Taking a Cooking Course on a Tuscan hillside
Camilla’s Cooking in a cozy countryside hayloft
While on a girl vacation in Tuscany with my good friend, Amanda, we decided to do an Airbnb Experience, Camilla’s Cooking in a cozy countryside hayloft.
Amanda had found several such ‘cooking’ experiences in the area but we both agreed that from the pictures and reviews that Camilla was for us.
Reserving and paying for the experience was all done through Airbnb and went smoothly.
Getting there
So if you DON’T have a car, they will pick you up from the nearest train station. We did have a car, a Jeep to be precise, and boy do you need one. One look at the one-lane road winding up through the olive orchards tells you it will be a fun 5-minute ride!
The road is steep and not well kept, a source of frustration for Camilla and the other residents. However, the other guests without four-wheel drive also made it up the hill so I imagine most cars can do it.
It was a bumpy ride :)
The Colonel
Arriving
We were greeted by Camilla as we wandered into her backyard. Tuscany hadn’t received any rain in 3 months so Camilla was apologising for the dry grass. She showed us her donkey, the Colonel, and her saffron patch. She finally brought us around to the beautiful new deck and canopy where the cooking class was all set up. We were brought water and enjoyed a sit down under the shade with beautiful views into the valley while we waited for the other guests to arrive.
Pretty soon an American couple joined us and we were informed by Camilla that the third couple accidentally went to a different place and we would start late.
Despite the other couple arriving almost 45 minutes late, we had a lovely time chatting with the other couple and enjoying doing absolutely nothing on a Thursday morning.
The Course
Once the other couple arrived Camilla began the course quickly. You could sense that she was acutely aware that we were almost an hour behind schedule.
She started by explaining the two types of dough we would be working with, pasta and bread. She started with the bread dough. She demonstrated how to use fresh yeast, and discussed the different types of flour to use depending on what you’re making. Then just like in a cooking show on TV, POOF, she had a bowl of dough that had risen already.
She explained that we were going to use the same dough to make three different types of bread. One very crunchy, almost like a cracker, one traditional focaccia, and a third regular loaf of bread.
We all made the crunchy version while she demonstrated the other two varieties.
After all our bread had baked, she moved on to the pasta portion of the course.
We poured out our pre-portioned flour and cracked an egg from Camilla’s chickens into the center of the well. Using a fork we slowly stirred in the flour until we had a rough dough.
Switching to our hands we kneaded the dough for a bit and set it aside to rest. Meanwhile we snacked on the cracker breads!
Once our dough had sufficiently rested we began to learn how to make the different types of pasta (not noodles, everything is PASTA!)
All the pasta!
First, we made ravioli and tortellini using the pasta maker press and a ricotta and lemon zest filling. Making the shapes were surprisingly easy. Next we made tagliatelle by running the pasta through the pasta maker. Super simple.
Lastly, we made a dessert pasta, chocolate ravioli, filled with Nutella and mascarpone.
Camilla demonstrated a quick chicken roll for us but placing some finely cut chicken on some plastic wrap, then layering in spinach and cheese before rolling it like a sushi roll.
Once we were all done making our pasta, Camilla collected everything and took it into her kitchen to cook.
We enjoyed drinking her wine and talking while she cooked our fresh pasta. Very shortly food started coming out. She prepared the tagliatelle with just a bit of olive oil and salt. The creaminess came from the fact that it is fresh pasta.
Next came the ravioli and tortellini, we all had fun trying to determine which pieces we each made.
The chicken came and was very simple but tasty.
Finally came the dessert ravioli, interesting, not sure if I would have it after a pasta meal but it was, interesting.
Final Thoughts
I would absolutely recommend Camilla’s cooking experience to anyone who wants to visit a real Tuscan home and learn simple but very yummy Italian recipes. The experience was fun, informative, and most important, tasty.
Airbnb Review
The only thing to say is 'choose Camilla'! You can learn how to make pasta from YouTube but Camilla is special and her home is quintessential Tuscany with everything from olive trees to a donkey! I was a bit skeptical that we'd be able to get everything done that was stated in the description but this is not Camilla's first rodeo. She had the entire experience timed perfectly even though some of the guests arrive late.
We were the first to arrive, she showed us the saffron, their donkey, and the old hayloft (where she hosts in the winter).
Our course was held on a little deck with a canopy overlooking the valley below. There were 6 of us for the course and it was perfect, any more would have felt a bit crowded.
We learned, we laughed, we ate, and we had fun. I would definitely recommend Camilla's course to everyone, just make sure you have a good car to reach this beautiful location.
