparation, deboning poultry and rabbit, fish filleting, meat curing, stuffing meats, and traditional slow-cooking methods used throughout Italy.
Yes. Visits to local markets are an important part of the experience. Together with Chef Stefano, you’ll select fresh seasonal ingredients while learning how Italian cooks shop according to the season, quality, and regional traditions.
Absolutely! While the program follows a progressive structure, Chef Stefano customizes many of the recipes and techniques according to your group’s interests, experience level, dietary needs, and the best seasonal ingredients available during your visit.
If there’s a regional specialty you’ve always wanted to learn, simply let us know before your arrival whenever possible.
Yes. You’ll receive the recipes prepared during your stay so you can recreate the dishes at home. More importantly, you’ll also leave with the techniques and confidence to adapt those recipes using seasonal ingredients available where you live.
The 7-day Culinary Immersion includes approximately 36 hours of hands-on instruction, with cooking sessions taking place throughout the week. Every guest actively participates in preparing the meals, making this a true hands-on experience rather than a cooking demonstration.
No. All ingredients, equipment, and aprons are provided during your stay. We simply recommend wearing comfortable clothing and closed-toe shoes suitable for spending time in the kitchen.
This experience is ideal for passionate home cooks, food enthusiasts, repeat guests, and culinary professionals who want to spend an entire week immersed in authentic Italian cooking. If you’ve always wanted to move beyond simply following recipes and truly understand the techniques, traditions, and seasonal philosophy behind regional Italian cuisine, this is the experience for you.
If you’d like to explore more of Italy during your trip, you can extend your retreat into a full Culinary Vacation. Add our 4 All-Inclusive Days destinations like Florence, Bologna, Venice, Val d’Orcia (Montalcino, Pienza and Siena), Amalfi Coast and more — all with private transportation and guided touring included.
Your 4-day cooking experience becomes the starting point — and the rest of Italy becomes your playground.
Italy Culinary Vacations
Piazzetta del Convento 12
47028 Verghereto, FC Italy
Click on a destination to explore all-inclusive vacation packages.
Click on a destination to explore all-inclusive vacation packages.
Click on a destination to explore all-inclusive vacation packages.
Click on a destination to explore all-inclusive vacation packages.
