Where: In the historic centre of Lecce.

Where to meet: At 10 am on Monday, under the column in Piazza Sant Oronzo. 

When: July.

Taught in: English.

Course cost: 1995 Euro.

Where you Sleep: Anywhere you like. 

Best way to arrive, depart, maximise your time with us: Everything is spelled out in our Student Services. You’ll be given access upon booking.

write us for information.

Gelato/Rosato/Sorbetto

Gelato and ice cold rosè.

While this is an entire week of cooking, learning, eating and drinking at the castle, we do focus our attention on the frozen desserts, finishing most meals with something fruit-based, icey and of course made by you.   

Before the course begins. 

Arrive in Lecce Saturday or Sunday night and stay wherever you like (our suggestions for our favourite places are in Student Services).

Lunedi

Monday

We meet under the column in Lecce’s main square. 

We’ll talk about Lecce’s famous yellow building stone, how it was formed by nearly a billion years of sedimentary rock and how it affects just everything here: the wine, food, climate, agriculture and architecture. 

We’ll have God Smiled on Us: An Introduction to Italian Food and Wine. (This sets the tone for the week, of going deeper than you might expect, but in a new and engaging way). We’ll move over to the table and have our first guided wine tasting. 

That will segue into a staff prepared meal (the only meal of the week that you will not cook). Like all the meals of the week, we’ll have an antipasto, fresh, handmade pasta, a second course, 4 vegetable side dishes and un dolce ( ‘dessert’ or ‘pudding’).  Lunch runs long and the wines flow freely. 

After lunch you’ll have a break to spend time sending your pictures around the world, go for a walk in the local olive groves, read from the Baron’s multi-language library or just to nap off all the wine.

We’ll reconvene at 6pm to have a chalkboard talk— God Smiled on Us: An Introduction to an Italy You May Not Know. Then we’ll discuss tonight’s dinner before we head into the kitchen to make the fresh local pasta from scratch (Italy’s healthiest). 

We’ll have a hands-on lesson (you’ll learn to make 10-14 dishes, collectively) and then head up stairs to the main hall for wine tasting of tonight’s wine, that eases into dinner. Students will take turns returning to the kitchen (with the staff) to both finish and then explain at the table the final, finishing steps.

The wine and stimulating, international conversations will flow late into the night. 

You’ll visit Silvestro’s personal amaro bar for after dinner drinks. 

Martedi

Tuesday

A trip to the market.

At 10 we’ll move over to the chalkboard for Pasta, Polenta, Risotto and Old Bread: The First Courses of the Peninsula. We’ll discuss today’s lunch menu before we head down into the kitchen and make fresh pasta from scratch, then segue into a lesson on how to prepare the entire meal (as always, we’ll cook just enough to get you started but it’s you who will be cooking the entire week). 

Then we’ll move upstairs to talk about today’s lunch wine. We’ll do a guided tasting and then the food will be begin to arrive, with various students taking the opportunity to be finish a dish (with the guidance of the staff) and then explain it to those at the table. 

You’ll have a break to go for a walk in the nearby olive groves, practice your Italian with those in the village, read, scroll your device or just to nap off all the wine. 

We’ll meet again at 6 pm for Da Mieru a Vino: How Italian Wine Become Modern. We’ll discuss changes in Italian wine making and how Old World wines differ from that of the New. You’ll learn about the history of the amaro (Italian after dinner drinks) and how they aid digestion. We’ll discuss tonight’s menu and then move down into the kitchen to make a different fresh pasta from scratch (every meal a different shape). We’ll have a lesson on Mediterranean vegetables and pulses in the kitchen and how to introduce more of them into your diet. 

We’ll move upstairs for a wine tasting, both to learn about dinner’s particular wine but also how to taste more critically in general. 

Dinner will start to arrive, with each course finished and then explained by your class mates. Many corks will be liberated and we’ll go late into the night. 

A visit to Silvestro’s personal amaro bar for night caps. 

Mercoledi

Wednesday

Breakfast in the main hall at 9 am.  Breakfast will include fresh local pastries, fresh fruit, eggs, toast, yoghurt, cheeses and meats. Tea, juice and locally-roasted espresso. 

At 10 we’ll move over to the chalkboard for Kaveh to Coffee to Cafè: The Little Bean that Conquered the World. We’ll discuss Italian coffee culture, roasting.You’ll learn how to order your coffee in it Italian and we’ll head out to Salvatore’s café to practice your new skills. 

You’ll learn about today’s lunch menu before we head down into the kitchen and make fresh pasta from scratch, then segue into a lesson on vegetable cookery. We’ll prepare lunch together, using our new skills and then move upstairs to talk about today’s lunch wine. We’ll do a guided tasting and then the food will be begin to arrive, with various students taking the opportunity to be finish a dish and then explain it to the table. 

We’ll meet again at 6 pm for Gear: Knives, Pots, Pans, their Purchase and Maintenance. You’ll learn to buy the best (including knives) for the least amount of money. And how to protect your investments.  We’ll discuss our menu and then move down into the kitchen to make a different fresh pasta from scratch (every meal a different shape). We’ll have a lesson on the fresh cheeses of Puglia then prepare 10 to 15 dishes together- collectively- using those new skills to work together to assemble dinner. 

We’ll move upstairs for a wine tasting, both to learn about dinner’s particular wine but also how to taste more critically in general. 

Dinner will start to arrive, with each course finished and then explained by your class mates. You’ll finally eat your fill of burrata and your wine will pour generously. 

A visit to Silvestro’s personal amaro bar for night caps.

Giovedi

Thursday

At 10 we’ll move over to the chalkboard for Many Seas: A Brief History of The Mediterranean. You’ll learn about today’s lunch menu before we head down into the kitchen and make fresh pasta from scratch, then segue into a lesson on how to cook all the world’s fish employing only a handful of simple techniques. We’ll prepare lunch together, using our new skills and then move upstairs to talk about today’s lunch wine. 

We’ll do a guided tasting and then the food will be begin to arrive, with various students taking the opportunity to be finish a dish and then explain it to the table. 

You’ll have a break to spend time reading, go for a walk, scroll your device or just to nap off all the wine. 

We’ll meet again at 6 pm for The History of Gelato.  We’ll discuss our menu and then move down into the kitchen to make a different fresh pasta from scratch (every meal a different shape). We’ll have a lesson on blank and then use those new skills to work together to assemble dinner. 

We’ll move upstairs for a wine tasting, both to learn about dinner’s particular wine but also how to taste more critically in general. 

Dinner will start to arrive, with each course finished and then explained by your classmates. 

A visit to Silvestro’s personal amaro bar for night caps.

Venerdi

Friday

At 10 a trip to the market.

We’ll move over to the chalkboard for 1493: A history of Italian Vegetables. As today is the new the new wine comes out, we’ll also discuss high level wine making techniques, including carbonic maceration (how the Novello [Italy’s beaujoie nuevou] is made). You’ll learn why wine recently become a grocery in many parts of the world, how to store it and age it and what’s the difference. 

You’ll learn about today’s lunch menu before we head down into the kitchen and make fresh pasta from scratch, then segue into making fresh sausages from scratch. We’ll prepare lunch together, using our new skills and then move upstairs to talk about today’s lunch wine. We’ll do a guided tasting and then the food will be begin to arrive, with various students taking the opportunity to be finish a dish and then explain it to the table. 

You’ll have a break to go for a walk, prepuce your luggage, read, scroll your device or just to nap off all the wine. 

We’ll meet again at 6 pm to talk about what you’ve learned this week and to answer any questions. , then our menu and then move down into the kitchen to make a different fresh pasta from scratch

We’ll make fresh sausages from scratch and grill them over olive wood. We’ll have the first clementines of the year, the first chestnuts and eat enough to rupture internal organs. And the new wine will flow late into the evening. 

You’ll receive some departing gifts. 

Sabato

Saturday 

departure

About a week after your course we’ll send you a password to all of our recipes and include all the email address of the others on your course. Many if not most make lifelong friendships while here. They send us many happy pictures of wine-soaked reunions, held all over the world.  

Q: Are we only making gelato?

A: Of course not. We’re cooking everything but we are taking a special interest in frozen sweets. Especially those based on the summer fruit. 

Q: What pairs best with the local, negroamaro-based sparkling wine?

A: The summer in Lecce.