COOKING
CLASSES AT VILLETTA SAMPAGUITA
Piedmont is famous throughout
Italy for the excellence of its cucina (“kitchen” in
Italian, like French cuisine) and it is notable that most of the
cooks are women in the many family-run osterie and trattorie; mother
is the cook and you will nearly always be served by the owner.
Rina started cooking at 8 years
old as the designated cook for her family of 10 in rural Philippines
using a simple 3 stone and tripod stove. Over the years she has
evolved from a naturally talented cook into a great Piedmontese
cook, and her traditional upbringing (Asian & Spanish culture)
creates a two-in-one east to west cuisine. Creations from old traditional
dishes to modern and sophisticated - more than a home cooked meal,
using organic vegetables from kitchen garden picked according to
the dish.
When we first opened the old
Villa Sampaguita, we offered our guests simple home-cooked dinners
as an alternative to going out again after a long day of touring
and also an opportunity to socialize with other guests in a relaxed
and comfortable home setting. As word spread, her cucina has become
a fixture that many returning guests look forward to on their arrival.
Rina’s basic concept
is quite simple: organic vegetables directly from the garden to
the table, fresh made pasta using flour ground in the kitchen, a
range of antipasti made in typical Piemontese ways, and all served
with local wines from the area (or sometimes guests like to bring
their own wines purchased from local wineries). We buy our meat
and from the local macellerie, and on occasion we serve our own
organically raised duck and geese. Our chickens provide range fresh
organic eggs (read low cholesterol) for breakfast and pasta dishes.
After years of cooking for
hundreds of guests, we decided to offer informal cooking classes,
as many of our guests wanting to know and see the food being prepared
for dinner. In 2007 we started offering cooking classes, which were
enthusiastically received.
Our basic cooking workshop
session costs 75 euro per person, which, of course, includes the
dinner and wine, as well as a copy of the recipes.
The workshop allows guests
to participate in a spontaneous cooking session for a dinner or
lunch prepared from scratch creating variations of dishes from simple
into something different, even for experienced cooks. Novice cooks
can learn basic techniques and methods with recipes suitable for
a busy life style using ingredients, which can be found in your
local supermarket. Truffles are available in season at market prices.
We prefer at least 4 guests (minimum
2 guests), and normally we can take a maximum of 6 guests for cooking
classes (note that until the corona virus
pandemic is over we are restricted to a maximum of 4 guests).
Cooking classes are scheduled
on a bi-weekly basis every Wednesday and Saturday at either 11 am
or 4 pm. We can take a group on a different day if booked in advance.
Please e-mail us and let us
know your preferred day and time and we will schedule you into one
of the groups.
We are easy to find, halfway
between Asti and Alba or 15 minutes by car from each city. There
is also an hourly bus service between the cities and we can arrange
a taxi service too.
Contact villetta.sampaguita@gmail.com
or call 39-338-467-9331
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