8 days, 7 nights- £1599 per person Availablity - 

The Flavours recipe for cooking holidays combines taking you to stay in amazing private villas in some of the most beautiful areas of Italy, learning various Italian dishes from some of the best local cooks and having great fun exploring the local area.

Sun, sea, sand - and a hint of the exotic: Sicily teeters on the edge of Europe and its flavours are tinged with the culinary heritage of North Africa.  Moorish invaders introduced spices such as cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and affron along with citrus fruits to the island.  The Byzantines, Romans, Greeks and Spanish also left their mark on the architecture and cuisine.

We base ourselves in Sivily's south-east surrounded by the crumbling grandeur of historical sites such as Siracusa's Greek Theatre, and the Baroque towns of Noto and Raguse - and within easy reach of some of the region's best local produce.

Nearby Avola produces almonds, Ragusa wine and Caciocavallo cheese and Pachino, sweet ripe cherry tomatoes.  Fresh fish is, of course, a highlight of this Mediterranean island: think grilled swordfish, tuna and anchovies along with regional specialities such as spaghetti con le sarde (a sardine and pasta dish) and pasta con le sarde e finnochio (with fennel). Then there's sheep's milk ricotta - which is also used to make one of Sicily's signature sweets.  Cannoli are fried pastries stuffed with sweet ricotta and sugar and dippeed in choclate.  The island is famous, in fact, for its sweets: cassata is a delicious ice cream dish while granita, a semi-frozen dessert was invented here.

Price Includes:

• £100.00 towards your flight costs. Direct flights to Catania are from London Gatwick
• Airport transfers
• 7 nights en-suite accommodation at a stunning Sicilian villa with pool
• 5 x 3 course cookery lessons with our Italian chef
• All meals and wine
• An afternoon visiting Modica where we taste its famous chocolate from a local producer an Ragusa where we'll have our evening meal & wine in a restaurant
• A visit to Donnafugata to meet a local cheese producer and taste his fresh Ricotta and then have a Sicilian style barbeque
• A day trip visiting Siracusa with its famous fish market where we'll have lunch then to Noto to taste local ice-cream
• Private wine tasting at a local winery
• Transport by private minibus

"Thanks for such a fab week - I really, really enjoyed it. I loved the villa, all the outings we had, the cookery lessons and everyone was so lovely and friendly, too. Giada took care of us all so well, Carlo was great and Daniella and Andrea were so sweet. It was a great experience, so thanks again." ~ Danielle F