Cooking or culinary holidays, vacations, tours in Italy:

Cooking in Le Marche, Italy
. . . La Culinaria - the art of cooking and eating

Seasonal cookery and wine holidays for the culinarily adventurous in Le Marche, Italy

Discover Le Marche . . . Italy in one region

Le Marche is Italy's secret region. Some of the cleanest coastline of the Adriatic sea offers up an enormous range of crustacea, moluscs and fish. Further in land, the coastal plain, supporting olive groves and verdicchio vineyards, climbs up into the rugged Sibiline mountains where a wider selection of hardier grapes are grown, where shepherds are glimpsed in the distance, tending their sheep, creating the creamy-sharp peccorino cheese characteristic of this region. Contadini construct wooden fences to keep out the wild boar, another local speciality, as are other types of game such as venison, hare and wildfowl. Prosciutto, salame and ciauscolo mature in cellars next to last year's wine.

Le Marche is so unspoilt by tourists and other visitors that it has remained almost in a time warp. Every inhabitant has a piece of land where he grows his own vegetables, keeps chickens for their eggs and, if there is room, grows grapes for wine and olives for oil.

The pace of life is slow. It is not unusual to see donkeys used for transport or to have to stop your car and wait for the sheep to cross. Here no one gets frustrated by these little delays. It is part of the charm of the place.

Le Marche, like most of Italy, depends on deep-seated traditions, religious and otherwise. Saint day festivals, folklore, myths and superstition dictate when the wine is to be tasted, the corn to be harvested and the broad beans to be picked. We plant on a full moon! Produce is governed by the changing seasons and the quality of the land. No local Marchigiani would dream of eating asparagus in winter just as they would not think of growing avocados.

Camerino is the closest town to La Culinaria. Cobbled, narrow streets and medieaeval fortification walls characterise this historic town which did battle with Cesare Borgia and housed Crivelli and the famous Fourteenth century Camerino school of painters. There has been a university here since 1336. With the high population of educated people there is much innovation in the food, restaurants and wines of the region combining old rustic traditions with new schools of thought and highly appreciative palates.

La Culinaria

La Culinaria is run by English born Angeline Davies, now resident in Italy. The building is a grand Seventeenth century ‘casa padronale’ lovingly restored by the Davies family. The grounds include a kitchen garden, vineyard, formal garden, fruit trees and hillside meadow for sun bathing and walks. It is situated in a sleepy farming hamlet with stunning views of the mountains, forests, fields and hills.

Angeline has been passionate about Italian food and culture since her first visit to Italy when she toured out of the way villages in little known areas of this rich and diverse country, meeting with little old ladies, grandmothers . . . in short, the people who really know how to cook, who have worked the land for years, use their own produce when it is abundant and in season, and have the most exacting of food critics - their husbands!

After graduating in Classics, Angeline turned to her real love in life, cooking. She has worked for a variety of prestigious restaurants and catering companies in London and the diplomatic community in Rome as chef, manager and organiser. Her philosophy on food is simple - excellent ingredients, prepared with real enthusiasm make excellent food.

Experience the vast range of cuisine and viticulture available in Le Marche which changes as the seasons change. Taste the flavours of Italy fresh from the garden and the cheese-maker. Cook with local products under expert guidance in a small group of appreciative gourmets.

La Culinaria has so much to offer. For spouses or partners not too keen on learning to cook the delicious meals they will eat, there is a wealth of activities available, and indeed, cooking is not compulsory for anyone, though relaxation is! Your time can be divided between swimming in the lake, walking in the hills, horse riding, or absolutely nothing at all. Bring a book and soak up the mountain quiet. The beauty of Le Marche has created a haven for artists who come from as far a field as New Zealand, America and Britain to stay and be inspired by the tranquil, stunning views. Painting can be arranged as an extra or alternative activity, as can horseriding, mountain walking and quad biking.

La Culinaria in . . .

Spring

In spring the snow starts to melt and fills the rivers and mountain lakes with crystal clear, very cold water. Beans, peas, artichokes, asparagus and fennel grow in the garden and the vines need to be pruned. Mountain walks are beautiful, particularly now, since the wild flowers are out. In this region rare orchids grow in surprising places, meadows are carpeted in colour. The lonza and salame is ready. We pretend to be out when the local serenaders with their pian accordians come round to make up rude songs about us for the May Day festa.

In the last week of May in Camerino we watch the Corso alla Spada. A mediaeval festival much like the famous Paglio in Siena, where everyone dresses up in authentic costumes and the young men race in tights around the walled, cobbled city to be the first to ‘reach the sword’. For just two weeks in the year the old taverna are open and we are dished up hand made tagliatelle, roast lamb and pecorino sheeps cheese and wine in earthenware jugs by serving wenches in medieval gowns and entertained by minstrels singing madrigals, magicians and mystics.

To see sample itinerary <click here>

Summer

In summer we swim in the mountain lakes. The water is still extremely cold since the snow has only just finished melting completely but the air is hot, a pleasant contrast. We return home to pick courgettes and courgette flowers, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, fresh salad, peaches, plums and apricots. The ciauscola is ready to eat and sunflower fields glow yellow.

The beach is not far away. We rush to Civitanova Marche fish market to buy vongole and fazolari clams, swordfish and seabass, shrimps and scampi. We sunbathe by the sea and lunch lazily under umbrellas on the sand.

To see sample itinerary <click here>

Autumn

In the autumn there are mushrooms - porcini, chanterelle, portobello and many more. And there are truffles. Le Marche produces more truffles than the rest of Italy (except Piemonte) but do not tell the Umbrians - they get upset! The wine is harvested, the first taste of which falls on the festival of San Martino to accompany the chesnuts that are ready to eat. This wine tasting really is too early in the fermentation process but is a good excuse for a festa. The oil is pressed in November. The prosciutto is ready to eat.

To see sample itinerary <click here>

Winter

In the winter we ski. The snow covers the high peaks of the Sibiline and Appenine mountain ranges and falls just enough for some really good skiing. We drink hot, locally produced rum punch and munch toast and grilled sausage, then ski in the bright sunshine down to the next bar. At home we sit round the fire drinking new wine and eating chestnuts.

To see sample itinerary <click here>

The Team

Angeline Davies Angeline has been passionate about Italian food and culture since her first visit to Italy when she toured out of the way villages in little known areas of this rich and diverse country, meeting with little old ladies, grandmothers; in short, the people who really know how to cook, who have worked the land for years, use their own produce when it is abundant and in season, and have the most exacting of food critics: their husbands! After graduating in Classics Angeline turned to her real love in life: cooking. She has worked for a variety of prestigious restaurants and catering companies in London and the diplomatic community in Rome as chef, manager and organiser. Her philosophy on food is simple: Excellent ingredients, prepared with real enthusiasm make excellent food.

Gina Croft Gina has been helping out as Assistant Chef at La Culinaria for 3 years. She has an impressive culinary background ranging from cooking for sheep farmers in Australia to parties for Elton John and the British Royal family in the UK. When not working in Italy, she lives and works with her husband Charlie in the French Alps.

Jim Golding-Graham Jim Golding-Graham joined us this year as Assistant Chef in the Spring. A strict vegetarian, his passion for vegetables and pulses, and above all, garlic, has become legendary.

Dave Latham New Zealand born Dave Latham has been pouring wine all over Europe for some years now. He can tell us all there is to know about the local Marche wines and digestivi.

Paul Macdonald Paul Macdonald will get us safely to anywhere we want to go. He has been driving and helping out at La Culinaria for the last two years.

Luca Castraberte Our truffle, cheese and norcineria expert, Luca Castraberte, has his own Italian luxury food export business. He provides such prestigious London restaurants as Il Teatro, Locanda Locateli and Nobu with their truffles and norcineria. Despite being a resident of Perugia and fiercely Umbrian, he has to admit that Le Marche has some of the best truffles and prosciutto in Italy..

Accommodation

Guests on our courses stay in a local Agriturismo. These hallowed places are typical in the Italian countryside. They are old farmhouses which have been lovingly restored by their owners and turned into quiet, rustic accommodation for people wishing to find peace in the countryside, and a taste of traditional Italy. They offer homemade produce for sale, as well as a restaurant where the majority of the ingredients that make up their traditional regional dishes are grown on the farm. Family run, they rarely boast more than three or four bedrooms. All are situated amongst rolling hills and woodland.

• La Cavallina
  One such place is La Cavallina, run by the Giammusso familly. Named after their Anglo-Arab horses, they overlook nearby Lake Polverina from a wooded hill, green paddocks and vegetable gardens.
  
  The rooms are spacious and comfortable, adorned with local handicrafts, wooden beams and terracotta tiles. There are wooden shutters inside and out. All rooms have en suite bathrooms and independent entrances, heating, telephone and television for those who cannot quite drag themselves away from the outside world. The walls are decorated with a local technique called cucci scucci where the original rough stone wall is exposed in parts through the plaster.

• Le Casette
  Le Casette is up the hill and within walking distance of La Culinaria and Lake Fiastra. The owners, the Fabrizzi brothers, have vast areas of mountain pasture land where pecorino cheese producing sheep graze, on the edge of which is situated their agriturrismo. All rooms have en suite bathrooms and are decorated in the traditional style.

• Alti Pascoli
  The Alti Pascoli, situated in the quiet hamlet of San Ilario, is often frequented by the cacciatori, and is famous in the hunting season for a warm welcome and tasty game dishes. The four rooms are comfortable with single or double beds and it is within walking distance of La Culinaria along the old donkey road.

Although most of the accommodation is within walking distance we will collect you and transport you to and from La Culinaria each day should you require. After a delicious, lazy meal, one does not always feel like hill walking!

Every care has been taken by us to select the highest quality accommodation for our guests at La Culinaria, blending comfort with the traditional and rustic. We are confident that you will enjoy your time with us, both at the school, and at the table, and sleep with a happy smile in the peace and tranquility offered by the surroundings of your farmhouse abode.