Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
goat cheese being made or ducks being
fattened up for foie gras.
Since there are only four sessions a
year, be sure to book your spot several
months in advance. A week in Provence is
as much an intoxicating vacation experi-
ence as it is a culinary training course—
what you get out of it may surprise you.
Moutas, Condorcet (
&
337/436-4422
in the U.S., or 33/4/75-27-73-47 in France;
www.frenchcookingclasses.com).
(
Marseilles (2-hr. drive).
0
Montelimar (1-hr. drive).
L
on site.
Cooking Schools for Travelers
90
Finca Buenvino
Andalucian Illusion
Aracena, Spain
Many European cooking schools are in
session only during the high tourist season
of summer. Not so Finca Buenvino. The
cooking classes in this charming hilltop
villa, in a remote village near the Portu-
guese border, are held during the winter
months, when the weather in the Andalu-
cian Sierra can get nippy—a good time to
hunker down in the kitchen, turn up the
stove, and get cooking.
There's a method to Finca Buenvino's
madness, of course. It's also a working farm,
and things get too busy in the summer to
teach cookery. The rosy pink villa is set amid
70 hectares (28 acres) of chestnut and cork-
oak forest; a herd of free-range black Iberian
pigs roots around the forest, fattening up on
chestnuts. (Later in the season, owners Sam
and Jeannie Chesterton slaughter the pigs
and cure their own
jamon Serrano,
as well
as
salchichón
and
chorizo
.) Fruit orchards
and olive groves also need to be tended and
harvested, as do the large garden plots that
grow most of the organic vegetables used
on site. The main house is grander than a
mere farmhouse, but with its cozy cluttered
decor of deep Mediterranean colors, it feels
wonderfully homey.
The Chestertons' farm-to-table approach
deeply informs the cooking classes. Jean-
nie's an expert in southern Spanish recipes,
which often have a North African accent,
especially in the use of nuts and spices; fruits
(lemons, apricots, quinces) are often incor-
porated into roasts and stews as well. You'll
learn to make a classic paella, perhaps, or
arroz negro,
black rice with squid ink. Of
course, hearty wintertime favorites like
roasts and game dishes are particularly pop-
ular, but as always, things depend on what's
available in the local markets or in the farm's
own storehouse. The weeklong courses also
include a visit to a sherry producer and a
sightseeing trip into beautiful historic Seville.
Classes are limited to 12 students, which is
all the villa can accommodate.
You can visit the finca in summer as well,
when it operates as a bed-and-breakfast inn
with five double rooms in the villa and three
separate self-catering cottages. (Note that
in July-Aug, the small villa is often booked
up by private parties.) Dinner is served
every evening. The rocky hillsides are clad in
heather, and meadows fill with wildflowers;
you can lounge by the swimming pool and
drink in lovely mountain views. But Jeannie's
cooking classes make the winter experience
at Finca Buenvino just as special—that and
the divine homemade Ibérico ham.
Los Marines, Aracena (
&
34/959/12-
40-34;
www.fincabuenvino.com).
(
Seville (90 min.).
