Location
- Strada provinciale 165 Mola-Conversano n° 35
4 nights living like a local, living with locals
If you have no time for a weekly course, this is the most attractive program with 4 nights staying, focalized to the habits of the locals that you could live with locals and as one of us.
You could have a great experience making mozzarelle and burrata, and also visiting a terracotta laboratory where the handcrafter makes the terracotta pottery that we use for many dishes. And you could buy some if you wish.
Day 1
We pick you up from the airport/train station.
Whenever you arrive, after you have had time to umpack your suitecases, we suggest a walk along the seafront and in the main square of Mola, enjoying the slow way of life of the locals, and sitting in a cafè for an aperitivo, maybe a Spritz with some snacks.
Back to the masseria for a special welcome dinner.
At the end of the dinner you will taste my home made Rosoli.
Day 2
After a gorgeous breakfast, served in the garden if the weather is nice, ready for our first cooking class. Most of the vegetables that we need for our dishes comes from our organic garden. It’s a pleasure for our guests to pick up the vegetables with us.
If we need some vegetables that we have not in our vegetable garden, we leave the masseria to go to the farmers market, quite different here in Mola di Bari because we go in the homes of the farmers.
We will buy what we need for our cooking class and we will eat what prepared for lunch and dinner: we are going to prepare many seasonal vegetables, such as spaghetti and string beans in Summer, or fresh pasta with cime di rape in Winter, making our own pasta, and some meat dishes.
We will have our lunch, then, after a siesta we visit the terracotta laboratory, also this could be useful to understand our habits.
And at sunset, when the fishing boats arrive in Mola di Bari, we could buy what we need for our afternoon cookery class about fish for our dinner: Riso Patate e Cozze, Octopus, Cavatelli al Nero di Seppia, whatever we will find, so fresh.
Day 3
Visit to the enchanting landscape of trulli Valley. Not only Alberobello, but all the countryside.
Lunch in late spring or summer by the fishermen along the sea or in Locorotondo .
Dinner as the locals prefer: carne al fornello, by the butcher: different kind of grilled meats, that you will eat there: the typical bombette, sausages, ribs, chicken wings, you make the choice. Waiting for your meat, you will have some appetizer such as dry sausages, caciocavallo, pecorino and so on.
Day 4
After breakfast ready for our 2nd day of cooking class.
We are going to prepare some baked dishes, such as calzone (the onion pie) focaccia or panzerotti.
And if you love cheese please smile.
In the late morning we are going to prepare mozzarelle and burrata here in masseria.
And everything will be ready for lunch.
Afternoon, you could have another afternoon cooking class about meat for our bye bye dinner: meat “ragù alla barese“, with different kind of meats, for us the first course with pasta with ragù sauce, and the second course, with brasciole, ribs and bacon. Or other meat dishes such as a special lamb dish by old Murgia shepherds.
Day 5
After breakfast transfer to the airport/station.
We pick you up from the airport/train station.
My husband and I recently stayed at Cucina Masseria for the 4-day cooking class “4 nights living like a local, living with locals,” and it was a truly magical experience. Every day we went out and sourced local products for our meals, such as fresh fish at the dock or a bunch of chicory sold by a local farmer on a streetcorner in Mola di Bari. Rita then created menus and led us through the steps of preparing all the dishes. With the help of her irrepressible partner Vittoria and Vittoria’s charming and capable daughter Isabella, we made dishes such as Polpo (octopus) in its own water, fresh cavatelli that we rolled ourselves, caponata al forno (a nice twist on the caponata I have always made), fava beans and chicory, focaccia, ragu, and polpette di pane. We even made our own homemade mozzarella and burrata. Everything we made was delicious, and the kitchen was a companionable place to be. Best of all was feasting on out shared creations Rita, her partners, and any other houseguests of the day, enjoying local wines. A final delight each evening was sampling Rita’s homemade cordials.
But truly, this is more than a cooking school. Rita is a cultural repository of the history and traditions of Puglia, such as the construction of the famous Trulli homes in Alberobello and the plight of the dead olive trees further south in the Salento. She explained why the table grapes of Puglia need to be kept covered, and how the fish sellers tenderize the octopus. Every excursion was a lesson and a delight; Rita is a national treasure.
The Masseria itself is a 350-year-old structure, refurbished and comfortable throughout, set amidst gardens where we daily picked herbs and vegetables. I really do feel like I got a taste of living like a local, and came away with new culinary skills, a deepened appreciation of Pugliese culture and history, a taste of authentic Puglia, and some new friends. I highly recommend this experience!