Go off the eaten track

GoLearnTo featured in The London Paper last night with our Italian cooking and gelato making course in Sorrento, Italy. Go learn to cook delicious Italian food and make traditional Italian ice cream on your next Italian holiday….

Mediterranean feast in Sorrento

Julia Buckley, the London Paper journalist travelled to Sorrento to sample the cooking course for herself and here’s how she found it…

‘The joy of this place is that the vita is a lot more bella in Sorrento. Yes, you can take two daily cooking sessions if you want but most people opt for three hour afternoon classes that start at a leisurely 4.30pm, leaving you to have a holiday for the best part of the day.

Top chef is Biagio Longo who did stints in restaurants throughout the world (including Made in Italy on the Kings Road) before opening the school in 2001. He’s joined by his son Agostina, a strapping 35 year old with hand like a scultptor’s and the charm of an applicant for Latin Lover school.

We start with pasta which I made once before – the rolling out process involved four of the most wasted hours of my life. But practically trumps idealism at this cooking school and in 10 minutes, we mix the dough and stick it in the machine to beat it down to spaghetti strips.

The sauce is even easier – Agostino mashes up some anchovies with a fork, sticks them in oil with a clove of garlic and some chilli pepper then chucks the spaghetti on top for a couple of minutes before it’s ready to serve so the pasts soaks up the flavour.  Simple it may be but it’s some of the best pungent pasta I’ve ever had.

You are actually making dinner for the guests of the B&B in the lessons so there are no doggy bags although preening as other guests compliment you on your handiwork is a great way to work the dinner table.

The classes are relaxed and you join in with what you want to. In two evenings you cover a lot; clams with garlic and wine, ossobusco, seabass roasted with parsley, and a seafood lasagne (“make this and people will fall at your feet” Agostino cries, throwing himself to the floor.)

The sweet stuff’s not neglected either. The 2 hour gelato part of the course is spent making gelato, cantucci biscuits and a delicious almond semi-freddo that I’m still dreaming about two weeks later.

The verdict? A brilliantly unintimidating way for a cooking disaster to get to grips with the kitchen, and time to get you some holiday time with you baking.’

Book it at GoLearnTo.com

A 3 day cooking & gelato making course costs from £244 and accommodation in the B&B costs from just £12 per night.
The cooking school and B&B are open year round and reservations can be made online or by calling 08445 020 445 (mon-Fri 9am-6pm GMT) or email [email protected]

Find more of our cookery courses in Italy via the link.