Mare & Monti ~ Mountains & Sea™

Tie on your apron with Chef Maria in our Mare e Monti Amalfi Coast cooking classes designed for those who love traditional Italian cooking and want to learn how to make the lasagne, ravioli, fish and desserts like their nonna!!!  Join mamma Maria in Agerola, perched atop the Lattari Mountains, on the Amalfi Coast, and discover Amalfi Coast cooking classes, wine tasting, food lovers walks and life as a family in our Cooking Vacations on the Amalfi Coast tour.

As featured in August 2017 – Click here to read more!

Chef Maria has been cooking for many years and is an expert creating seasonal menus with vegetables and produce from her garden. Our Mare e Monti program immerses participants in the spirit of Southern Italian where sea-meets-mountain cooking comes together using farm-to-table ingredients.

You’ll also visit local produce markets, and take a Food Lover’s Tour to artisans who make mozzarella and bakers and a limoncello maker with tastings along the way.

Following your Food Lover’s Tour, head to the kitchen and get ready to prepare mare e monti (sea food and clams, shrimp, fresh fish, and grass fed meat and free range chicken) antipasti, fresh pasta and seasonal sauces – think local provolone del monaco cheese, hand-cut tagliatelle and hearty lasagne. Main courses include beef, pork and free range chicken.  Desserts are her speciality and Maria’s signature ones are zeppole, lemon cake, walnut cake and millefoglie with wild strawberries.

Maria’s husband Umberto grows his own organic vegetables – zucchini, fava beans, peas, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, chilli peppers, basil and parsley – and as part of the program you will be able to pick the fruits of the family vegetable garden and use them in your cooking class. Umberto also grows grapes at his vineyard and makes homemade wine.  Not only will you learn about local wine making but sip and swirl along the way.

Amalfi Coast Accommodation

Our charming Mare e Monti program is hosted at our villa style Bed & Breakfast in the small town of Agerola on the Amalfi Coast.  Each bedroom has a terrace or balcony offering enchanting sea views. Cool terracotta tiles line each large bedroom. All rooms have a private bathroom with a shower and hair-dryer, and a TV. Breakfast is served each morning in the cozy dining area, wi-fi internet, and daily maid service is provided for your convenience. The Bed & Breakfast is situated in a wonderfully panoramic position with views spanning the Mediterranean and Li Galli Islands. There is an attractive garden where guests can relax in the shade of a tree in the company of a good book, do a little sun bathing or enjoy a meal cooked in the residence’s kitchen. As the sun begins to set, sip a cool aperitivo on your balcony and watch the heavy orange sun sink below the horizon. Around you are chestnut trees, fig trees, perfumed jasmine, beautiful geraniums, flowering lavender, and a collection of terracotta pots dripping with rosemary bushes, mint, herbs, and flowers.

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Agerola

Known both as the Piccola Svizzera (little Switzerland) and the Grande Terrazza sul Mare (the great terrace overlooking the sea), the small town of Agerola is situated in an idyllic spot, suspended between sea and the sky, in the Lattari Mountains above the Amalfi Coast.  Approximately 600 meters above sea level, Agerola was for years the oasis sought out by wealthy Neapolitans seeking respite from the hot, dusty city during summer months. Still today, it is an area much appreciated for its natural beauty, its lush green hills enjoying the cool air of the mountains while offering extraordinary views of the Amalfi Coast, from Amalfi and beyond, all the way to Praiano, Li Galli Islands and Capri.

Agerola is cherished by nature lovers who delight in exploring the area’s countryside: chestnut woods and farmers’ cottages, walking paths that lead through gardens and terraces of well-tended vines, and of course, the local trekking trails. Starting from Agerola, explore Italy’s most gorgeous countryside treks called The Walk Of The Gods.  Meandering paths that begin at the top of the mountain and wind gradually downwards through breathtaking scenery and surrounded by Mediterranean shrubbery – wild rosemary, thyme, oregano, garlic, myrtle, thistles, prickly pears and wild figs. Then past vines, houses and smallholdings clutching to the hillside, the narrow path next giving onto the Amalfi Coast, glittering expanses of sea on one side and the dramatic limestone backdrop of the Monti Lattari behind. This theatrical meeting of sea and mountain has been attracting visitors since Ancient Roman times, with unbeatable views of towering cliffs plunging sharply into a cerulean sea, and tiny bays dotted with local fishing boats. Hillsides are lined with terraces of well-tended lemon groves, the trees bright green speckled with the yellow fruit in summer and swathed in black netting to attract the sun in winter. Tranquility reigns along these narrow pathways, with only the bleating of goats or the cry of an exotic bird  to break the silence and interrupt your reverie.

Agerola is the perfect location for exploring the many local places of interest: on the one hand, the town and villages of the coast – Amalfi, Ravello, Positano, Vietri, Praiano, Sorrento and Capri; on the other, the must-see sites of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum and Naples.

Cooking Classes

All cooking classes take place in Maria’s country kitchen and include the preparation of a full menu, antipasto, fresh pasta with seasonal sauce, main course and dessert. Discover more about the area’s wonderful local products and cooking traditions, and watch carefully as Maria guides you through lessons on handmade pasta, delicious lasagne, and pasta with porcini mushrooms. Try your hand at preparing traditional veal dishes, chicken and rabbit roasted in lemon leaves, grilled beef, and sweets like cream-filled zeppole, walnut cake and ricotta and pear tart. Please note that the menus are samples and all menus depend on the availability of seasonal produce including the vegetables which are gathered fresh every day from the organic vegetable garden.

Itinerary 8 days, 7 nights

Day 1: Benvenuto & Welcome Dinner

• Arrival and check in. Pick-up and transfer to property.
• Check into your room, meet your hosts, and review your program.
• Sit out on the terrace with a cool Prosecco and relax.
• Later in the evening, a Welcome Dinner featuring a full tasting menu with wine and caffe include.

Day 2: Explore Pompeii & Cooking Class 1

• Breakfast is served.
• Early morning departure for the archaeological ruins of Pompeii. Buried under burning ashes with the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, only to be rediscovered in 1748, today Pompeii is one of Italy’s principal tourist attractions and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Every facet of ancient Roman life is revealed here: the style of their houses, recreational habits, the city’s art and culture and even taverns where men would have stopped off for a drink of wine and a dish of olives. Mosaics, frescoes, terracotta amphora, and casts of townspeople and animals caught in the eruption all make for an absolutely fascinating visit.
• Return to Agerola.
• In the afternoon, join Maria in the kitchen for your first hands-on cooking class including a full course menu.  Prepare traditional of mare e monti, sea and land, antipasti, Neapolitan lasagne, caponata, a delicious bread and mozzarella salad and homemade babà drenched in limoncello.  Dinner follows everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with wine and caffe included.

Day 3:

Visit to Artisan Mozzarella Producer & Cooking Class 2

• Breakfast is served.
• In the morning, visit to the traditional mozzarella producers in Agerola. Discover how they make the area’s delicious fior di latte and additional artisan cheese with tastings included.
• Lunch is on your own.
• In the afternoon, join Maria for your second hands-on cooking class.  Learn to prepare zeppole agerolesi, traditional fritters made by hand, paccheri pasta with eggplant and local cheese provolone del monaco, and chicken with Amalfi Coast lemon and potatoes.  For dessert, learn how to prepare the torta di noci, a delicate walnut cake.  Dinner follows everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with wine and caffe included.

Day 4: Walk The Beautiful Sentiero Degli Dei & Cooking Class 3

• Breakfast is served.
• Morning free to explore Agerola. Discover the viewpoints and breathtaking panoramas over the Amalfi Coast overlooking Amalfi and Praiano. For the more adventurous, trek through the Path of the Gods. Leaving from Bomerano in Agerola, this trek leads you through some of Italy’s most stunning countryside, along paths and trails cut into the dramatic Amalfi landscape high above the Mediterranean. Remember to bring your camera, water, a hat and sunscreen, and wear comfortable walking or trekking shoes.
• In the afternoon, join Maria in the kitchen for your third cooking class.  Depending on the garden selection, you will make linguine with porcini mushrooms, veal scaloppine cooked in white wine and stuffed vegetables. For dessert, Maria shares her recipe for Amalfi Coast lemon cake. Dinner follows everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with wine and caffe included.

Day 5: Wine Tour, Tasting & Cooking Class 4

• Breakfast is served.
• In the morning, meet your driver for a visit to an award-winning vineyard and winery.  Learn, explore and sip and swirl with your host.
• Lunch on your own.
• In the afternoon, join Maria for your fourth cooking class. Today you’ll be making the famous (and delicious!) gnocchi alla sorrentina – with tomato sauce and mozzarella, pork loin in white wine and a selection of grilled vegetables, all of which will come from Umberto’s vegetable garden. Dolce today is ricotta and pear tart. Dinner follows everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with wine and caffe included.

Day 6: Visit Local Pottery Maker & Cooking class 5

• Breakfast is served.
• In the morning, visit an artisan ceramic maker who creates beautiful hand-painted plates, soup bowls, vases and more in her studio.
• Lunch on your own.
• In the afternoon, join Maria for your fifth cooking lesson.  A traditional menu is waiting!  Prepare cannelloni stuffed with ricotta and buffalo mozzarella, rabbit baked in lemon leaves served with grilled vegetables, and torta Caprese. Dinner follows everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with wine and caffe included.

Day 7: Free Day: Suggestio:  Explore The Amalfi Coast

• Breakfast is served.
• Today, is a free day to relax, sit by the pool, head to the beac or discover the Amalfi Coast. Exploring the winding streets of Amalfi and Positano with its striking tumble of pastel colored houses clinging to the cliffs or the cathedrals.  Explore the beaches or shopping or head south to Vietri Sul Mare, the home of ceramics.
• Lunch and evening free to dine on your own.

Day 8: Arrivederci

• Breakfast is served.
• Check out and arrivederci!

Note: This sample itinerary schedule may vary due to inclement weather, saints days; festivals. All activities, in the event of rescheduling, are always included during the week.