We are looking forward to the day ahead. We will be participating in a cooking class at a farmhouse in the town of Cervere, which is just a short drive from Alba.

We started out by meeting Martina and Valerie at Piazza Michele Ferraro. Valerie is the travel planner that we have worked with to put this holiday together and this was our first face to face meeting. Valerie and Martina will be taking the class along with us.

We rode along with Martina to the farmhouse; Valerie would be meeting us there. Though we did hit a little bit of traffic, it didn’t slow us down too much. When the GPS said we arrived at our destination, the house number game started again. It took us a loop around the neighborhood, even passing by a faux-farm, before we located our farmhouse.

When we arrived, it was really a classic farmhouse, with a horse, a pony, two pot belly pigs, one pink pig (we nicknamed him “Bay-Con”, a big dog and four puppies. I was worried that we would have to pull Sue and Martina away from the animals, but they relented with a promise of a visit after the class.

Our master chef was Raffaella, and for the day we would be her students. It was a fun, hands-on experience preparing three dishes and a dessert and then eating them.

The menu was: Capunet stuffed with pork sausage in a béchamel sauce, Pumpkin cream soup, Taglioni ai Funghi and then fresh peaches with a zabaglione sauce and amaretti. Of course, there was wine!

We started out by each having a task of peeling, chopping, dicing or blanching the various ingredients. Next we were given a new assignment to blend, whisk or combine ingredients. Practically fainting from the excruciating work, we took a wine and cheese break.

The wine and cheese revived us all, so back to the kitchen we went. Next on the agenda was stuffing the cabbage leaves with the fresh pork sausage, lining them up in the pan and then covering them with the béchamel sauce before sending them to the oven. With our mushrooms, garlic, tomatoes and leeks simmering, it was pasta time. Bowls of flour, egg, olive oil and a pinch of salt had been expertly prepared for each participant, now it was time to work that dough!

We all created our dough and then merged them together to create a super dough ball. We let it set for a few minutes before breaking out the pasta machines and cranking out sheets of pasta dough. Once those were ready to go, we made our taglioni. Thin, delicate strands of pasta were created with each turn of the handle, then laid out to dry before heading to the boiling pot of water.

In the meantime, the sauces were simmering nicely and we were nearing the time to eat our creations.

First came the Zuppa di Zucca. It was rich and creamy and tasted delicious. Some pancetta and amaretti crumble were a perfect offset to the flavor of the pumpkin.

Next were the Capunet or cabbage rolls with the béchamel sauce. These also came out great. They may not have been the prettiest rolls, but they would challenge for the tastiest. Delicious with the blend of the sausage and tender cabbage leaves, then made perfect by the béchamel sauce.

Note: They were so good we ate them before I remembered the picture. So picture in your mind delicate little rolls of cabbage with a creamy white sauce and lots of melted cheese.

Our third and most controversial dish was the taglioni. It was delicious, tender with just the right amount of sauce. The controversy arose when the others didn’t believe that I could pick out MY pasta and it was the best. Ha – what do you expect ?!? Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, eat your heart out.

And our final course was the freshes peaches with the zabaglione sauce, a little dark chocolate and some amaretti crumbles. The flavors burst in your mouth and cried out for a Nebbiolo wine, which we just so happened to have.

Everyone had a great time and we say a special thanks to Raffaella for a wonderful experience and to Valerie for setting things up and to Martina for joining us.

Next was the dangerous part: getting to meet the animals. We were already pretty cozy in the car and Martina had her eye on the pony. I thought for sure one of us would be asked to give up their spot in the car. Luckily, she relented…but I think it was only because it wasn’t her car.

The ride back to town seemed to go quick. We actually drove through Martina’s home town of Bra and she was a little too shy to show us where the Piazza Martina was located. I’ll just google map it back at the apartment.

This would be our last planned encounter with Martina, so it was sad when she dropped us off. Lots of hugs and a big ‘Thank You’.

We all enjoyed getting to meet her and wish her well. I’ll let her know if the vinegar works any better when I get back home.

We all needed a little time to relax. Sue and I went for a little walk later on to try and find the elusive black sweater. We stopped at the Ape Wine Bar, where we had met Martina earlier in the week but no luck there.

However, we did decide to stay for a drink and then upped the ante to include a plate of tajarin with white truffles. It was a beautiful night to sit out, plus the music they were playing was really great and our waitress was extra friendly and nice.

It was a nice stroll back to the apartment and I’d have to say that it was a perfect way to end a perfect day!