Exploring Anna Lanza Cooking School and Tasca D’Almerita

I woke up early in my room at the Tasca D’Almerita Winery. I could hear the workers coming in for the day and it was a good feeling to know I was no longer totally alone in this vast place.

After a little work and a quick shower, my ride to go back to the Anna Lanza Cooking School came to get me for breakfast.

I joined my friend Tracy, who had stayed at the school’s villa, for a breakfast that was as wonderful as I had been told it would be. There was homemade marmalade, created from the fruit in the garden; just baked sweet breads; freshly hatched scrambled eggs; and even homemade yogurt, which I enjoyed with a delectable fig tart.

Ragaleali is a picturesque Sicilian town up on a mountain and the area I was in consisted of acres and acres of land that included the winery and the cooking school.  After breakfast, we walked around for awhile before our tour of the vineyards and winery.  I relaxed in the courtyard too, talking with Jim, one of the cooking school guests. He showed me pictures of some of the things he made during the week he was there, including ricotta gnocchi, the fig tart and yogurt, and some very special sardines.

Beyond the garden are the vineyards and there are 1,200 acres that include 50 different varieties of grapes at Tasca D’Almerita. The most famous are grillo and moscato, but this was also the place that produced the first chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon in Sicily.

The large, modern equipment at the winery helps produce over three million bottles a year.  They are using a natural filtration system and love to try new barrels to experiment with taste (Sicilian chestnut barrels are currently holding some perricone, a red varietal).

After the tour, we did some tasting. My favorite was the Sallier de la Tour Le Bianche, actually made at the Pernice Estate in Monreale. It contains three grapes that are among my favorites – viognier, semillion and sauvignon blanc – for a crispy and mineral-filled blend with lots of lemon, as well as tropical pineapple and kiwi.

We headed back to the cooking school for our final meal in Ragaleali and head chef, owner, and amazing cook Fabrizia Lanza made it a fantastic one. The pasta with ricotta was amazing, with the freshly produced cheese and round circles of macaroni. We also had a delicious sausage and potatoes dish, along with just picked broccoli.

For dessert we had a Moorish Head Cake, filled with light ricotta cream, as well as sesame cookies that reminded me of the way my aunt Mary used to make them.

There wasn’t much time to linger as we had a flight to make from Palermo airport. We barely made it on time to hop the airport boss to the small propeller plane to Pantelleria. The flight was a short half hour, which was good because the plane was rather hot.

We could see the beautiful turquoise water as we landed in this spot, just 20 miles from the African republic of Tanzania. Mimma of Donnafugata Wines, our host for the next few days, was waiting for us along with our Yellow Fiat Panda. Fortunately, Tracy knew how to drive a stick shift because that was our only option and I had only attempted it once when I was a teenager.

Mimma escorted us to our cute little stone house on the property of the Donnafugata winery and vineyards, just down the road from the Mediterranean Sea. After we showered and changed, she took us to La Nicchia, a beautiful restaurant on the other side of the island. It was quite a unique place, with what looked like a simple pizzeria in the front and an elegant dining room in the back, with no ceiling and trees growing among the tables!

We started with the Donnafugata Lighea, a semi-sweet blend of zibibbo (Moscato d'Alessandria). We got to know each other as we nibbled on warm focaccia and an outrageous caponata. For an appetizer, I had Ravioli with Ricotta and Mint, and island specialty, and then a beef filet for a main course. Mimma and Tracy feasted on Gambaroni, the largest crayfish I had ever seen

For dessert, we had a flaky and light cannoli and a glass of 2009 Ben Rye, also made from zibibbo, but sweetened from the addition of dried moscato grapes to the taste of apricot, fig and date.

We were exhausted by the time we got back to the house and did not expect the night and day ahead of us. 

From Ragusa to Regaleali

It had been a long time since I’d slept in a twin bed, but I had been so tired from the previous day of travel that it didn’t matter. With the shutters shut and the alarm off, my friend Tracy and I had even slept until 9:30 at Locanda Don Serafino.

We dressed and packed up quickly and headed downstairs for a great European breakfast of breads, muffins, yogurt and cheese. Unfortunately, we forgot we weren’t in Starbucks when it came to ordering coffee and just asked for “lattes,” forgetting to specify “café” before it. We enjoyed the glasses of warm milk before playing it safe and requesting cappuccinos!

We had a bit of time and went for a short walk in Ragusa Ibla before Francesco Ferreri picked us up and took us to the Valle Dell’Acate winery.  The drive seemed a lot more interesting after a good night’s sleep and we identified the almond, orange and olive trees along the way, as well as the green houses filled with tomatoes.

It was starting to warm up and it was a beautiful scene as we walked around the winery and vineyards.

At Valle Dell’Acate we were able to see some of the original wine-making equipment from “back in the day,” including a crushing pit that reminded me of the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel were crushing grapes in their bare feet!

In that same museum area was a picturesque window that looked out into the vineyards. This winery was well into the 21^st century, though, using solar panels for 50% of its energy.

After we learned about the variety in the soil and land at Valle Dell’Acate (which means valley to river to sea) that produces the difference in the wines, we were able to taste quite a few. The 2011 Zagra, a blend of 60% grillo and 40% insolia, was my favorite for its ripe peach and apricot notes.

We also did a vertical tasting of the Bidis (chardonnay and insolia) and could really taste the difference between the years and the aging.

Before we left Valle Dell’Acate we had a lunch of fresh cheeses, calzone, breads, olives and fruits. It was the kind of meal I could eat every day, especially with the wine.

Nunzio had come to pick us up to take us to Regaleali. It was a long trip up the mountain on bumpy dirt roads. There were times when I looked down and couldn’t believe the incredible views and other times I was afraid to look down. At one point we had to stop the car on a cliff and wait for a herd of sheep to cross!

When we finally arrived at the Anna Lanza Cooking School I realized it was worth it. The villa was just as I pictured small town Italy to be, with a courtyard filled with chickens heckling and laundry hanging, and the addition of vineyards and sweeping views of the valley below.

Visitors to this villa and cooking school have included celebrity chefs (like Mario Batali) and people from all walks of life. Joining us for the visit were Jim, a movie producer from Hollywood, and Rosalinda, a banker from New York. There was also a group of interns and visiting chefs joining in.

Fabrizia Lanza told us about the cooking school her mother started (in the land of her family’s winery) while she instructed all on how things should be prepared. We even got to take a long walk through her garden which had the most extensive collection of flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruits I have ever seen.

We had some delicious Pizzelle and chickpea fritters with Tasca d’Amerita Sparkling Rose as we sat in the courtyard and enjoyed the warm night.

Dinner was eggplant, rabbit, salad, pasta and fruit. All from this area and freshly made. We drank a 2007 Rosso del Conte with dinner, made from the local Nero d'Avola, which blends so well with the Sicilian cooking.

Dinner was just wonderful, as much for the food as for the company. We all sat around the big table and ate the freshest fruits and dishes as we shared stories about ourselves. My thoughts came back to the big dinners my Aunt Mary used to make, but the American-style version had left you more stuffed than satisfied.

We ended the meal with sweet and light cream puffs, and a glass of Diamante d'Almerita, a late harvest mixture of moscato and traminer aromatico that is heavenly.

Since there was a full house at Fabrizio Lanza’s villa and they only had a single room left, I volunteered to stay up at the winery about a mile away. I got a ride up to the property. It was almost identical to the other villa and my room was cozy. It was a bit strange when they said goodnight and I realized I was the only one left there, but I closed my eyes in the big four poster bed and reminded myself of the adventure that came to the lone woman in Under the Tuscan Sun!