Culinary Delights

To truly discover a country is to eat its food and peruse its markets, learning to appreciate its flavors and cuisine, its culinary traditions and terroir.

Our culinary experiences during our destination writing retreats will stimulate your senses and broaden your horizons. From fragrant truffles and just harvested mushrooms in Umbria to trout fresh from the stream in Slovenia, each meal is designed around hidden treasures that reflect a place and time.

Umbria, Italy

-Gabriella’s cheese soufflé with black truffles at the 5-course truffle dinner

-Chianina beef filet with cognac-prune sauce in Cortona

-Delicate meat-filled gnocchi in a porcini mushroom sauce in Preggio

-Pistachio-crusted lamb chops with asparagus flan in Montone

-Freshly grilled asparagus drizzled in local olive oil

Tuscany, Italy

-Platters of heirloom Sienese pork salumeria

-Ricotta & lemon stuffed ravioli in tomato sauce

-Porchetta sandwiches in the Siena market

-The best tiramasu ever at Dante Alighieri cooking school

-Homemade dark chocolate crisp with barley

San Miguel, Mexico

-Chiles en Nogada, the national dish of Mexico, at Bugambilia restaurant

-Succulent carnitas with fiery salsas at Vicente’s in Dolores Hidalgo

-Black mole made in cooking class with 16 different ingredients

-The prefect tres leches cake

Novak Lodge, Slovenia

-Trout carpaccio with freshly grated horseradish

-Apple strudel rolled into delicate thin layers across the dining room table

-Elberberry lemonade from the trees outside

-Bottle after bottle of excellent local wine…and a sommelier to explain it all

Franschhoek, South Africa

-Cape Malay curry with all the condiments

-Grilled springbok

-A thick slice of malva pudding

-Local fish with exotic names to the North American traveler

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Memorable Meals Gallery

Umbria, Italy--
Umbertide market

Tuscany, Italy--
stuffed squash blossoms

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

---Chiles en Nogada

Slovenia---
just-picked mushrooms

Franschhoek, South Africa--
Soup Course