Cooking school in Ravello on the stunning Amalfi Coast: Mamma Agata and her family open the doors of their Hidden Treasure for a full experience of Italian food
Cooking, savoring, learning and enjoying: this is the essence of a simple and genuine food experience offered by Mamma Agata
Italians will tell you that talking and writing about Italian food and cooking is no easy task. First of all, Italy has so many regional varieties of dishes that any Italian will be ready and feel entitled to defend his or her own, secondly for Italian’s cooking, eating and sharing meals is heritage and tradition as much as it is pleasure and lastly, the standards and expectations for Italian cooking are really high for when it comes to our home cooking national pride at stake.
This is why few truly excel in divulging Italian cuisine, although there are some remarkable exceptions. There are people that can really write easily and cook Italian and do it well: they have a solid knowledge based on their own experience and a strong family tradition on their shoulders, they bring to the table (literally) their own hard work and attempts turned into success; they mean to share their love and passion with others and most of all they are able to do it in a simple and genuine way.
What comes out of it is really an authentic love for family cooking and a strong desire to open the doors, books and pantries of one’s family to share the food with anybody sitting at the table.
When I received a copy of the book “Mamma Agata” I opened it and did what you are meant to do: I chose a recipe and I went for it. I have my fair share of cookbooks, and I am convinced that the only way you can immediately detect if what the cookbook promises is what it delivers is by trying a recipe straightaway. When considering what to make I kept in mind I had to feed a vegetarian, a fussy eater and a super expert on detecting true and good Italian food, especially Southern Italian food. Well, Mamma Agata’s Potato Dumplings (Gnocchi) with sundried tomatoes and artichokes were the perfect fit so much so that in our personal Master Chef, they scored a unanimous ten out of ten. It was not my doing, it was thanks to the recipes crafted by Mamma Agata that have been proved and tested through years of family gatherings, they are based on what is the essence of Italian food, so fresh ingredients that have been properly treated, and they have few but essential steps. These recipes do not intend to show off or to mean anything different than “this is my food and my passion, with all my heart, please enjoy it”.
Behind the scenes of Mamma Agata there is nothing else but Mamma Agata’s family. One can sense through the family’s story that the shared feelings and intentions are just meant to honor her hard work and passion. Mamma Agata was a young girl when she started to cook at Villa Civita in Ravello, Campania, for a wealthy American lady. She showed the lady as well as her friends and guests, personalities like Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart and Jacqueline Kennedy, that she was a natural in the kitchen and that her care and respect for food was the same when preparing for a small gathering than when cooking for a wedding reception. She applied her knowledge on tending the land, on using local herbs and family heirloom recipes to her own cooking, by using fresh ingredients and no compromises in quality. She wrote down all the recipes she knew and grew from a small working girl of a family of seven siblings to an independent woman, mother and now grandmother.
Her family is her strength: her hardworking husband Salvatore that, after years in hospitality, is in charge of family’s fresh and organic produce and animal care; her youngest daughter Chiara, that worked and studied abroad and brought back her expertise, smile and enthusiasm to her beloved Ravello to support her family; Chiara’s husband Gennaro, that has added to the plate his sommelier ability as well as being a professional cheese taster and chef.
They have started the adventure of a cooking school in Ravello, where they live. They have really opened the doors of their family house, known as their “Hidden Treasure”, which is located on top of a cliff between the sky and the Amalfi coastline with its sea. It is absolutely incredible to go to such a cooking school surrounded by olive groves, lemon trees, veggie patches and flower gardens and then being able to cook using this produce, straight from the back garden to the table while looking out at the panoramic azure sea. Mr. Pierce Brosnan, agent 007, enjoyed it as well, and many other enthusiastic food lovers, experts, beginners or anyone who wanted to experience something non-touristy.
Both online and live cooking classes are booked well in advance and are so popular because Mamma Agata, Chiara and Gennaro enjoy what they do and can convey that joy to others. It is recommended to come without having had breakfast, the wine and food tasting throughout your delightful cooking day will be plentiful. The most popular dishes are their eggplant parmigiana and lemon cake, but from a simple plate of pasta with zucchini to a nice risotto, sweet apple tart or fragrant limoncello, there is something for every palate. It Is important to underline that one of the things Mamma Agata prides herself on is that she produces most of the food she then incorporates in her kitchen in her own “hidden treasure’s” land. Her products are also sold online and there is a good range of Italian must-have in the kitchen, from olive oil to tomato paste and more.
Mamma Agata is, as a journalist said, a woman who thought ahead of her time and decided to set her bar quite high. This lesson was treasured by her daughter Chiara, who challenged herself and, like her mother, gathered all her knowledge, energy, smile and ability and made them flourish in the heart of and along with her family. These people and this family have put their own skills, passion, family heirlooms, traditions and above all their love for food and cooking together deciding to share it all with anybody that wants to learn and experience it. These are their Italian recipes, they are from their home to your home, transferring a bit of their soul to yours. The authentic philosophy Mamma Agata and Chiara have created is as simple and as genuine as that.
