Cooking Class in Umbria - 8 Days: The Secrets of Authentic Mediterranean Cuisine

Castel Rigone, Italy
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Summary

Umbrian cuisine is based on simple yet fine ingredients, prepared according to time-honored recipes. Maestra Ornella is a master of Umbrian home cooking; she’ll share with you the secrets of making pasta as well as the little tricks for a perfect roast. She prefers fresh, seasonal ingredients from the market, the farm, or the woods surrounding La Rogaia—such as wild asparagus and mushrooms, truffles, chestnuts, pheasant, or wild boar—and will show you how to effortlessly conjure up the most delicious dishes from all these delicacies yourself.

Comment from a participant: "After a week, I went home with a huge smile on my face! Rarely have I laughed so much on a vacation, met such super nice people, had so much fun, and taken home so many delicious recipes and useful kitchen tricks!"

Book your vacation risk-free!

In light of the current situation, we have adjusted our cancellation policy for all bookings: If a stay cannot take place due to “force majeure” (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic)—for example, if our guests are unable to travel due to travel restrictions—we will, of course, allow you to cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before the start of your stay. We will then refund your entire payment.

The retreat at a glance

The most important facts in a nutshell:

Categories
Cooking, Creative Retreats
Date
2026-10-10 - 2026-10-17
Language(s)
English, German, Italian
Place
Castel Rigone, Italy
Accommodation
Overnight stay included
Catering
Half board
Services

  • all food items

  • carefully selected regional wines to accompany your meals

  • Translation from Italian to German

  • A personal cookbook by Ornella featuring all her recipes

  • 1 welcome dinner at a select restaurant, including drinks

  • 1 guided hike and olive oil tasting

  • 1 Vin Santo Tasting

  • Accommodation in a double room and breakfast for 1 week

  • Course fee for 4 cooking classes followed by dinner (each session runs from approximately 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.)

  • 1 Truffle hunt with truffle tasting

  • 1 welcome dinner at La Rogaia

Accommodation

"Villa La Rogaia" is a family-run agriturismo (country house) nestled in the countryside, in the hills above Lake Trasimeno in Umbria. Guests stay in single or double rooms (with shared bathrooms and kitchens for 2 to 4 people) or in small apartments with private bathrooms and kitchens. All accommodations have been furnished with great attention to detail and feature sculptures and paintings by the artist Wolfgang Sandt. The house is surrounded by a spacious garden with a pool; everywhere you look, there are dreamy nooks with sculptures and cozy little seating areas from which the view sweeps over olive groves, vineyards, lavender fields, and meadows.

Catering

The price includes breakfast, 4 dinners as part of the cooking class, 1 dinner at La Rogaia, and a lavish truffle tasting (lunch)

sequence

Over the course of four evenings, under Ornella’s guidance, you’ll cook a full menu from antipasto to dolce, which you’ll then enjoy together—naturally accompanied by fine wines from Umbrian and Tuscan vineyards. Ornella’s Mediterranean spirit ensures a lively atmosphere—both while cooking and while dining...

A special highlight of the cooking course is participating in a truffle hunt: you’ll accompany a truffle hunter and his dog, allowing you to experience firsthand how these precious tubers are found deep underground. And of course, during the subsequent tasting with wine and truffle specialties, you’ll sample the incomparable flavors of the various Umbrian truffle varieties.
Afterward, we’ll visit a small winemaker who produces exquisite Vin Santo, the local dessert wine.
And in the fall, a tasting of freshly pressed Umbrian olive oil is, of course, a must!

Arrival

Travel expenses are not included.
We recommend traveling by car; we’d be happy to provide directions.
However, you’re also welcome to travel by train; we’ll pick you up at the Passignano sul Trasimeno train station.

Villa Rogaia , 06065 Castel Rigone, Umbria, Italy

Cancellation policy

If you cancel up to 30 days before arrival, you will receive a 80% refund of the booking price.
After this, the booking is non-refundable.

If you need to cancel your vacation, we will immediately try to offer your course spot or accommodation to other interested parties. If no replacement can be found, we will retain the 30% deposit for cancellations made up to 30 days before the course begins. Starting 29 days before the course begins, we must charge you 80% for accommodation and meals if no replacement participant or tenant can be found. In the event of a cancellation 29 days or fewer before the course begins, the course instructors will retain 100% of the course fee. However, we will still make every effort to find a replacement participant or tenant, even for last-minute cancellations. If we or you succeed in finding a replacement participant or tenant, you will receive your deposit back minus a processing fee of €25. If we can only rebook your course spot/accommodation at a discounted last-minute rate, you will be responsible for the difference.

In the event of a course instructor’s absence, we reserve the right to find a suitable replacement. Should we, in exceptional cases, be unable to do so, you will receive a refund of either the course fee or the total price, depending on whether you wish to come to us even without the course or not. If the minimum number of participants for a course is not reached, we reserve the right to cancel the course up to 4 weeks before it begins. In this case, you will, of course, receive an immediate refund of your course fee. However, we are unfortunately unable to cover any costs for flight bookings or similar arrangements that have already been made. Services not utilized (e.g., in the event of early departure) cannot be refunded.

Dates

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