Kiplinger’s

October 2003
From A TASTE of Tuscany” by Jane Bennett Clark:

Our van lurches up a hill, past silvery olive trees, sleepy cows and bursts of bougainvillea until it emerges at the foot of two stone villas. On the lawn a table has been set in the shade of a chestnut tree. Behind it the Apuan Alps meet the Tuscan sky.

Nine of us have traveled from the U.S. to attend Toscana Saporita, a week-long cooking program held at this hilltop estate near Viareggio, in the northwest province of Lucca. Avid amateurs (and a few duffers), [we are here] to participate in classes conducted by Sandra Lotti, a native Tuscan who is known throughout Italy for her local cuisine.

We’re here to enjoy the full-blown pursuit of passion in the perfect setting.... What better place to do it than a medieval estate with exquisite views of the region that gave birth to Michelangelo, Dante and Puccini? There is no better place we decide as we lunch the first day on creamy local cheeses, bruschetta with red-onion tapenade, translucent slivers of prosciutto, and plates piled with cantaloupe, watermelon, cherries and grapes.

A California retiree has a revelation.. His previous attempts at pasta making, copied from a TV cooking class, always included too much flour. ”I was like the pianist who knows only the notes but not the music,” he says. Sampling the finished dish, he says, ”This is good music.”

By his measure we’re living a Puccini opera. Over the next few mornings we sear pork loin, knead focaccia, stir risotto, flip frittatas and heat cream for the traditional custard-like dessert known as panna cotta -- and savor it all in four-course lunches.

After lunch we stagger to the ancient towns of Pisa, Lucca and Lerici, and return to the estate to sample wines from Tuscan vintners, and to taste the intense chocolates of Amedei. ”As with everything Tuscan,” Lotti says of the local chocolatier, ”Their motto is ”Passion above all.’”

Trophies of the day’s lessons - eggplant parmigiana, tiramisu - arrive at dinners served in the beamed dining room, along with ringers, such as spice-infused beef and chocolate terrine drizzled with blood-orange sauce.

That’s the beauty of this art form, says Lotti. ”Sculpture is good, but you cannot taste it, you cannot smell it. Cooking involves all the senses. It’s the best art - it’s the gift of love.”