Three hands-on cookery lessons – how to make pasta, a fish antipasti and use porcini mushrooms
Winetasting of local wines
Cake-making demonstration and winetasting in Tullio’s home
Visits with tastings to a variety of local producers
This hands-on culinary tour features three cookery lessons on how to make pasta, use the famed porcini mushrooms and prepare fish antipasti as well as wine tasting, typical produce tasting and the “Palio di San Martino” feast day in Tullio’s home village including a visit to his home for a demonstration by his wife of how to make local cakes and desserts and the tasting of his very own new Etna wine, straight from the barrel.
Available Departures |
From |
|
| 05 - November - 2024 | £ 2149.00 | Travel Info Book Now |
|
Provisional Timings London Gatwick Departing: 05th November 2024 at 07:30 Returning: 12th November 2024 at 12:20 |
Day 1: Fly from London Gatwick to Catania.
On arrival transfer to the three-star Antica Filanda Hotel in Capri Leone. Welcome drink and dinner at the hotel.
Day 2: Pasta day
Morning cookery lesson:“pasta”, followed by a brunch of pasta dishes with wine at the hotel. Afternoon visit to the Norman San Filippo Fragalà Abbey, founded in 1090, followed by coffee/tea and local cakes in the village square of Frazzanò. Evening Sicilian pizza night in a local pizzeria where several types of Sicilian porcini mushrooms and vegetable pizzas are served with local beer or wine. Before we get to sit down and enjoy one we must learn how to light the wood-burning oven and how to make these delicious Sicilian pizzas.
Day 3: Porcini mushrooms and vegetable day
Morning cookery lesson: “Porcini mushrooms and vegetable” dishes, followed by a porcini mushrooms and vegetable lunch with wine at the hotel. Afternoon visit to a ceramic workshop in the ceramic town of Santo Stefano di Camastra. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 4: Wine day
Morning visit to Tindari – a Greek/Roman Town with remains of a Greek theatre, then visit then visit Vivi Vasari, a wine family since 1628 which produces a “Mamertino wine”, a typical Sicilian wine that has been produced in this area since Roman times. We will enjoy a wine tasting here followed by brunch at the farm. Early evening Sicilian wine tasting in the hotel wine cellar, followed by dinner at the hotel.
Day 5: Fish day
Morning cookery lesson: “fish antipasti” followed by a fish brunch with wine at the hotel. Transfer by coach to Capo d’Orlando for a relaxing free afternoon at the seaside, promenading among the locals. This evening we will also enjoy a fish dinner at the hotel.
Day 6: “Palio di San Martino”
A real taste of local life as we take part in the “Palio di San Martino” in Tullio’s home town of Castell’Umberto; a traditional feast day celebrated by tasting the new wine. As part of the day we will visit Tullio’s house, to be taught, by Rosalia, his wife, how to make a traditional local cakes like cannoli, sfingi, pignolata and others, followed by tasting his new Etna wine straight from the barrel, in his house wine cellar, with home-made antipasti. After this, you will join the locals in the town square, feasting with them and sampling a variety of Sicilian street food and wine during the “Barrel Race Palio”. Dinner this evening at the hotel.
Day 7: Nebrodian typical produce day
A morning drive through the Nebrodi Mountain Park will take us through an amazing variety of landscapes and sights - from volcanic Etna, wooded mountainsides, hazelnut hills and lost small medieval villages that retain age-old traditions and typical produce. En route, we will enjoy a coffee-break with hazelnut home made cakes, a visit to producer of local cheeses, black swine sausages and salami, before enjoying a grilled Nebrodian black pork dish with wine. In the afternoon visit to a local producer of liqueurs with traditional local flavours and to an icecream maker’s laboratory to see how hazelnut icecream is made. Our final dinner will be at the hotel.
Day 8: Transfer to Catania Airport for flight back to London Gatwick.
Please note the maximum group size on this tour is 20 passengers.
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
Ristorante-Hotel Antica Filanda
A small 16-room hotel in a beautiful rural location, just outside the village of Capri Leone, on a hill with lovely views over the Tyrenian Sea and the Aeolian Islands, close to the Abbey San Filippo di Fragalà. Facilities here include an excellent restaurant, bar and comfortable bedrooms with private bathroom with hydro-massage shower, air-conditioning, safe, TV, mini-bar, free wifi and telephone. The hotel also has an outdoor swimming pool which is open during the summer months.
Antica Filanda Website
OUR VIEW ON THE HOTEL
We chose this hotel over several cheaper options as its small size, rural location and excellent food make it the best choice in the area. Tullio has stayed at the hotel with small groups many times and rates it extremely highly for its comfort, service and cuisine.
Tullio Scurria has led tours for us in his home of Sicily for many years, and this tour is a superb new project that is very close to his heart, exploring the cuisine and produce of his homeland with hands-on cookery lessons as well as lots of tastings and superb meals. There will, of course, be the opportunity to see some of the local sights and scenery. It is a region with a rich culinary tradition and a culture in which food and wine are central and highly valued.
An immensely enjoyable tour. A beautiful hotel with overwhelmingly friendly and hospitable hotel staff, who created a fantastic selection of Sicilian food for us. Tullio, our guide, had an abundance of local knowledge, and organised some amazing excursions for us. His family also welcomed us into their home, and provided yet more delicious food, demonstrating again the wonderful Sicilian generosity.
Review by Inman who travelled 07-November-2023
Very enjoyable Sicilian Culinary Experience tour. Our tour guide very knowledgable & organised. There were daily opportunities to meet and socialise, making it ideal for solo travellers. A lovely group of fellow travellers. The hotel was delightful and easily accommodated my vegetarian preferences. The Sicilian food experiences were nicely judged. All the staff at the hotel were wonderful. The tour guide thoughtfully planned visits and really enjoyed the olive oil, wine, pizza and liqueur producers, but the lunch with his family was very special. The only thing I would say is that some days the sheer amount of food offered was so vast that we struggled to eat it all. The Sicilian people that we encountered were very kind and hospital. Even though the November weather was patchy, a thoroughly enjoyable tour.
Review by Anonymous who travelled 07-November-2023
Dark room feeble reading light but a great food experience. Staff were fun and knowledgable.
Review by Brunton who travelled 07-November-2023
Overall I enjoyed the holiday ,which was varied and well planned .Staff at the hotel were wonderful as was out guide Tullio who was a mine of information and knowledge of history and the area. Cookery demos were fun and places we visited gave insight into local food production. Group six=ze was ideal -more would have been difficult .Meals were delicious but I struggled with the sheer quantity of food -two 6 course m4als on some days were just too much and very rich. After speaking to Tullio some accommodation was made towards the latter part of the week -meals reduced to 4 courses with smaller and lighter portions . Accommodation was good But there was no easy chair in my room to relax (only on the bed) and not enough easy chairs in the bar for us all to meet and was noisy with TV on all the time. .A separate lounge would have been appreciated. The hotel location had excellent views across to the Aeolian islands but was very isolated -really no where to go for a walk The visit to Tullio's house was magical but he was clearly not well at all but was nevertheless a great ambassador for the region he clearly loves .So please send him my regards and good wishes
Review by Wiskin who travelled 07-November-2023
My first solo adventure. I think it will be very hard to match it. It was a small group , the hotel was excellent as were the staff. Food exceptionally good probably, too much!! All tours well organised. A very good driver and a brilliant guide. Definitely 10 out of 10.
Review by Hawkins who travelled 07-November-2023
Review by Anonymous who travelled 07-November-2023
A really excellent holiday superbly organised by Tullio who is excellent company. and a great ambassdor for Sicilly and it's cullinary traditions. The highlight (amongst many) was the visit to his home where we were made to feel like one of the family. November was an excellent time to travel as it was still warm and sunny, with the exception of one night when it rained. We enjoyed a superb variety of food during the Week. The Antica Filanda is an excellent hotel which produced delicious meals and has an excellent range of reasonably priced wines. I look forward to booking another Tour to Sicily.
Review by Grant who travelled 08-November-2022
A great tour with a high emphasis on a good verity of excellent food and wine.
Review by Dickson who travelled 08-November-2022
The holiday exceeded our expectations. Hotel and staff were outstanding, Tullio was very attentive, informative and good company. The itinerary was varied and very interesting. Minor criticisms: It would have been better on some days to coordinate eating arrangements between the hotel and excursions. Evening meals at the hotel were always delicious and substantial. On some days the lunch provided was larger than expected and a smaller evening meal would have been more appropriate. It was hard to properly appreciate two wine tasting events on one day which was a shame as so much effort had been taken to prepare them for us.
Review by Wilding who travelled 05-November-2019
Two suggestions for further improvement: 1. One seven course meal per day is enough; two can be too much of a good thing. It would be better for the other meal to be a lighter snack / buffet / pizza. 2. Likewise two wine tastings on the same day seems curious scheduling. Why not have the hotel wine tasting on day 2, which would be a good ice-breaker for the group, and help them decide what to order during the rest of the week. The second tasting could be a day or two later, when we have all recovered. But overall an excellent and very enjoyable week, meeting real Sicilians, including Tullio's family at his house. So much better than standard tourist destinations.
Review by Hadley who travelled 05-November-2019
On arrival Tullio stressed that the cooking lessons were cooking experiences - not hands on. They transpired to be demonstrations with the odd opportunity to partake. It would have been better to have had the wine tastings on different days and some of the visits were over long, eg the one to the dairy. Also, the music at the pizza restaurant was lovely but should have stopped when we moved to eat as we couldn't talk to our companions over it. Having 2, 6 course meals in the hotel on some days was really overkill even though the food was delicious. The hotel staff were exemplary. Tullio was a wonderful, enthusiastic host and we particularly enjoyed our visit to his home. All in all a great holiday which I would recommend.
Review by Rann who travelled 05-November-2019
