fter winding through the rolling Umbrian hills, abundant with vineyards and olive groves, you reach the lovely medieval town Città della Pieve. Just five kilometers from here you'll find Relais dei Magi. As you enter Relais dei Magi's gate and drive along the long, tree-lined gravel driveway, you are struck by the charm of the country house before you, the surrounding meticulously renovated building and grounds on its 18-acre Umbrian estate.

To say that the 18th-century Relais dei Magi is simply a charming country house certainly underestimates its beauty. Each room, suite and apartment has been elegantly furnished down to the last detail: custom-made, wrought-iron beds with lovely spreads, charming chairs and sofas. Almost every room has a working fireplace and some have two. Nearly every bathroom has a hydro massage. And, of course, every room has a different yet breathtaking view of the Umbrian hills. This region, in the center of the Italian peninsula, although landlocked, has no shortage of lakes and rivers interspersed among its rolling hills providing each guest at Relais dei Magi with "a room with a view."

When you arrive owners Assunta and Paolo will warmly welcome you with a glass of wine, which you can enjoy on the outdoor terrace or in their quaint living room in front of a crackling fire, season permitting. That evening, once you have settled into your room, you will enjoy a light meal with other course participants. Assunta, Relais dei Magi owner and chef, will explain the details of the week's upcoming course. Today, in your first cooking class, Assunta will include one of her favorite recipes using fish from neaby Lake Trasimeno, perhaps ... the European roach fish, which is considered such a delicacy that since the Middle Ages it has been sent to Rome every Easter Day for the Pope's dinner.

In the afternoon you will visit the nearby Città della Pieve to take in its sites, including the Duomo, the Palazzo della Corgina and its exhibition of the works of Perugino, as well as other lovely churches such as the Chiesa di San Pietro.

Today, first thing you'll be off to the local vegetable market with Assunta. Her cooking reflects the pervading cooking philosohpy in Italy: the ingredients used are prepared fresh daily and are only those in season.

Today you'll be making palombacci allo spiedo (spit-roasted wild pigeon) and an assortment of delicious side dishes, perhaps cardi alla perugina if they are in season. Cardi are a type of cardoon. Cooked alla Perugina (taking the name from nearby Perugia), these cardi are first parboiled, dipped in batter and then deep fried to a golden brown.

Following lunch and a rest or stroll around the estate, Assunta will show you how to prepare baskets of dried flower arrangements and wreaths using local dried flowers and herbs. Her beautiful creations adorn every room at Relais dei Magi.

You'll be off to an early start today to visit two of Italy's renowned wine towns: Montepulciano and Montalcino. You'll stop for lunch in Pienza at a charming restaurant. Be sure to taste some of the delicious local cheeses from Pienza's specialty gourmet shops. Throughout the day you'll visit a number of excellent small wine producers and have the chance to buy fine Brunello wine at excellent prices.

A local Saffron expert will be on hand at today's cooking class to show how this spice is used in Italian cuisine, most notably risotto alla Milanese. For centuries Umbria has been the major grower of this spice. The extraordinarily vibrant golden yellows you see in Umbrian paintings from the Middle Ages to the recent past used saffron to obtain their color.

Learn how saffron is harvested and preserved and learn how to recognize true saffron and how to use it in cookery.

Of all the foods that Umbria produces the most noteworthy is without a doubt the black truffle. It is so tasty that it has supplied a term to Italian cuisine, trifolati: in other words, dishes that are so rich as to suggest truffle (trifole in Umbrian dialect). Today you will prepare dishes using the Umbrian black truffle including tiglioni al tartufo nero. Following lunch you will visit one of Italy's most beautiful towns: Orvieto. Visit the town's many landmarks, its beautiful main square and the numerous ceramics shops for which the city is famous. Try some of Orvieto's gourmet specialities including their delicious wild boar sausage.

Today you will make some more Umbrian specialities such as faraona alla ghiotta (guinea fowl stuffed with a mixture of capers, lemon, prosciutto, fresh sage, anchovies and other flavorful ingredients, covered with a thin slice of prosciutto and baked until done in a sauce of wine, olive oil and spices). Perhaps you will prepare gnocchi al sugo d'oca (gnocchi prepared with a duck sauce) or frascarelli al peperone (a delicate home-made pasta prepared using flour and four whole eggs and served with a delicious sauce of red peppers gently sauteed in Umbrian olive oil with fresh tomatoes and mascarpone cheese (a rich, fresh, soft white cheese).

This afternoon you are on your own to do as you please but be sure to return by late afternoon for an olive oil tasting of some of the best local Umbrian olive oils. Learn to distinguish between different olive oils and to recognize what makes a good olive oil.

This morning you will have a wonderful buffet brunch for your last meal at Relais dei Magi prior to your early afternoon departure. During brunch you will receive your course certificate, commemorative ceramic platter and recipe booklet.

This course is available as a four-day or seven-day course.

Six nights double room accommodation with breakfast, five cooking classes, four lunches, two dinners, course certificate, recipe booklet and commemorative hand-painted ceramic platter.

Feb. 3-6, 2007
Oct. 6-9, 2007

Available upon request.