Beyond the Yalla Dog

Making ravioli with Lisa Banchieri

Learn some secrets of delicious recipes that go back to the Renaissance.

Discover how Italian food tasted before the discovery of the New World brought  tomatoes into our diet and go well beyond just eating Italian – though naturally we do enjoy eating our efforts at the end – all washed down with a fine Chianti!

Tomatoes are, of course, available for the more modern recipes!

Pasta making from scratch can also be a lot of fun -  sticky on the fingers if you don’t get the mix quite right – but good fun nonetheless!

Lucy has sticky fingers

Tuscan cookery classes with Lisa Banchieri

The provisional 2012 dates for the 1 day classes in Florence , which include an optional early morning trip to the San Lorenzo Central Market to select our fresh seasonal ingredients, are as follows:

Tuesday 17 January

Wednesday 8 February

Wednesday 7 March and Monday 12 March

Thursday 4 April

Wednesday 11 April

Wednesday 23 May

Thursday 14 June

Monday 2 July

Wednesday 18 July

Saturday 11 August - if you cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen – in Italy that is where the heat is pretty difficult to take even by the seaside!!

Instead as in 2011  we will hold a Tuscan cookery class in London – with my Tuscan cookery teacher Lisa Banchieri as visiting chef just before the final day of the London Olympics!

We will make fresh pasta, arista al  forno and a selection of seasonal specials

Back to Florence!

Thursday 19_October

Monday 27 October

Friday 2 November -

Saturday 1 December – 4 course meal to be prepared in London, accompanied by sommelier selected wines to suit the menu

All delegates are provided with printed copies of the recipes produced, a pen to make notes on the numerous alternatives that Lisa explains as she cooks and an apron to use at the event which you are welcome to keep for future Tuscan cookery experiments at home!

So this is what they mean by "ribbons of pasta"!