Slow Cooking Positano™

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Slow Cooking Positano™ is a unique hands-on cooking program that will bring you into the workplace of an artisan bread, cheese, pastry makers, and wine enoteca while cooking, touring, and vacationing on the world-famous Amalfi Coast. Join our team of local Chefs Raffaele, Fortunata, Philomena, Carmine, and Giuseppe in Positano for a week of hands-on cooking and dining with fine local wines.

As featured in October 2012 – Click here to read more!

This program connects you with professional Chefs Filomena, Raffaele, Rosa, Fortunata, and Giuseppe and prized artisans in our Amalfi Coast Kitchen who have a passion for their craft and a love for welcoming guests into artisan cooking classes. Our special Slow Cooking week immerses participants into the cooking styles of Italy’s southern Coast region and its food preparations, all in keeping with the tradition of using local organic products, including the lemons of Positano, in 5 hands-on classes! Each day, you will prepare a complete menu reflecting the season- antipasto, pasta, main course, and dolce-dessert and Positano pizza!!!

Great cooking on the Amalfi Coast blended with stepping into the workplace of food artisans highlights the Slow Cooking Program. The specially selected food trip takes you to artisan producers whose handcrafted food products take you back in time. We visit a bread baker who uses a wood-burning stone oven, an Amalfi Coast fisherman who sails out as the sun rises, and a historic artisan pastry maker who continues to make artfully created pastries & chocolates perfect every time.  The Food Trip takes you from the sea to the hills and gives us an in-depth look at the old-world style of Slow Cooking. Our carefully selected food trip includes informal discussions and tastings along the way.

This Slow Cooking program puts you in the kitchen with talented, inspired, and creative chefs and in the footsteps of passionate food makers. You will be cooking like a local in no time!

Slow Cooking Positano™ Cooking Classes

This Amalfi Coast cooking vacations and Slow Cooking™ program includes 5 hands-on Positano cooking classes with lunch or dinner following. Toast with local red or white wine and end with a sweet dessert.

The Slow Cooking Positano™ program, created on the Mediterranean diet, uses only local seasonal products. Italian cuisine is simple and yet full of natural flavor, garlic is used to a minimum ensuring the true flavor of each ingredient, and can stand on its own. Courses are served one by one and always followed by a delicious dessert. Our cooking classes are hands-on and all classes class are kept small in size to ensure personal attention to each participant.

In each cooking classes you will make regional recipes starting with antipasto: fiori di zucca ripieni – stuffed squash flowers, aranci, patate crochette, involtini di melanzane, polpettini di melanzane, pasta: gnocchi, ravioli Caprese and scialatielli, a main course: spigola limone, pesce all’acqua pazza, vitello Positanese, pollo con erbe, and limone. Dessert include: torta Caprese, torta Vesuvio, babà soaked in limoncello, gelato and crostate, to name a few.

During the week, you will also learn the technique of making authentic Neapolitan pizza with our award-winning pizzaiolo, a pizza-maker, who learned to make la vera pizza Neapolitan, real Neapolitan pizza, in Naples. This authentic pizza-making class shares the secret recipe for mixing, kneading, and stretching delicate pizza dough and baking it at a high temperature in a wood-burning oven for a perfectly crispy crust.

If pasta is your favorite, you can choose to add on our Pasta Making Workshop where you will make additional fresh, hand-made pasta with seasonal sauces. Fresh pasta making is an art in Italy, and in Positano, you will learn to make it step-by-step! Believe it or not, Italy boasts over 1,000 different types of pasta, including cannelloni, orecchiette, casarecci, and garganelli, to name but a few.

If you are an advanced cooker or chef, we can offer the same Slow Cooking Tour with advanced cooking classes and make it a tailor-made menu for you. Just let us know.

Slow Artisan Positano Cooking Class ~ Pasta

A Note On Neapolitan Pasta

The “Qualità Buonitalia,” given by the Ministry of Agriculture contains rules that protect the artisan way pasta is made. The tasty fresh pasta is a combination of natural spring water, fresh mountain air, and constant Mediterranean sunshine. The Cooperativa di Pasta Gragnano, which represents the small producers in the area, states that the dough should be made solely from Italian wheat and using perforated bronze plates to mold it, resulting in pasta strands, sheets, and shapes that must be dried at temperatures no higher than 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Using bronze pasta-making tools also creates a porous surface on the pasta, allowing it to hold sauces. High temperatures burn the dough and kill the wheat flavor, therefore making pasta the old-fashioned way means slowing down the process, and drying it at lower temperatures in natural air, which takes longer; as does running the dough through holes in bronze plates.

Pasta eating is a religion in Italy. Pasta is so important it is always served first, it is always cooked al dente and always added to the sauce, never the sauce to the pan. Contrary to Marco Polo being responsible for importing pasta from China, or the Arabs bringing it to Sicily in the Middle Ages, the fact of the matter is that it was the Etruscans who were already making pasta in Italy. A serrated rolling pin with traces of spaghetti was found in an Etruscan tomb dating back 3000 years.

Slow Cooking Positano™ ~ Positano Cooking Class

Positano is magical. Artists, writers, poets, and filmmakers have marked their place over time in what is called “La Città Verticale,” the vertical city. Its breathtaking landscape includes vertical rock formations that have been carved over time and that plunge down to meet the sea. Azure seas stretch to violet-pink sunsets in a land that has often been called “a dream place.” John Steinbeck, who lived in Positano in 1953 said, “Positano bites deep, it’s a dream place, that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.”

This Moorish-style village, built in the form of a seashell was discovered by American troops at the end of World War II. This small, sleepy fishing town soon became a popular summer vacation destination after Steinbeck’s review tempted dreamy tourists to this picturesque piece of coastline. Its main one-way street takes you to Piazza Mulini and tiny pedestrian passages and arches that line the vertical city. In the 10th century, Positano was part of Amalfi’s Maritime Republic. It was an important center during the 16th and 17th centuries, when its ships traded in the Near and Middle East, carrying spices, silks, and precious woods.

Its pastel houses built on vertical landscape, were once humble homes to fishermen who spent their lives at sea. Positano’s landmark, the majolica dome, is the Chiesa Madre, or the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta. It has a green and yellow majolica dome, topped by a cupola. It was built on the site of a former Benedictine Abbey of Saint Vito, a 13th-century Romanesque structure, and was almost completely rebuilt in 1700. The church has a carved wooden Christ, a masterpiece of devotional religious art. At the altar is a Byzantine 13th-century painting of the Madonna and Child, known as the Black Virgin. Legend claims that the painting was once stolen by Saracen pirates who were fleeing in a raging storm when they heard a voice from the heavens saying “Posa, Posa,” “Put it down, put it down.” When they placed the statue on the beach near the church the storm calmed, as did the Saracens. Positano was saved, and the town’s name was established. Others claim the town was named after Poseidon.

An important landmark is Palazzo Murat on the footpath to the main beach, originally built by Prince Joachim Murat, whom Napoleon designated as King of Naples in 1808. Murat wanted to lead a simple life, yet built a grand palazzo. He was killed in battle and never enjoyed his palace.? On Positano’s famous beachfront is Tre Sorelle Ristorante, and Music On The Rocks. This lively area offers great people-watching opportunities. The footpath, Via Positanesi d’America, follows the sea and connects the Spiaggia Grande with Fornillo Beach. Three Saracen towers watch its shore: the most famous ones are, La Torre Trasita, La Sponda, and Torre Di Fornillo, all from the 14th century. Set in the sea just a short distance away, are the mysterious islets of Li Galli. Legend has it that they were once mermaids and now have turned to stone.

Positano Accommodations

Your Slow Cooking program is hosted at a B&B with a garden view only or 3 Star, 4-Star, or 5-Star property located in the center of Positano and overlooking the sea.  Each bedroom has a sea view and overlooks Positano: the seaside village is surrounded by a flowered pergola and greenery. Cool ceramic tiles line each large bedroom, with a private bathroom and shower in each room. Additional amenities include a hairdryer and air conditioning. Breakfast is served each morning, and daily maid service is provided for convenience.

Positano is called the Secret Garden – truly a magical setting, terraced with lemon trees, and plush green gardens and set under spectacular bougainvillea overlooking the sea. Guests can sunbathe on their terrace, walk to the beach, or relax at one of the cozy sidewalk cafés with a freshly squeezed lemonade. Step out your door and stroll past cafés, bookshops, and trattorias that spill onto the sidewalk. A panoramic view spans Li Galli Islands and the Amalfi Coast. The Tyrrhenian Sea is literally at your feet, and the beach is just a short walk away. As the sun sets, sit back on your terrace and watch the world-class yachts and local fishing boats ripple through the cerulean waters. Shuttle boats connect from each of Positano’s beaches and sail along the Amalfi Coast. From Positano’s port, you can also take a water taxi or a private boat service to Sorrento, Ischia, Capri, Amalfi, and Naples. Mediterranean gardens and lemon groves dot the Amalfi Coast, and gardens grow almost all year long producing red cherry tomatoes, plump eggplant, zucchini, and sweet oranges. Olives also grow in abundance thanks to the warm Mediterranean climate, fertile volcanic soil, and salted sea breeze all of which provide perfect growing conditions. Organic herbs of basil, sage, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and mint, line gardens, and fill pretty terracotta pots set on terraces. The local organic herbs that we grow in our garden are used in our cooking classes, along with our own Extra Virgin First Cold-Pressed olive oil.

Property Photos & Pricing

Itinerary: 8 days, 7 nights

This program is scheduled from Saturday to Saturday, however, you may check-in and start your program on any day of the week. If you do start on a day other than Saturday, you will start your activities on that day, and all activities described will be included during your program.

Saturday: Benvenuti ~ Chef’s Tasting Dinner

• Pick-up and transfer from Naples airport or train station to the property.
• Check in and relax.
• Later in the evening, enjoy our Welcome Dinner featuring a Chef’s Tasting Dinner with a full-course menu with antipasto, fresh pasta and sauce, main course, and dessert.

Sunday: Cooking Class 1 ~ Traditional Neapolitan Cooking Class

• Breakfast is served.
• Tie on your apron for cooking class 1.  You will prepare traditional antipasto, pasta, main course, and dessert.  Lunch follows and everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class.  Toast with a glass of red or white wine. Linger for a long lunch as you dine on your cooking class creations.
• Mozzarella, fresh artisan cheese:  Learn to cook with southern Italy’s cheese made by artisan hands, an important part of our Regional cooking.  Slice into creamy mozzarella and cacciotta, and add it to appetizers, with fresh pasta and main courses with your chef who has learned the art of cheese making from their family business for many generations.  Cheese making on the Amalfi Coast, where the focus is on fresh cheese made daily, is an ancient art and is used in the local regional cooking in many ways.
• Afternoon is free and dinner on your own with suggestions provided.  Later in the evening, walk along Spiaggia Grande in Positano have a coffee or Prosecco in one of the beachfront caffés, or shop at one of the artisan jewelry, sandal, or linen shops.  Local artisans line the walkway with watercolors, sculptures, and oils on canvas.

Monday: Capri, Italy’s Glamorous Seaside Island

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, set sail for Capri for a full-day excursion to discover its landmarks, cuisine, shopping, and beauty. Spend the day soaking up the magic of the isola azzurra – blue island – while enjoying a beautiful 30-minute boat ride along the way.
• Capri is Italy’s most popular and well-known seaside island and is just twenty minutes away. Once in the port of Capri, you can choose to take the funicular up to the famous Piazza Umberto. The square, better known as la Piazzetta, is perched high above the sea and offers a panoramic view of the Bay of Naples and Ischia. At the main piazza, you will find many designer shops and luxury boutiques, or you can simply sit at a caffé and enjoy a gelato or Prosecco Mimosa.
• You can choose to see the Blue Grotto, the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” or stroll along the port. The Blue Grotto has a special cavern entrance where the sunlight reflects on the water in the cave, turning it into a dramatic Mediterranean cerulean shade of blue.
• Visit Anacapri – the Old World village that once captured the hearts of writers, artists, and poets is dainty, delicate, and quiet. Anacapri, the highest point on the island, virtually carries you back in time. Walk through narrow streets lined with Grecian-style whitewashed villas, ancient churches, and small bookshops. From Anacapri, take the chair lift to Monte Solaro; pass the castle of Barbarosso, and fields of Capri flowers, and marvel at a clear blue sky that seems to turn 360 degrees above you.
• This full-day excursion departs from Positano port (Marina Grande) in the morning and returns to Positano in the late afternoon. If you have questions about the return meeting point, just ask your Captain. Please be on time for your departure.
• Evening free and on your own. Suggestion – dinner at Ristorante Mulini.

Add-On A Driver:
While on land in Capri and if you want to see all the sites with ease, we suggest that you reserve a private car tour with Signor Costanzo, our driver. Costanzo will drive and guide you to each point of interest while pointing out fascinating historical sites and facts along the way. He will drive to the highest peak in Anacapri, and to hidden gardens and villas where emperors once reigned. A 4-hour excursion in the driver’s sporty Capri Car is available for 1 to up to 6 people, upon request (The Capri Car driver’s fee is extra).

• Following dinner, take a walk to the beach and discover the music bar Music On The Rocks, carved in a natural rock formation.  Dance the night away under the stars, or sit outside one of the caffé tables by the sea.

Tuesday: Food Lover’s Tour Along The Amalfi Coast, Amalfi & Ravello and Cooking Class 2

• Breakfast is served.
• Meet your driver for an early morning departure for a Food Lover’s Tour to the bustling marketplaces in Amalfi. Italians shop day by day, and our tour along the Amalfi Coast will show you how!
• The town of Amalfi is rich in culture and history. The small town, perched on the coastline, is dominated by Amalfi’s Cathedral, and its main streets are lined with small shops and elegant bars. Merchants display their wares outside and nothing could be more pleasant than browsing through stalls of herbs and spices, jewelry, shoes, beautiful handmade Amalfi paper, and local lemon specialties such as lemon soap and lemon liqueurs. Italians carry on their daily lives at these little markets, doing their daily shopping and exchanging the news of the day. We share food notes on local products. Tastings included.
• First, we visit our artisan bread baker. Italy’s bread is baked daily by artisan hands and then into wood-burning, brick-ovens. The soft dough bakes into crusty rounds and loaves great for olive oil dipping, making a tasty panino and always with each meal. There is the local, pane cafone; or rounds of braided country-style bread baked with prosciutto & mozzarella; focaccia, tomato topped pizza. Tastings included.
• Following we take you to a Mercatino-Italian marketplace shop, and you will see and learn about the many dried pastas and their history. Italians always call pasta, which translates to dough, macaroni. Neapolitans were once nicknamed macaroni-eaters, because of their love for the poor man’s dish eaten and served on the streets by hand. During our mercatino visit, you will see and learn about the Prosciutto, salumi, spices, and daily ingredients of the Mediterranean diet and southern Amalfi Coast cuisine. Farmers and shoppers share their recipes and knowledge of artisan cheese, produce, and spices. They often can tell you if a melon is sweet from 6 feet away! Figs burst with burgundy pulp; cherry red tomatoes–the sweet fruit that is a staple in Neapolitan cooking – are piled high in baskets; Italian pumpkins line the shelves, black velvet grapes hang on their vine; and zesty yellow lemons, and cedri – the famous melon-size citrons, are everywhere. See baskets of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables piled high. Tomatoes, garlic, lemons, and oranges line colorful carts that are rolled in every day by the farmers.
• The next, stop is with our family-owned traditional Cheese Shop, Caseificio. Here you will see old-world artisan cheese including such examples as mozzarella, provolone, ricotta, and more. Artisan hands turn milk into a creamy cheese and then some are weaved into braids, twists and hard forms and shapes.
• The next stop is a Wine Enoteca & Shop. This shop stocks a variety of local wines along with apertivo and digestives. This last stop will give you just enough information for the next time you raise your glass to “salute!”
• Next, we visit the famous fish market that offers several varieties of local fish – the very best of the fishermen’s daily catch. See baskets of vongole, sweet small clams, lampughe, soft blue fish, astice, Mediterranean lobster, pezzogna, sweet white sea bream and alici, anchovies.
• Next, discover the ancient art of paper making, -which was first brought here from the Orient by the Arabs. The famous Amatruda paper, pressed with a watermark, is still made the old world way.
• Then it’s on to see a gelato maker. Gelato is everyone’s favorite spuntino in Italy, and this gelato café has over 25 fresh flavors. From chocolate to café, and fields of strawberries to summer watermelon, whether in a cone or everyone has to have a taste. Learn about the making, freezing, and keeping it just at the right temperature, as this Italian family has been making the creamy treat for 50 years.
• Last stop, we visit a small artisan Pasticceria who has been making sweets since the 1800’s. Sfogliatelle, cannoli, marzapane, torta di pera-Ricotta pear pie, limoncello, and gelato. Taste a limoncello chocolate drop, or Avola almonds covered in chocolate. A look inside reveals a sweet showcase of chocolate-drenched eggplant flavored with pine nuts, liqueur, and orange; fragrant ricotta pear tarts; candied lemon and orange dragged in dark chocolate; or festive pastries of the day! Whatever you decide to order, take a seat outside in the piazza at one of the small café tables that overlook the greatest people-watching site on the Coast. Tastings included.

Amalfi

The town of Amalfi is rich in culture and history. The small town, perched on the coastline, is dominated by Amalfi’s Cathedral, and its main streets are lined with small shops and elegant bars. Merchants display their wares outside and nothing could be more pleasant than browsing through stalls of herbs and spices, jewelry, shoes, beautiful handmade Amalfi paper, and local lemon specialties such as lemon soap and lemon liqueurs. Suggested is a stop in at one of the oldest and most famous pastry makers in southern Italy- dating back to the 1800’s. A look inside reveals a sweet showcase of chocolate-drenched eggplant flavored with pine nuts, liqueur, and orange; fragrant ricotta pear tarts; candied lemon and orange dragged in dark chocolate; or festive pastries of the day! Whatever you decide to order, take a seat outside in the piazza at one of the small café tables that overlook the greatest people-watching site on the Coast. Ravello follows. This quaint town often called the city between ‘Sea & Sky’, is suspended high above the coast, with sweeping views that span everything from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the mountains inland.

Ravello

Drive along the famed Amalfi Coast headed to Amalfi and the hilltop village of Ravello for our landmark tour. Along the way, stop to visit our artisan ceramic maker. You will see old-world ceramics like table tops made of volcanic rock and hand-painted in soft colors with seascapes, grapes, lemons, romantic angels, and Mediterranean scenes. This family-owned producer of ceramics also ships worldwide.? Ravello is hailed as the ‘International City of Music’ and is known for its precious panoramic view from the gardens of Villa Cimbrone. The town is perched 350 meters over the rocky spur of the Amalfi Coast separating the Valle del Dragone from the Valle del Regina. Today, Ravello is world-famous for its outdoor music concerts. Visit Villa Cimbrone, once the residence of Greta Garbo, wander through the lush gardens and the Terrazza Della Rosa, or stroll down the path that leads to the Terrazzo dell’Infinito (Terrace of Infinity). This natural balcony is adorned with imposing marble busts. From this unique vantage point, you can see the distant Cilento Mountains and the Licosa beyond the sparkling sea, the lush Amalfi Coast, its distinctive terraces of colorful lemon trees, and the typical whitewashed houses that cling to the rugged coastline. Stroll along the streets and alleyways and discover little gems of churches, chapels, and noblemen’s residences. Also see the Cathedral, Villa Rufolo, San Giovanni del Tauro, and Santa Maria.

Following your excursion, tie on your apron for cooking class 2.  You will prepare traditional antipasto, pasta, main course, and dessert.  Lunch follows and everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class.  Toast with a glass of red or white wine. Linger for a long lunch as you dine on your cooking class creations.

Wednesday:  Cooking Class 3 ~ Lemon Lifestyles

• Breakfast is served.
• Tie on your apron for cooking class 3.  You will prepare traditional antipasto, pasta, main course, and dessert.  Lunch follows and everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class.  Toast with a glass of red or white wine. Linger for a long lunch as you dine on your cooking class creations.
• The afternoon is free to relax, or in your free time, take the water taxi on your own to the village of Conca Dei Marini. A water tour excursion will take you to the Emerald Grotto and enjoy the art & culture that surround these pretty villages on the sea.

Thursday: Cooking Class 4 – Pasta Making Class

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, tie on your apron for cooking class 4.  You will prepare traditional pasta making!
• Get ready to learn the secrets of Neapolitan pasta making.  In Italy, there are over 1000 kinds of pasta, with each region having its specialty.  You will learn the art of mixing the flour and rolling out gnocchi, stuffing ravioli, and cutting pasta into scialatielli and cavatelli accompanied by sauces.  You’ll make dolce, dessert, and wine included.  If you prefer, you can also choose the pasta class, where you will go through the art of making an assortment of fresh pasta and sauces, such as gnocchi, ravioli, and more.
•  Lunch follows and everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class.  Toast with a glass of red or white wine. Linger for a long lunch as you dine on your cooking class creations.
• In the afternoon, suggestions include walking through the winding streets of Positano on your own and walking to Fornillo at Ferdinando’s Beach. Ferdinando’s, lined with colorful beach chairs and umbrellas, is where the locals go. Guido will guide you to your beach chair, while Mamma Celeste is in the kitchen preparing the specials of the day. Stay for a bite, take a swim, or sip a limoncello. Walk the beach where Diane Lane’s love story took her in the film “Under The Tuscan Sun.”

Friday: Cooking Class 5 ~ Olive Oil Discussion & Tasting

• Breakfast is served
• Following breakfast, tie on your apron for cooking class 5: Tie on your apron and get ready for your fifth hands-on class making an antipasto, pizza, and dessert.  You will learn the techniques and methods for making true Neapolitan pizza the old-world way.  Our chefs mastered their craft with the best artisans in Italy and at the Pizza Academy in Naples.  Our chef will teach you techniques for mixing the dough and rolling it into a perfect round pizza along with seasonal toppings for a perfect Neapolitan pizza.  Learning to make pizza in Italy is an art, and our pizzaioli show you just what it takes to create the perfect pizza.  Learn how to measure and mix the ingredients into a perfect pizza dough; see how the dough rises, is punched, and left to rise again.  Next, you’ll learn how to roll it and drive it, as they refer to it in Italy.  Following the prep, you will see how to bake it to perfection!  This class is a popular choice for those wanting to learn how to make an authentic Neapolitan Pizza and expand their art and technique.  After class, everyone dines on the pizza prepared in class.  Toast with a great glass of Aglianico, red, or Falanghina, white, and wine, and end with a sweet dessert, both included. The recipes can easily be recreated at home.
• Olive Oil Tasting: Join us for an olive oil tasting of our locally produced extra virgin olive oil. At Cooking Vacations we make our own first-cold pressed extra virgin olive oil from healthy olives that have been tended and cared for all summer long. We use only the first cold press virgin olive oil. It means that the oil we bottle is pressed only one time giving it a clean fresh taste. Virgin means it is pure and not mixed with anything else. It is DOP-Denominazione di Origine Protetta, the ‘origin protected’ domain of production and “made on-site in Italy.” Grown under the warm Mediterranean sun, in rich volcanic soil, and with salt sea winds, our olives make perfect olive oil. We respect the old-world process of picking just at the right time, just in October and not too late in the season. Always organic. Our olive oil is made without chemicals or preservatives, we promise. The informal tasting provides a bit of insight into buying and using olive oil.
• The evening is free and dinner is on your own. Suggestions provided.

Saturday: Check Out & Departure

• Breakfast is served.
• Departure transfer to the airport or train station.

*Note: This schedule may vary due to inclement weather, saint days, or festivals. All activities, in the event of rescheduling, are always included during the week.  Please note that museum tickets are not included in the program price.