In an undiscovered corner of Tuscany, Cook Eat Discover hold immersive and intimate 3 or 6 night food, wine and cooking holidays. Come behind the scenes of Italian gastronomy, and against a stunning Tuscan backdrop spend time with cooks, winemakers, fishermen, olive farmers, cheese producers, gelato masters and much more. See our courses and book with us HERE
Our focus is on personal cooking instruction from an experienced chef and pasta maker, and experiential, authentic tours that go behind the scenes at responsible small-scale food and drink producers.
You will be accommodated in beautiful poolside (pool open June to September) apartments, high above the southern Tuscan Maremma plain, in the medieval village of Roccatederighi. Once your CED adventure starts, all your transport, activities, tours, classes, food and drink (apart from one free evening on the 7 day trip) are taken care of.
You’ll be taken on a memorable foodie journey through vineyards, cheesemakers, honey and rice producers and much more. Learn to cook wonderful Italian fresh pasta and risotto, float on a fishing boat on the mediterranean and dine al fresco on delicious feasts in medieval Tuscan village squares.
See the itinerary section HERE for more what to expect on a CED foodie adventure.
Please be advised that we are based in an area of authentic and medieval hill villages in southern Tuscany. The accommodation and some of the activities and classes are in these villages where some of the streets can be slightly steep and uneven. A certain level of mobility is needed. Please let us know if you have any concerns around this due to health issues etc. On a similar note, these are traditional communities and some of the infrastructure won’t be as modern as what you may be used to. There is no air conditioning in the accommodation, and while wifi is available in the apartments, it is not high speed.
One or Half Day Experiences
We also offer a range of memorable shorter Tuscan food and wine experiences for those who are just passing through or staying in the area, and want to have a one-off CED adventure.
We welcome guests for a cooking experiences in the morning or afternoon, where we will prepare lunch or dinner together. The session can be a masterclass in fresh pasta making, wood-fired pizza, or risotto, using excellent seasonal and local ingredients. We will prepare a classic tiramisu together for dessert, and there will also be an antipasto starter and local wine included! For afternoon sessions, we can also include a tour and tasting at a local biodynamic winery before the cooking class, with transport included.
These are our basic shorter experience offerings. Bespoke one day or half day experiences can also be organised involving any of the classes and experiences from our itineraries - please take a look at our 4 and 7 day courses to see the full range of options - https://www.cookeatdiscover.com/sample-itinerary
Please get in contact for prices and date options for our one or half day experiences - info@cookeatdiscover.com
When we're not in the Tuscan hills, the Cook Eat Discover team is in London bringing some Italian sun and great food to the big smoke.
We offer handmade pasta making classes, either in the form of our scheduled winter workshops, or on request for private groups.
Any scheduled classes will be on our shop, or for private options email us at info@cookeatdisover.com.
We usually use a workshop space in East London, however we can also come to your workplace or home, and experiences can be tailored to involve bespoke dinners involving the handmade pasta made in the class. We can also offer corporate pasta making events for large groups.
For those who prefer the eating to the preparation, we also offer private dinners and in-home catering for parties and events. Get in touch to discuss options!
Workshops
We specialise in intimate fresh artisan pasta masterclasses, with small groups and personal instruction. We have no interest in simply going through the motions, instead we ensure that our guests really learn and understand pasta making, and gain a skill for life.
Our pasta workshops take you through making perfect pasta dough, and on to cut pasta (like tagliatelle), short pasta shapes (like farfalle), and filled pasta (like ravioli).
The workshops are always accompanied by organic wine which we've brought with us from the Tuscan hills, as well as delicious antipasti snacks to keep you going during the workshops.
Once you've crafted your pasta, we'll give you a box so you can take your very own beautiful handmade shapes home with you!
Learn a great skill, have fun, enjoy a few glasses of tasty natural wine, and have some excellent handmade pasta ready to cook when you get home!
Oliver Haenlein and Florence Taylor are the couple behind Cook Eat Discover. Oli is an experienced chef and pasta maker and Flo is an events organiser from London. They have combined their skills to try to create immersive, behind the scenes cooking and food adventures for those fascinated by Italian gastronomy.
Growing up, Oli spent his summers the Italian Maremma region, and after a range of chef work in the UK, he went on to move to Tuscany to further develop his skills and passion for the region's culinary traditions. He has also trained as a 'sfoglino' or artisan pasta maker, and is excited to share his love for and knowledge of Italian food with you. Oli leads intimate cooking demonstrations for our guests on the holidays. Flo's family hail from Provence in France so she also has Mediterranean food in her blood. She has a wealth of experience in immersive dining events and hospitality, and relishes transferring her skills to such a beautiful setting.
They both believe passionately in a sustainable, artisanal and organic approach to food production, and the itinerary reflects this. We want to showcase those who believe in doing things in harmony with our environment, those who produce the highest quality ingredients, and those who innovate with green energy.
Through Cook Eat Discover, Flo and Oli aim to leave a mark on visitors' lives - providing skills and insight from a country in which food, and how it should be created and eaten is an art and an obsession.
The Maremma is the southern most coastal region of Tuscany. While the likes of Siena and Florence are easily accessible from the Maremma, it's a hidden gem that's relatively undiscovered compared to the well beaten tourist trails of central Tuscany. Its incredible natural beauty and medieval hill villages provide an untouched and authentic land perfect for food exploration. Things are done the old ways here, and you will find some of the finest food in the country.
We are based in the beautiful village of Roccatederighi, which is carved into the rocks over 500 metres above the plains. It teeters impossibly above the flatlands and from up here you can see the islands of Giglio, Elba, or even Corsica on a clear day.
On check in and check out days, we provide transport between the nearest major train station, Grosseto, and the apartments. We will pick you up from/drop you off at Grosseto on check in/check out days. At times we have to group guests together into collective pick up times - we generally do two separate pick ups on check in day.
Fast trains get you from Pisa Central to Grosseto in 75 mins, and around 100 minutes from Rome's main city station. If you want to drive to us, we can recommend car hire companies and provide detailed directions. We do not provide private transfers from airports, but we are happy to assist you arranging them. Go to http://www.trenitalia.com/ for train schedules.