Emilia-Romagna
Join Francesca our host in Emilia-Romagna for our cooking program set in the heart the gastronomic capital of Italy. You will participate in hands-on cooking classes with lunch or dinner following on this culinary tour featuring the foods of Emilia-Romagna.

The atmosphere of Emilia-Romagna will titillate the senses. From balsamico to parmigiano, to the sounds of Verdi and Pavarotti, Emilia-Romagna is a land rich in gastronomy, wine and the arts. Emilia-Romagna attracts visitors from all over the world due to its world famous Reggioano Parmigiano, Prosciutto, and pasta, and this cooking program brings you to the heart of it. The cooking classes in this program are organic and highlight the region’s best products~prosciutto, parmigiano, pasta and balsamic vinegar. Buon Appetito!

Land of Ferrari
Dubbed the “land of motors” due to its impressive selection of luxury automobiles, Emilia-Romagna is home to production of Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini. Tours can be organized with vintage cars or Ferraris along with a private driver.

“Rilassare,” Relax the Italian Way
Famous for its ancient Salvarola spas, the Sassuolo area is located a short distance from Modena. The spas in Sassuolo have three different types of water, each one rich in sulfur and carbon; they are salt, bromine & iodine, and sulphur- bicarbonate-magnesium. The spas offer mud baths, or fango baths as the Italians would say, mineral-water cures, and traditional inhalations, as well as a well-equipped physiotherapy department and a multi-specialist surgical doctor. The spa at Salvarola includes Balnea, a health club with a rehabilitation department for psychological and physical disorders, equipped with swimming pools filled with spring water at different temperatures, whirlpools, Turkish baths and saunas.

For those interested in golf, you can find 9 prestigious golf courses of high technical quality between the valleys and hills of Emilia-Romagna.

Cooking Classes
The hands-on cooking lessons feature the culinary delights of the area, pasta-tortellini, Prosciutto, Parmigiano, & Balsamic Vinegar. In your free time, you will visit the colorful farms and marketplaces in the area that produce this regions prized foods. Each excursion let’s you see how the products are produced, including tastings, that follow along with informal discussions with the artisans. Each lesson lasts approximately 3 hours, with lunch or dinner following. The lessons are tailor-made according to the skills and interests of the participants.

Excursions
Suggestions to visit in your free time- Dutch of Este’s architectural jewels in Modena’s museum, the Romanesque Cathedral and the Ghirlandina Tower & Piazza Grande, - a World Heritage site protected by UNESCO since 1997.

Emilia Romagna
Cook in the land of the red Ferrari and Italy’s most treasured foods. Modena and its surroundings gave birth to Balsamic Vinegar, the true Parmesan cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and delicacies that make Italian food infamous all over the world.

Emilia-Romagna, hailed as “Italy’s gastronomic capital,” is a must on any traveler’s itinerary. Bologna, one of Italy's wealthiest regions, it is home to the fertile plains of the Po River Valley, and this area produces much of the country's wheat and dairy products. A traveler surely cannot miss such cities as Bologna, home to some of the finest culinary traditions in Italy; Ravenna, famous for its spectacular mosaics from the Byzantine empire; and the charming Parma, its claims to fame of course being Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and proscuitto, Parma ham. For the food lover, the culinary tradition of Emilia-Romagna won't fail to impress.

This exclusive tour takes you through the hills of Emilia-Romagna in a Vintage driving experience from the Alfa Romeo Spider to the Ferrari and into the kitchen for cooking Modena-style.

Modena
Hometown of famous tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Modena is a city rich in history, art, and culinary traditions. With its roots going as far back as 3500 years ago, Modena is renowned for Romanesque-style architecture dating from the year 1000. The Duomo, cathedral, in Modena is as masterpiece of architect Lanfranco and sculptor Wiligelmo. The Duomo, the Ghirlandina Bell Tower and the Piazza Grande in the historical center of Modena are designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site to be preserved for all mankind. The Ghirlandina Bell Tower is the symbol of the city and is named for the double twisted balustrades make look as if it is decorated with a holiday garland. The bell tower combines two styles; with its square base that was built along with the Duomo in Romanesque style and the pyramid on top that in Gothic style architecture that was started in 1261 and completed in 1319.

The Piazza Grande is the heart of the city, once the home of the outdoor marketplace, and still a center of meeting for the people of Modena and visitors in particular for the celebration of the patron saint, San Gimignano, January 31. In the northwest corner of the piazza is the pietra ringadora, a pink marble block where politicians, rock stars and orators stand before their excited crowds filling the piazza.

Also visit the 17th century Ducal Palace, and the city’s more recent 19th century Synagogue. The Municipal museums including the Estense Gallery, house a collection of paintings and sculptures in the Palazzo dei Musei, once a poorhouse of Modena.

Even on rainy days, head out for an afternoon stroll, as arched porticos line many of Modena’s streets keeping passers-by rain-free. Look up as you stroll and see the intricate detail and artwork that covers many of these porticos. Modena offers incredible art, architecture and history and its culinary delights tempt any palate to sneak into a café or trattoria along the way.

Cooking Classes
Our team of Chefs will guide you in our Modena kitchen hands-on using the tangy aged highest quality Balsamic Vinegar, Parmesan cheese in all shapes from the block to various sizes of grating to complement your plate. Sample the prosciutto di parma, the Parma smoked ham served delicately with a sweet cantaloupe or bocconcini of buffalo mozzarella to enhance its natural flavor. Also typical of Modena are egg pastas such as tagliatelle, wide wavy yellow pasta often served with mushrooms. Fresh stuffed pasta such as small, medium and large versions: tortellini, tortelli, and tortelloni, make delicious first courses, stuffed with pork, beef, or ham mixed with egg and Parmigiano Reggiano or ricotta cheese.

No lunch would be complete without a glass of Italian wine so enjoy Lambrusco DOC wine from the area. This sparking red wine is made from the lambrusca grape. An ancient and strong red grape that gives this wine a passionate aroma, rich flavor and vivacious sparkle. The three Lambrusco wines are Sorbara, Grasparossa and Salamino and are well worth a tasting or two.

Try your hand in the traditional Modena kitchen with our Chefs leading you start to finish from appetizers to dessert, and of course, enjoying the fruits of your labor together after class.

Itinerary
4 days, 3 nights

Day 1:
Check-In and Welcome

• Arrival and check in in Modena.
• Relax and rest to prepare for your Vintage driving tour.

Day 2:
Vintage Driving Experience

• Breakfast is served.
• In the morning, meet your guide to pick up your vehicle for the day.

Cars used for the Tour include:
Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider
Alfa Romeo Duetto Osso di Seppia
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider
Ferrari 308 GTS
FIAT 1500 Spider
FIAT 123 Spider

Visit the Stanguellini Museum, now boasting more than 30 cars including racecars and sport coups. The museum displays the most significant models and great cars of Modena including the first FIAT Sport 750 and 11oo, with their engines constructed by Stanguellini himself in 1950. See the Stanguellini Junior 1100, winner of the 1959 Montecarlo Junior GP, the famous Colibri and the Formula 3, a jewel of sports creativity.

OR

Visit the producer of the famous Parmigiano-Reggiano. The farm is owned by the Panini family and they will lead you through the production process from processing the milk in vats, the molding of the cheese curd, to the salting and maturation of the cheese wheels. The Parmigiano-Reggiano is strongly connected to its roots in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna and Mantova. Only in these provinces is Parmigiano-Reggiano produced from start to finish from the production of the milk to the transformation into cheese.

You also have the opportunity to visit a one of a kind private vintage car collection. Mr. Panini’s private Vintage Car and Motorbike collection includes unique vehicles such as the Maserati 6CM from 1936, the A6GCS Berlinetta Paninfarina, the Tipo 61 and Tipo 63 Birdcages, and the Eldorado, which in 1958 competed in the Monza 500 Mile race, driven by Stirling Moss. Mr. Panini will lead you through the important stages of the company from 1926 to today.

Continue to the acetaia, vinegar maker, to discover the tradition of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena DOP, traditional Modena Balsamic Vinegar. Paolo will lead you through the production of the ‘black liquid gold’ as it matures in the quietness of his acetaia. The peculiar process of aging, called travasi, is a process of passion and tradition, in which the vinegar is poured from larger to smaller barrels of different woods as it ages. The Balsamico comes from grape must, cooked and matured with a slow acidification from natural fermentation. It is then progressively concentrated in barrels of oak, chestnut, cherry, ash, mulberry, juniper and others, each wood giving a unique taste, without adding extra ingredients.

After the visit a light lunch buffet to sample some of the traditional tastes of the region.

In the afternoon, visit the Ferrari Gallery in the town of Maranello. Opened in 1990, the display reflects the company’s spirit: innovate, improve and take on new challenges. Enzo Ferrari always said: “The best car will always be the car that has not yet been made.”

Continue the afternoon in the hills around Maranello and follow the road from Maranello to Serramazzoni that was once used to test-drive the Ferraris.

Return to Modena and drop off your vehicle.

Dinner on your own and overnight.

Day 3:
Guided Modena Tour and Cooking Class

• Breakfast is served.
• Meet your guide for a morning tour of the Modena city center, including the famous indoor market to choose the perfect ingredients for your cooking lesson. The market is a place full of life, colors and flavors where you get to know the locals as they pick up the day’s groceries and the shopkeepers yell their specials of the day. Keep an eye out for the sculpture-fountain of a young woman either looking at the shoppers below or looking at which stall has the best tomatoes.
• Then it’s off to the kitchen for your cooking experience, hands-on in the center of Modena. Learn traditional dishes from the regions prized foods such as the DOC Aceto Balsamico di Modena, barrel-aged balsamic vinegar. Lunch follows on the foods you prepared in class. Enjoy a glass of local Lambrusco DOC, Modena’s sparkling red wine with your lunch. Evening free and dinner on your own. Overnight.

Day 4:
Check out, ciao e a presto!

• Breakfast is served.
  Arrivederci and until you return!