Guest post by Carroll Dunn

In July of 2015, my husband and I enjoyed a trip to Puglia, Italy, at the “heel of the boot.” One of the highlights of our trip was a fabulous 4-hour Italian cooking experience at Masseria Torre Cocarro. Our cooking class was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. but when we arrived, the hotel had the appointment for 11:00 a.m., so they graciously invited us into their restaurant to enjoy breakfast at no charge to us. They let the chef know we had arrived and he accommodated us at 10:30 a.m.

Our Italian Cooking Experience

We were escorted to a room that was previously used to store olives. It was equipped with a small kitchen and a large prep table. Our chef, Guido, introduced himself, provided us with aprons and a small cookbook and we set to work making pastry dough. We measured all of the ingredients, kneaded the dough and set it aside.

While the dough was rising we began to prepare a baked fish dish with a variety of fresh vegetables that we collected from the garden. We picked zucchini, tomatoes, parsley, potatoes and a few peppers. It was great to be working with such fresh produce! We worked together cutting the vegetables, all the while enjoying the bottles of Proseco and water they supplied. Guido also showed us a few cutting techniques to prevent us from losing fingers! We made a marinade for the fish and then added all of the veggies so that it was prepared to bake.

Once the dough was set, we made traditional “Panzerotti Fried with Mozzarella and Tomatoes.” We also made pizza, rolls and cookies in a variety of shape and sizes. Guido encouraged us to use our creativity!

The best part of the lesson was learning how to make such a large variety of pasta in all shapes and sizes. We made tagliatelli, cavatelli, orecchiette, (the hardest to master!), agnolotti, ravioli, gnocchi, and more. We laughed a lot as we mastered the skills.

Following that, we moved on to dessert and made a very easy Ricotta Cheese tart with Citron.

Time to eat!

We cleaned up our mess and Guido headed to the larger kitchen to bake all our goodies. We were escorted to a beautiful area by the pool and sipped wine while we waited for the lunch. Our meal was served under a pergola and was absolutely delicious. We were so proud of our efforts. Anything we couldn’t finish was carefully packed up for us and we returned to our hotel stuffed and happy. We treated the doormen with our leftovers and they were delighted!

This was a one of a kind experience and it turned out to be so much fun despite my husband’s hesitations to participate. I highly recommend this activity to anyone traveling in the area.

Notes from Travel Maestro

Masseria Torre Coccaro is a five-star restored country house dating back to the 16th century. It is set on a large estate overlooking the sea and surrounded by 800 year old olive groves. The property includes a tower and fortified walls that were once part of a line of defense that runs from Bari to Brindisi, sometimes called the masseria coast.

In addition to fun, interactive cooking classes, Masseria Torre Coccaro offers a gourmet bicycling tour of the local farmland and fishing village. Guests can also visit the ancient wine cellar and enjoy wine tastings guided by an expert sommelier in the masseria’s antique stables or the best local wineries. The estate boasts a prolific organic farm, the Ortus Conclusus, which grows a huge variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Unfiltered olive oil is produced on site and guests can pick and eat figs, pears and grapes from the 500 year old colonnade.

Puglia is known as “the Garden of Italy” and Masseria Torre Coccaro is a foodie’s delight. For more information about culinary travel, Puglia or visiting Masseria Torre Coccaro, contact Covington’s vacation specialists and plan your next tasty travels.

All photos courtesy of Masseria Torre Cocarro