Creating Community in Chianti through Cooking

Our Cook Like a Tuscan tour in partnership with The Chopping Block, Chicago’s premiere recreational cooking school, is now in its seventh year. It is designed for people who love to cook and want to experience learning about the simple yet delicious cuisine and ingredients of central Italy, specifically Tuscany.

This tour appeals to avid home cooks, but we also have travelers who would not consider themselves experienced in the kitchen go on this trip. Nothing thrills us more than seeing when someone’s perspective about cooking changes in the week they travel with us.

Ted Quiballo and his wife Natalie had planned to travel to Italy for their 25th wedding anniversary. They were planning their first trip to Europe when Covid hit. Fast forward four years and the couple from Skokie, Illinois joined us this year for Cook Like a Tuscan to celebrate their 29th anniversary.

Natalie & Ted sporting their love for Panzano shirts

“We really enjoyed not just our anniversary day, but our anniversary week, getting to know the other travelers in our group and getting to know Tuscany. We spent one night in Florence and were able to experience other unique destinations like Siena and Montalcino. All those places were absolutely amazing,” said Ted.

Natalie & Ted in Florence

Ted said he did not consider himself a home cook before the trip, but he does help his wife in the kitchen, especially when it comes to plating, which he really enjoys. “I think that’s an important part of cooking. I always told my kids when they were growing up that there are three parts to cooking: there’s the actual cooking of the food, then there is the plating of the food, and then finally, the washing of the dishes. It’s all part of the cooking process,” said Ted. “But it was nice not to have to wash any dishes during our cooking classes in Italy!”

Ted learns from Chef Stefano

Cook Like a Tuscan features four hands-on cooking classes, from learning how to make Ribollita, a traditional Tuscan soup made from a hearty blend of vegetables, beans, and stale bread at the villa where we stay, to homemade pasta in a former abbey turned agritourism destination to homemade pizza and focaccia baked in wood-fired ovens brought to the villa overlooking vineyards and a sophisticated, gourmet menu, perfect for entertaining friends and family.

Ted cooking Ribollita at the villa

Those are the four hands-on cooking classes slated during this week, but there are even more opportunities to roll up your sleeves in the kitchen when you visit the famed butcher shop Antica Macelleria Cecchini of Dario Cecchini, an eighth-generation butcher in Panzano in Chianti. Our group gets a private butchery lesson and an opportunity to learn how to tenderize beef and make the famous “Sushi del Chianti,” which is beef tartare using the leanest part of the top round.

Our travelers at Antica Macelleria Cecchini 

Since they have returned from Italy, Ted and Natalie have been putting the knowledge they learned on the trip to good use, cooking for friends and family. They have made gnocchi, spaghetti, lasagna, biscotti, and a chicken ballotine recipe from the trip.

Prepping Chicken Ballotine

Plated Chicken Ballotine

Ted remembers his mother making homemade pasta when he was in grade school, but he has not done it since then until this trip. He says he was amazed at how simple the ingredients were, as well as the technique. “This trip really made cooking more accessible for me. I had some mental and physical barriers to cooking pasta, because I had a fixed mindset of seeing how things are done in America. You typically open a box of dry pasta, boil it, and open up a jar of Ragu and mix. When I saw how easy it really is to make fresh pasta, I developed more of a growth mindset in cooking,” said Ted.

Ted cooking at Badia Coltibuono

That was not the only time Ted changed his perspective about cooking on the tour. He recalls eating Chef Mirella’s risotto at the villa and commenting on how good it was to tour leader Peggi Clauhs. Peggi reminded him how easy it is to make risotto at home because you can give the stirring duties to your guests as they enjoy a glass of wine. “I kept telling Peggi I just don’t have the time, and the more I said I wouldn’t cook the risotto, the more Peggi kept telling me the details of how to cook it. She told me I had better make that risotto when I get home. So, of course, I had to try it. It was a tremendous success, so I shared some pictures in our trip’s WhatsApp group, and everyone had a good laugh celebrating me making the risotto,” said Ted.

Ted plating risotto

Ted’s Porcini Risotto

Ted says he was affectionately labeled the “troublemaker” in the cooking classes because of his questions and comments to the chefs. “There was one recipe with beets, and I asked if it was okay to substitute canned beets, and the chef just looked at me and asked why can’t I find fresh beets? She did not approve of that shortcut,” laughed Ted.

Cooking at Badia Coltibuono

Another time at the villa, Chef Mirella had made homemade cheesecake including her homemade strawberry jam. “The group got noticeably quiet as we all tasted it because it was so good. Then I made a comment to Peggi that it was so much better than cheesecake from Costco. Peggi and the other tour leader and sommelier Viktorija both just shook their heads at me with that Costco comparison,” laughs Ted.

Natalie & Ted with Chefs Stefano & Mirella at the villa

Ted says one of the reasons his perception of cooking has changed is due to the experiences surrounding it on the trip. “In every cooking class, I was able to connect with the chef. I felt comfortable asking them questions, which I did a lot of. They were all very personable and created a camaraderie between the chef and the class. I really loved that because it was not like a teacher-student relationship. They talked about their Italian culture. They talked about their experiences, how they came to be where they are in life, and why they do the things that they do while preparing their dishes,” said Ted.

Ted says cooking is not just about eating and that was never more obvious than it was on this trip. “I think it is more about sharing knowledge and culture. When you share that information, you create a deeper community. These chefs on this tour were not just sharing the recipes and techniques of how they made their dishes. They were sharing the culture of how they grew up, and I thought that was fascinating. You do not get that kind of information when you just go to a restaurant and eat the food,” said Ted.

That community is something Onward Travel strives to create in each of our small group tours. Ted said Cook Like a Tuscan exceeded his expectations not only because of the well-planned logistics but also because of the people in his group. “We created community together as a group as fast as we could simply by cooking together. When we share these cooking experiences, we also share our life experiences,” said Ted. That’s certainly been the case with this group who continues to share their cooking adventures with the rest of the group now that they are back home.

Ted is excited to continue to spread the community by cooking what he learned in Italy with his family and friends. “I am extremely excited about what I have learned. So, I want to share it with people. I now feel empowered to share the knowledge of what I learned in Tuscany with others so that they can try it themselves,” said Ted.

Does your perspective on cooking need a reset? Want to share a week of foodie love with a group of new friends? There’s no better place to do that than in Tuscany.

Join us for Cook Like a Tuscan in October 2025