The CiCi CoCo Kitchen and Cookery School

A fresh pasta making class at the CiCi CoCo cookery school

Basic ingredients: CiCi CoCo comes from a famous Italian nursery rhyme and means things that go perfectly together, which aptly describes the inspiration for this new cookery school opened in autumn 2013. The school is also home to a pantry and pop-up cafe which was started in 2010 by Giuliana Cortese in response to praise from friends for her family-inspired regional Italian recipes. The first dish to bear the CiCi CoCo stamp was a humble lasagna made with their own Great Taste award-winning flour. Courses at the cookery school cover pasta-making,  a variety of regional Italian cuisines, including A Trip to Tuscany, and festive courses such as Easter Italian Style and A Northern Italian Christmas. Prices start at £65 for a 3-hour class and range from £95 – £115 for 5 hours, with sizes kept to between 6 and 10 students. Class participation is hands-on, focused on local and seasonal produce from the Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire borders and includes lunch with wine. Venues are a treat, too, and might include the family-run Sandy Lane Organic Farm, Dadbrook Gallery Kitchen or their own kitchen at the architecturally award-winning Beam Cottage.

They say: Our cookery classes are really enjoyable social events using beautiful local ingredients to create regional Italian dishes. You would be surprised what we can arrange, from pasta making to butchery!

We say:  Students are clearly in capable hands with Giuliana, whose passion and knowledge of Italian cuisine has paid off with several awards. These have included Best Independent Producer at the 2013 Muddy Stiletto Awards and being chosen as a Selfridges’ 2013 Food Hero. She has also appeared on TV, and brings her expertise directly to families and foodies with bespoke Cookery Classes in Your Home.