Isola D'Elba™

Tie on your aprons on the island of Elba in the Tuscan archipelago and delight in traditional Elba Island cooking, history and warmth of your hosts. Adventure and enchantment beckon at every turn, as you stroll the beaches and pathways where Etruscans, Romans, and Greeks once walked, and Napoleon himself was exiled for a year.

Husband and wife chefs, Fiona and Antonio, welcome you to cooking classes on the island of Elba and teach you Tuscan cooking and wine pairing during your Cooking Vacations stay.

Elba

As with many ancient places, history and legend on the island of Elba are inextricably woven together. Elba is the stuff of dreams, part rustic Tuscany, part Mediterranean-sea magic. It is an ancient island steeped in history, whose origins are said to date back to the legendary birth of Venus. Tales have it that when Venus rose from the waves, seven stones fell from her tiara, creating the seven islands that make up the Tuscan Archipelago. Elba is the largest of these islands, and has been inhabited since the Iron age by Ligurian tribes, Etruscans, Romans, and Greeks. In fact, throughout history, Elba was an immensely important settlement thanks to the rich mineral resources on the island, especially that of iron ore. The Romans and Etruscans came to work the iron, creating networks of mining tunnels, which the Medici family later changed to an open air mining system in the medieval period. Reminders of Elba’s rich ancient history can be seen at every turn. Visit the small museum of Marciana for a glimpse of the rich Roman past, with objects recovered from Roman shipwrecks.

Cooking Classes

The unique cuisine of Elba is the coming together not only of land and sea, but also a fusion of the many cultures and peoples that settled on the island throughout its history. The flavors and traditions are indicative of this blending, using land and sea, creating dishes bursting in flavor. Chefs Fiona and Antonio, with their passion and knowledge for Slow Cooking, teach you the secrets of the dynamic cuisine they love.   Chestnuts, porcini mushrooms, honey, rosemary, thyme, and eucalyptus are just some of the flavors that marry the Mediterranean with typical Tuscan flavors, creating a taste bud’s dream. Fish and meat dishes alike are simple yet hearty, rustic yet with reminders of the sea that encompasses everyday life on the island. Pasta al polpo, polipo in umido con patate, schiacca briaca, stoccafisso con patate, gaspaccio, and sburrita are just some of the many dishes from various ethnic influences that you will learn to cook alongside Antonio and Fiona. Elba is equally famous for its Aleatico wine, as sweet and fragrant as the land it comes from. Fiona and Antonio, a wine sommelier, make the perfect hosts for your cooking class on Elba.