This fall I combined business with pleasure and took my family to Italy. Having been to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast last year I thought I would repeat some of those exceptional days again, however this time we would all take a cooking class with Mamma Agata in Ravello. We arrived in Sorrento on a Sunday and checked into our hotel. (More about that later!) Early Monday morning we left the hotel and arrived at Mamma Agata’s about 10:30AM. Before I begin telling you about the lesson, let me first describe this magical place perched high on the cliffs above Amalfi.
As the door to Mamma’s house opened and we walked down the steps we were greeted with a panoramic view of the Bay of Salerno, Italian music, and Chiara, Mamma Agata’s daughter and translator. The morning began with a tasting of Mamma Agata’s famous lemon cake. Every mouthful was bursting with the taste of lemons. After we introduced ourselves to the other members of the class we began our demonstration cooking class in a state-of-the-art kitchen overlooking Ravello. As we all watched, with notebooks in hand, we also tasted different cheeses, pickled pumpkin, and olives and sipped local wines.