Beppina is a local lady who has been to the best cooking school of all in that she learned from her own mother and has used these skills for a lifetime of feeding her family. She eschews the ready made sauces, considers that bought pasta is a bit ‘lazy and infra dig’ always preferring to make her own using the very freshest and best ingredients she can find – free range eggs from ‘happy hens’, organic flour stone ground at our local historic watermill, potatoes from our nearby village of Cetica considered to be among the best in Italy. On many occasions I have sat at her table and enjoyed the wonderful food which she provides – often from her own garden and if not, sourced from the pick of local suppliers.
Beppina is a great lady, always cheerful, patient and clear with her teaching methods and she encourages her ‘pupils’ to succeed through clear instructions, straightforward recipes and encouraging a ‘hands on’ or better ‘hands in’ approach.
She will come to you or alternatively you can work in her kitchen. At La Massa, the kitchen is great as a classroom in that it is large, light with plenty of workspace.
Beppina supplies the ingredients and then encourages you to turn these into a mouthwatering Tuscan feast. The recipes of course vary according to the season – ‘according to shopping and picking’ is what she says, but will usually include some of the following – generally speaking you will make 3 to 4 items:
- Home made pasta – you do the hand rolling yourself, no fancy machine with Beppina.
- Gnocchi – lovely little Italian potato dumplings – so different when home made.
- Panzanella – wonderful Tuscan bread salad – for me the very taste of a Tuscan summer.
- Pannacotta
- Some sort of pasta sauce.
The cost of this is around €85 for a session for two people, just a little more if up to 4 people are included. This is an excellent price and at most other cooking classes, this would be the cost per head.
Beppina provides the following:
- All ingredients
- All equipment needed
- Aprons for the ‘chefs’
- Sufficient wine to improve confidence and to make the day ‘go with a swing’
- Lots of charm and laughter.
The lesson can be organised at a mutually convenient time and tends to last between two and three hours. Of course, you enjoy the results of your work for lunch or dinner.
I have watched some wonderful lessons going on, and I find it a real privilege to be there.
Recipes are of course provided for you to take home and in any event, they are detailed in the recipe section above (See Beppina’s recipes in the Recipe section of the main menu)
