A Flavor of Marsciano

Day One

Ground transportation from Perugia to Migliano di Marsciano. After you have settled into your room, hostess Sandra will offer you a glass of wine in her living room next to the fire (or on the porch, depending on the season). Sandra will go over the details for your upcoming week course. This afternoon you can wander the grounds before an early dinner of local Umbrian specialities.

Day Two

Today will be our first morning cooking course and certainly some Umbrian antipasti dishes will be included among the dishes you will learn to prepare. A specialty in this region is different types of crostini, which are small rounds of freshly baked bread that have been toasted and lightly brushed with olive oil. Two typical ways of preparing them are called crostini di fegatini, a delicious spread made from chicken livers, capers, onion, white wine, broth, butter and extra virgin olive oil, and crostini with a tasty spread made using local olives.

This afternoon we will visit the fabulous wine museum in Torgiano. As Torgiano has a number of fabulous restaurants, just take your pick of where you'd like to eat. Following dinner we will head back to our wonderful country inn, Casale di Bucole.

Day Three

This morning's cooking class will focus on some of the wonderful country soups Sandra is specialized at making. One of these might be minestra di farro, a spelt-like grain that is typical to this region. This soup uses a prosciutto bone as the basis for its excellent flavor, along with onion, celery, carrot and several ripened tomatoes. The soup is topped with freshly grated pecorino cheese and a swirl of olive oil. Another soup might be zuppa di castagne e ceci, a chestnut and chick pea soup which is a traditional Christmas Eve dish in the neighboring medieval town of Todi.

This afternoon, in fact, we will make a visit to Todi. This charming town has preserved three sets of walls: the Etruscan (Marzia Gate), the Roman and the medieval. Enjoy the lovely shops, but be sure to visit the Piazza del Popolo with its gothic Priori Palace, the great 12th-century Romanesque Duomo, and Piazza Garibaldi, with its lovely view of the valley and softly rounded hills surrounding Todi. You're on your own for dinner at one of the many restaurants in Todi prior to returning back to Casale di Bucole.

Day Four

Following breakfast we will head off to Deruta for a morning of shopping at the dozens of ceramic shops available. This is your opportunity to purchase beautiful gift items, sets of dishes and other decorative items to take home. We will also have a tour at one of the ceramics producers to see how these beautiful hand-painted artisan products are made. We'll stop at a sandwich shop for a light but scrumptious lunch and then back to the Casale to relax. Before and during dinner we will have a guided olive oil tasting of local Umbrian and Tuscan olive oils. We will also have our cooking lesson, which focuses on desserts. One dessert is a chocolate cake that is the house specialty of Casale di Buccole. Another is called crostini ubriachi, intoxicated bread! And it is just that. You remove crusts from day old country bread and soak it in a mixture of melted chocolate, peeled toasted and chopped almonds, several cups of espresso coffee, rum and alcherme, a sweet deep-red liqueur from spices and roses. Let the bread sit before serving. Intoxicatingly delicious!

Day Five

Our morning cooking class today will focus on a number of dishes including maia le all'agrodolce (pork in a sweet and sour sauce) and palomba alla todina (wood-pigeon served in a typical Todi fashion). The palomba is first spit-roasted over a wood fire, then cut into four pieces and cooked on the stove top in a covered casserole dish with red wine, sage, proscuitto, black olives, capers, olive oil, garlic, onion and whole lemon. It's served with toasted country bread rounds.

This afternoon we will visit Assisi and the St. Francis Basilica, undoubtedly one of the most breathtaking basilicas in Italy, rich with colorful frescoes. Assisi itself is charming, filled with narrow streets, lined with old façades and their flower-decked balconies.

Day Six

Today we will visit wine producer Decugnano dei Barbi in the Località Fossatello. This tenuta is unique in that it has extremely old wine cellars that have been carved from the local stone tufo. This reflects the owner's passion for both wine and archaeology! Extremely noteworthy is the Pourriture Noble, a creamy sweet white that is considered to be one of the top Umbrian muffa nobile (noble rot), a mold which permits the production of highly prized dessert wines. The tenuta's Orvieto Classico wines are also notable and you will want to consider purchasing some of this wine to take home. We will have lunch at this wine producer's tenuta before heading back to our hotel. This evening you are free to relax as you please.

Day Seven

This morning over an abundant buffet breakfast we will say our farewells. Course certificates, recipe booklets and commemorative hand-painted ceramic platters will be distributed. Our last outing, where you will be taken to the train station, will be in Perugia. Perugia is world famous for its chocolate (Baci Perugini) and we will visit some of the chocolate makers. Perugia is the capital of Umbria and was one of the twelve Etruscan strongholds before being occupied by the Romans in 310 B.C. As such it is full of historical sites to take in. Umbrian painting is outstanding and the most noteworthy painter is Pietro Vannucci, better known as Perugino. Don't leave Perugia without seeing some of his works.