Cooking or culinary holidays, vacations, tours in Spain:

Spanish cooking school
. . . Spanish and Mediterranean cooking

Newly opened in one of the sunniest parts of Spain . . . a wonderful country house with its own cookery school, swimming pool and six acres of grounds offering relaxing holidays and superb food, with or without cooking classes.

Finca Alta Cocina comprises two houses and is in delightful countryside close to Algodonales in Andalucia. It is near Ronda, probably the most stunning pueblo blanco (white hill town) in Spain.

The finca provides first-class but affordable bed and breakfast accommodation at the heart of a beautiful area where you can go bird watching, wildlife spotting, walking, horse riding, cycling, hot-air ballooning or simply relax by the pool.

Algodonales, a pueblo blanco, is world-famous for its paragliding and hang gliding. There are four flying schools in the town where you can have lessons and/or hire equipment. From Finca Alta Cocina you can watch the fliers take off from the top of a mountain. We have had couples staying with us where one goes flying, the other takes cookery lessons and keeps an eye on their flying partner in the sky . . . and the couples meet up later to enjoy the excellent cuisine of Finca Alta Cocina.

Set in six acres . . . Finca Alta Cocina where the cooking lessons are given

The guests’ house with beautiful views of the mountains and swimming pool

Stunning setting of Finca Alta Cocina (arrowed) in the mountains . . . yet close to town

From the time of your arrival to the time of your departure you will enjoy the comfort and peacefulness of staying at Finca Alta Cocina in the heart of the stunning countryside of Andalucia in Southern Spain. We have five double en suite rooms with balconies, a guest lounge with a terrace, a terrace round the pool where you can relax, sunbathe and perhaps read a book . . . and a pergola where you can retreat to away from the sun if it all gets too hot for you. It is a wonderful opportunity to drop out and escape from the stresses of modern living . . . a chance to slow up and, if you choose, learn the secrets of Mediterranean cooking (with the emphasis on Spanish dishes) or just discovering the art of really taking it nice and easy . . .

As well as the meals provided on the cookery courses, other meals are available by prior arrangement.

A terrace at Finca Alta Cocina	The 12 x 6 metre swimming pool
The cookery school kitchen	The guests’ lounge

COOKERY BREAKS FROM JUST €446 FOR 3 DAYS

Finca Alta Cocina’s cookery breaks run from Friday to Sunday with guests departing on the Monday morning, and from Monday to Wednesday with departure on the Thursday morning. You can increase the length of your stay on a bed and breakfast basis. All our rooms are en suite.

From 1 January, 2010 until the end of June, and from 1 October to the end of December (excluding Christmas and the New Year), a 3-day cookery break is €446 per person.

For partners and friends of guests on the 3-day course, who do not want cookery lessons, the price including all the meals with wine is €350 per person. The same rate applies for anyone who wants the 3-day break with meals and wine but without cookery lessons.

You can increase the length of your stay on a bed and breakfast basis for €40 a day per person.

PRICES for July, August and September for a 3-day cookery break are €486 per person. For partners and friends on the 3-day break who do not want cookery lessons, the price, including all the meals with wine, is €382 per person. You can increase your stay on a bed and breakfast basis for €44 a day per person.

• There is no supplement for single occupancy of a double room.

• GROUPS OF FOUR OR MORE CAN HELP CHOOSE THEIR COOKERY LESSONS

• Full details of the cookery breaks are on Finca Alta Cocina's website - www.finca-altacocina.com

DAY 1

• Trip to Jerez to buy food in the bustling meat, fish and vegetable market. Tapas lunch in the city. (Unfortunately, this trip is not available on the Monday to Wednesday cookery course. Instead, guests will arrive at Finca Alta Cocina for a tapas lunch with wine at 1.30pm)
• Cookery class 5.00 - 8.30pm
• Three-course dinner with wine 9.00pm

  NOTE: For classes starting on Thursday, we have to leave for Jerez by 11.00am. If you cannot arrive in time, we offer bed and breakfast the previous evening.

DAY 2

• Breakfast 9.30 - 10.00am
• Cookery class 11.00am - 2.00pm
• Lunch with wine 2.15pm
• Free afternoon and evening

DAY 3

• Breakfast 9.30 - 10.00am
• Cookery class 11.00am - 2.00pm.
• Lunch with wine 2.15pm
• Free afternoon
• Three-course farewell dinner with wine at 9.00pm

DAY 4

• Breakfast, vacate room by 11.00am

• There is no supplement for single occupancy of a double room.

• Full details of the cookery breaks are on Finca Alta Cocina's website - www.finca-altacocina.com

Our first guests, Georgie and Lisa, from London, who stayed 4 - 8 February 2008, wrote in our Guest Book:

WE were privileged to be the first guests at Finca Alta Cocina. The cookery classes were very informative but in a relaxed style. Eva is a brilliant chef and it was an excellent experience to watch her at work. Eva and William were very hospitable, both with their time to make sure that we were always occupied, and for never failing to top up the wine glasses!

~ Lisa

A REALLY memorable and pleasurable few days. We have packed so much in. The cooking classes were lovely and relaxed - we covered a wide area and learned so many tips, tricks and ideas. The local area is stunning and the guest rooms comfy and cosy with 5-star bathrooms! Hope to come again and will spread the word.

~ Georgie

WE are a family of four – mother, two daughters (22 and 16) and non-cooking father. We have enjoyed every minute of this holiday. The most memorable moments were:

• Leisurely dinners with Eva and William on the terrace – lots of laughs, lots of wine and amazing food.
• Visiting the local festival in Olvera with Eva, eating churros with hot chocolate, and watching the crowds go by.
• Jerez market buying squid, prawns, pigs’ cheeks and other delicacies.
• The cookery classes – we have learnt so many techniques and new dishes to try out on our friends back home. Eva is a fantastic teacher.
• Late afternoons by the pool watching the goats coming home and the sun setting over the mountains.

We will always remember this holiday and hope to return.

~ Heather, Julian, Sarah and Octavia, London

WHAT a gem of a place – thank you for welcoming us so generously. We’ve had a fabulous time and the only benefit of going home is trying out our new skills in our own kitchen.

~ Martin and Helen, Nottingham

THIS was the best Christmas present we have ever received from our husbands! We greatly enjoyed visiting the Jerez meat and fish market and doing some (OK a lot...) of shopping, watching children, sipping coffee, eating great meals, discussing our common roots and, by the way, cooking together. We wish you lots of strength and success in your venture. Thank you for everything. Simply said: ORULOK, HOGY MEGISMERTELEK! (Happy to meet you!)

~ Zoli and Judit, and Zsolt and Andi, Hungary

THANK you both so much for three lovely days...great fun cooking, eating, drinking and talking too much! We have both learned a lot and will amaze and surprise our family and friends when we get back. We will spread the word around when we get back home – and hopefully we will return with some of our cooking friends.

~ Sue and Di, Suffolk

WHAT can I say? Fab? Great? Wonderful? No, bloody brilliant!!! This was a cooking break I bought for my husband Terry as a present. His face was a picture when he received it – and as we were about to leave after our break, he had the same expression on his face (only this time he had a tan to go with it). Eva was a great cook and host who put us at ease as soon as we arrived. Her teaching skills made it a pleasure to learn. The accommodation and surrounding area are truly beautiful, and my husband said this is the most relaxed he has been in years. Thank you for a fantastic holiday.

~ Carol and Terry, Widnes, Cheshire

THIS has been a rich intoxicating life experience and if you don’t enjoy your stay here then you do not enjoy life. We will return.

~ Signed: “Julia and Linda (two Yorkshire puddings!) Ha!”

AS friends from Essex who enjoyed many wonderful meals at William and Eva’s former restaurant, we knew anything they were involved in would reach a high standard. But even our expectations have been surpassed now that we had seen and experienced Finca Alta Cocina for ourselves. It really is impressive how they have created from scratch such a marvellous, special place. The accommodation is superb, the company friendly and relaxing and the food is better than you will find in the most expensive restaurants. All this amid some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery we have ever seen. As the Governor of California would have said if the there’d been two of him: “We’ll be back.”

~ Brian and Sue, Essex

THANK you so much for everything. We have both had a very laid back holiday, yet learned so much about cooking at the same time. During our stay we enjoyed excellent food and great company. We will recommend you highly to all our friends.

~ Beth and Christina, Canada and America

WE have just enjoyed a holiday that met all our expectations – and more. The cooking experience had been full of fun and many laughs, thanks to Eva’s enthusiasm and good humour. Thank you for making it so special and memorable.

~ Ken and Ros, Southampton

WE came, we saw and the men can now cook (we hope). A truly memorable experience. The hospitality of Eva and William has added to the pleasure of the whole experience. We have found the real Spain here with scenery beyond our expectations. Our trips out led us to Zahara and the most beautiful view of its lake. It is a place not to be missed. After 41 years with my husband Terry (who has never cooked), I found Eva brought out his confidence and I look forward to my first meal cooked by Terry when we go home. Jean felt her partner Steve was at home in the kitchen with lots of encouragement from Eva. We hope to return next year. Thank you for a wonderful experience.

~ Margaret, Terry, Steve and Jean, Durham and Edinburgh

WHAT a lovely few days break. We enjoyed the cooking classes and picked up many tips and ideas. The accommodation was lovely and the hospitality superb. We will bring friends with us next time.

~ Dave and Tricia, Liverpool

WE’VE had a wonderful few days (too short a stay really). The food, of course “the main event/star of the show” lived up to all expectations and more. We’re taking back lots of recipes and ideas to try and replicate for friends and family! Free time in the afternoons and mornings was also a dream with the lovely pool and lots of lounging around. Eva and William, we hope your venture goes from strength to strength.

~ Jenny and Margaret, Yorkshire and London

WHAT a wonderful place for chefs and non-chefs alike. Great tips, fine flavours, great company and excellent hosts. Mediterranean cooking will live on past this day thanks to Eva (and William).

~ Bob and Issie, Pembrokeshire

I DIDN’T think is was possible to have so much pleasure and stay within the law. The cooking, the eating and the location added up to a splendid experience, made all the more enjoyable by the humour and good company of Eva and Melanie (a fellow guest).

~ Archie, Scotland

I FEEL as though I have been staying with very dear friends instead of being on a cookery course – what a bonus. I have learned so much about food preparation and even butchering techniques. Cooking will never be the same again! The accommodation was very comfortable and private when needed but always an atmosphere of being with friends. I won’t hesitate to tell family and friends – indeed anyone who will listen – about one of the nicest ways to spend a few days away from home, in wonderful relaxed company, and to return as a more talented cook to boot.

~ Jo, Malaga, Spain

IT is hard to find the right words to describe our stay at Finca Alta Cocina. Wonderful, beautiful, peaceful, welcoming, friendly, educational, incredible. We have been so lucky to enjoy three wonderful days of amazing food – and wonderful company – as Eva has shown us how to slice, dice, poach and fry our way to some of the best meals we have ever had. This is truly a little piece of heaven in the Andalucian countryside. Thank you for welcoming us into your home and sharing it with us.

~ Linda and Ed Sobon, Chicago, USA

Finca Alta Cocina, and Southern Spain, is well served by airports with cheap flights from Britain. Ryanair fly into Jerez (50 minutes away) and Seville (an hour). Easyjet fly into Malaga (90 minutes away) . . . all with drives through delightful countryside.

The finca is a few minutes drive from the main A382 road just outside Algodonales. The road runs from Jerez to Ronda and is joined shortly before Algodonales by the A376 from Seville.

Although the cookery school is just minutes from the main road, at Finca Alta Cocina you are in another, most tranquil world. The only traffic hold ups you may encounter on the farm road to the finca are flocks of sheep and goats being moved by shepherds.

We recommend hiring a car at the airport (details on request) so you can tour the ever-changing countryside around us. Hire cars are a competitive price and simply not paying for an airport taxi would cover a week's car hire from Malaga and go a long way towards one from Jerez or Seville.

Southern Spain is famous for the most reliable weather in Europe. And Algodonales in the south of Andalucia is a mecca for paragliding and hang gliding, with the best conditions anywhere in Europe. The area is in incredible countryside - and the stunning location makes paragliding and hand-gliding here even more exhilarating. There are four flying schools in the town where you can have lessons, hire equipment . . . or just fly. They cater for experienced fliers and complete beginners.

Often fliers spot where vultures have found a thermal and head in that direction. And it happens the other way around, with vultures joining the fliers in a thermal and soaring up alongside them. From Finca Alta Cocina you can see fliers launching themselves off a high mountain.

For the experienced flier, the local XC record stands at over 200k but the potential for over 400 is there. No Airspace restrictions are over the site itself or nearby but on big XC you will need to have studied the map.

For the complete novice, step by step tuition is on hand from highly trained instructors.

Local flying school owner Gerry Ganter says: “The climate here is fabulous - even the winters are much better for thermal flying than the summer in the UK or Germany. Maybe we lose 2 or 3 weekends during the winter, but nearly every day of the rest of the year we get thermal flying. We are just far enough away from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic not to get the influence of the sea.”

ALGODONALES

Algodonales is an ideal base for walking, cycling (bikes are available), horse riding, paragliding (parapenting) and hot air ballooning - and for wildlife lovers and bird watchers The rare griffon vulture roosts on the Lijar mountain immediately behind Algodonales, named after Algodon (cotton), which grows in the area. There is a stork living just opposite Finca Alta Cocina and you can spot grey and black herons by the nearby River Guadalete. There are many species of birds in the area including different types of vultures, eagles, owls and cuckoos.

Artists and photographers will be in their element with all the beauty around them.

This pueblo blanco has a big, attractive square in the centre. There are plenty of bars, restaurants and shops in the town, which has a population of nearly 6,000. In the morning rush-hour (sorry, Spaniards never rush) . . . in the morning dawdle from around 6am the workers park their cars and vans all over the centre of town and crush into the bars for breakfast - often just toast with garlic rubbed into it and olive oil drizzled on top, and coffee.

Algodonales and the Lijar mountain	The town square in Algodonales

It would take weeks to go on a bar crawl in the town. There are masses of bars, sometimes three or more virtually next to each other. Some are just a front room of a home converted to a bar.

There are mini shops like this too. One would be crowded with two customers in it. Many items are displayed, including fresh meat, chickens and bread delivered daily, but most of the wide variety of stock is in a room tucked away behind where the elderly woman running the shop regularly disappears into.

The world-famous La Serrania flamenco guitars are made in Algodonales by Valeriana Bernal. As well as producing a magical sound, they are beautifully crafted. And there is a pottery workshop where they create unusual Andalucian designs to order that make stylish, inexpensive mementoes or gifts for friends.

Zahara pueblo blanco and its magnificent lake

GREAT NATURAL PARKS

There is a vast acreage of outstanding natural parks in the area. One starts just down the road from Finca Alta Cocina. Algodonales is close to Sierra de Grazalema natural park, one of Spain's most ecologically outstanding areas. The 127,000 acre park is famous for its spectacular rugged limestone landscape of cliffs, gullies, caves and gorges.

The most impressive gorge is Garganta Verde, with its exceptional griffon vulture colony and rocky walls that tower for 400 metres. Andalucia's largest cave system is here, the Hundidero-Galo with its biggest cavern four kilometres long and an entrance 60 metres high. The pueblo blanco of Grazalema itself is charming. It has grace and style and some excellent restaurants.

Sierra de Grazalema is part of the incredible Los Alcornocales Natural Park, one of the world's most important cork oak forests, covering 425,000 acres. You could spend months driving / cycling / walking through the park and you would never get bored with its trees, flora, fauna and birds.

RONDA

In Hemingway's Footsteps . . .

Regarded by many as the most beautiful of all the pueblos blancos in Spain, Ronda is perched in the hills between Seville and Malaga. Its dramatic setting, hanging high in the cliffs above a river splitting the town in two, has inspired poets and artists for generations.

It's where Ernest Hemingway frequently stayed and he used it as the setting for his bestseller For Whom the Bell Tolls, about the Spanish Revolution. Another Hemingway classic was a study of the bullfight, Death In The Afternoon. The American writer felt that a bullfight was a tragedy, not a sport.

Other famous devotees of Ronda include Orson Wells (there's a statue of him in the town and a road named after him), and Hollywood superstar Cary Grant. It has the country's oldest bullring where concerts are sometimes held. Whether you are for or against bullfighting, the bullring is worth a tour.

Ronda retains much of its historic charm, particularly the old part. It is famous world-wide for its dramatic and stunning views, with the deep El Tajo gorge that carries the Rio Guardalevin through its centre. Visitors make a beeline for the 18th Century Puente Nuevo – new bridge – which straddles the 100-metre chasm below, for its unparalleled views over the Serrania de Ronda mountains. Make sure you have a coffee or a snack outside the rear of the parador next to the bridge to enjoy the most spectacular view in the town.

Ronda is famous as the birthplace of modern bullfighting. At the beginning of September there is a spectacular Feria Goyesca where bullfighters and some of the audience dress in the manner of Goya’s sketches of life in the region. Legendary Rondeno matador Pedro Romero broke away from the old Jerez school of horseback bullfighting in the 18th Century to start a style of bullfighting where matadors stood their ground against the bull on foot.

Across the bridge, where an elegant cloistered Sixteenth Century convent is now an art museum, old Ronda winds off into the cobbled streets hemmed in by handsome town mansions, some still occupied by Ronda’s titled families. The Casa de Don Bosco is a fine example, despite the fact that its interior patio was long ago roofed in glass against Ronda’s harsh winters. Its small, almost folly-like gardens lose out to the true star a few minutes walk away to the far end of the city. The Palacio Mondragon, clumsily modernised in parts during the 1960s, still has working vestiges of the exquisite miniature water gardens dating from its time as a Moorish palace in the Twelfth Century.

The cobbled alley to the Mondragon leads to Ronda’s loveliest public space, the leafy Plaza Duquesa de Parcent, which has a convent, two churches, including the bell tower of the Iglesia Santa Maria de Mayor, and handsome arched town hall. Nearby Calle Arminan leads down to the spacious square of the traditional workers barrio, San Francisco, with excellent bars and restaurants.

Back from the Mondragon, the Plaza del Campillo overlooks steps that zigzag down to a dramatic eye-level through the Puente Nuevo. A stroll down the pedestrianised main street, Calle Espinel opposite the bullring, is a must.

ZAHARA

This beautiful white hill town, just a 15 minute drive from Finca Alta Cocina, has a magnificent lake which is an alluring turquoise in the sunshine. You can swim in the lake, hire canoes and kayaks, and enjoy a drink and tapas in or outside the lakeside restaurant. The full majesty of the lake can be really appreciated as you drive above it into the Grazalema mountains.

The town of Zahara is very pretty with several restaurants - one with great views to the lake below.