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.

Nicknamed the heel of Italy, Puglia's cuisine has been influenced over the centuries by its neighbours - and invaders.  The Greeks, for example, left their mark with fragrant, herb-infused lamb, spit-roasted over a crackling fire.

This sun-baked land is scattered with fortified castles and whitewashed trulli, Puglia's distinctive conical shaped swellings, and carpeted with a silvery sea of olive groves.  It also has an incredibly rich natural larder.  The area produces most of the country's extra virgin olive oil, full-bodied wines and is famous for its intensely flavoured olives, almonds and figs.  Other local specialities include orcchiette, an ear-shaped pasta, seafood risotto, fave beans (which are dried and made into a paste) and burrata a creamy cheese similar to mozzarella. 

Sights to savour along with the turqoyise sea and long sandy beaches: 13th-century Swabian castle, the city of Lecce's glorious Baroque churches, a legact from the Spanish, and the cathedral in Otranto's amazing mosaic floor, the work of a 12th-century monk.  

Price Includes:

• £100.00 towards your flight costs. Direct flights to Brindisi are from Stansted Airport
• Airport transfers
• 7 nights en-suite accommodation at the stunning Casino Pisanelli, with pool
• 5 x 3 course hands-on cookery lessons with our Italian chef
• All meals and wine
• An afternoon visit to Gallipoli with evening meal & wine in a local restaurant
• A day sightseeing, visiting Lecce with lunch in a local restaurant, then on to explore Otranto situated by the sea
• An afternoon visit to Santa Maria di Leuca
• Private wine tasting at a local winery
• Transport by private minibus

"I choose Flavours as it looked like a good mix of relaxed cooking, stylish accommodation with a spot of sightseeing. It also sounded 'single' friendly...Livia was absolutely outstanding. I have rarely encountered a tour guide (for want of a better description) with such good people skills. She established an excellent rapport with the whole group, was hard-working, patient and great company. A truly great ambassador for Flavours." ~ Andrew C