by Susan Van Allen
Photos by Bill Sutherland

Bruna Giannini, a Montefollonico village nonna who teaches "Tuscan Women Cook".

I leaned in to inhale one of my favorite smells on earth - garlic simmering in extra virgin olive oil. On the other burners stuffed zucchini blossoms cooked with ripe red tomatoes next to a pot where dark green chard and carrots bubbled. Into the picture came the thick, gnarled hand of my cooking teacher holding a wooden spoon.

On the counter, the morning sun cast a glow over a round of aged pecorino cheese which sat in front of a bottle of ruby Vino Nobile di Montepulciano… I'd landed smack in the midst of a Tuscan culinary masterpiece.

The program I enrolled in last June, "Tuscan Women Cook," included a week of cooking lessons, trips to nearby towns, wineries, markets, cheese factories, restaurants, and designer outlet shops. It was centered in the 13th century village of Montefollonico (population 700), an hour south of Florence, where rolling hills of olive groves and young vineyards in the Chiana Valley presented a landscape right out of the Florence galleries. But instead of standing back and admiring Tuscany as a tourist in a museum, on this trip I stepped inside it, sharing the tastes of it with the locals, transplants, and tourists who filled it.

A passion for Tuscan food and wine was our bond. Eight American visitors eagerly gathered to eat and drink the regional specialties, and learn how they were made. Our hosts were Bill and Patty Sutherland, transplanted Texans, who had fallen in love with the area through many visits. Five years ago they left Dallas, bought a hilltop Montefollonico farmhouse, and settled in to pursue their "Under The Tuscan Sun" dream.

They hired Iolanda and Bruna, two village nonnas, who on alternate days taught in the Sutherland's renovated kitchen. The choice to hire town women instead of star chefs makes this cooking school unique -- no Emeril "BAM!" showmanship here. The morning classes were like family parties where we'd hang out with grandma and Cristina (the local pharmacist's daughter) who acted as translator.

Each instructor had an individual, endearing style, showing us traditional dishes they'd been making since they were kids.
Bruna, trim and crisp, wowed me with her pasta making. She'd flip a sheet of dough off a wooden roller or twirl gnocchi off a fork to make perfect tiny ridges. Then she'd stand back and pose for our cameras, a demure magician. (CONTINUE...)