Art in the Kitchen- Cooking Lessons in Tuscany

Food that looks good always tastes better!

We packed a lot into our Artfully Tasteful Tour of Tuscany.  The tour was about seeing the region, painting, cooking, relaxing with guitars in the evening, and of course, EATING!  Food is a huge part of the Italian culture.  Love of food and cooking is what drew many of us to take part in this tour.  We have been thrilled with what we’ve been eating and drinking here at San Fedele all week. We’ve also enjoyed what we were able to help prepare in the kitchen.  

Our chef at San Fedele, Andreá Anichini is excellent.  In addition, he is also a sommelier, but for me, what’s really special about him is his great sense of humor.  Bottom line: Andreá is a lot of fun.  Sometimes, you might assume that if someone is an artisan in the food and wine world, they might also be a snob.  No food snobs here!

A self described, ” Man from Chianti”, Andreá loves to laugh and tease.  Butter is rare in his recipes. He usually cooks with wine, and frequently he puts it in the food! We took a little break from touring and painting and spent some time cooking with Andrea a couple of times during our stay.  Enjoy these photos of some of us in action.  Jim Ward mans the stovetop. Ginny Ward gets some input from Andrea Rebecca gets some direction on where to jump in from Ken Many hands make light work Martha Sue Henley Sledge and Becky Conwell in the kitchen making eggplant tartlets which tasted amazing! Paul Zdybel scored the best job in the kitchen- licking the chocolate covered spoon! Joan Chartier observes with a little of the obligatory vino di casa. We knew we could take classes while at San Fedele, but it was such a pleasant surprise when we were informally welcome to drop into the kitchen with Andreá at any time.  One of our group was such a frequent visitor to the kitchens that we teased him about being the sous chef!   Andreá Anichini and his sous chef for the week- Ken Chartier By the end of the week, it was determined that Ken deserved his own hat!  Note the “Black Rooster”- the symbol of Chianti A Typical Anti-Pasti or first course.  These olives were to die for! A Pasta with meat sauce- Yummm! English soup- tastes like Tiramisu Next year’s trip is scheduled for the first week of October 2015.  Contact me if you might be interested in experiencing Tuscany like this. =) Rebecca Zdybel Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor Art Lessons in all media Myrtle Beach, SC rebecca@rebeccazartist.com Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art! Feel free to share any of this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include: Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at https://rebeccazartist.com/ “Like” my facebook page: Rebecca Zdybel- Artist Join me on Google+ Rebecca Zdybel Google+ Profile