Copyright © Convivio Rome 2001 - 2007
About us
A passion for Cookery Courses since 2001. Guido and Sally have been sharing their passion for gourmet Italian food by organising Italian cooking courses and holidays in Rome and Maremma, Tuscany before moving to Toffia and the beautiful region of Sabina. Guido’s enthusiasm for promoting Italian regional cuisine has also lead him to conduct cooking workshops in Cambridge, England and Sydney, Australia.
Supporting local farmers to reduce our carbon footprint. At Convivio Rome Italian Cooking Holidays we support local farmers and food producers. We do this to source the freshest, highest quality seasonal ingredients and olive oil for our Italian cookery classes. This also helps keep our Italian cooking school's carbon footprint to a minimum.
Sally, originally from Australia, first moved to Italy over 11 years ago.
She soon became captivated by the warmth of the people, the beauty of the landscape, the culture and history, plus the amazing food and wine. 'Amore' when Sally met Guido, led her to stay. They now live with their daughter, in the Sabine Hills (Sabina), just north of Rome. “This is a very special area of Italy not only because of its rough natural beauty and magnificent views but for me it is truly authentic. There is nothing commercial, no neon signs, no foreign newspapers and definitely no tourist buses. It is not uncommon for our neighbours to knock on our door offering us a paper bag filled with fruit or vegetables that have just been picked from their fields”.
Sally's background is in anthropology, natural therapies, teaching and tourism and she has been running her own business in Australia and Italy for over 15 years. Sally founded 'Convivio Rome' with Guido to enable them to share the magic of Italy, Sabina and its fantastic food and wine.
Guido is an 8th generation Roman with a passion for cooking. “Every evening, I prepare food for my wife and daughter that has come from my grandmother’s family”, says Guido. “The secrets of these recipes have been passed down from my grandmother to my mother and now onto me. I want to share this love and passion that my family has always had for good food and wine with you. When I was young, my father used to take me around the Roman countryside on weekend excursions to locate the finest cheeses and wines. Baskets of fresh ricotta were prepared in front of us by the local shepherd and loaves of wood-fired sour dough bread were bought hot from the bakery. It was an incredible education. I still remember learning to recognise the different scents of wild herbs during our leisurely walks through the fields. To me, rosemary, sage, fennel and roman mint are the distinctive scent of the Roman countryside, especially when the sun comes out after a summer storm”.
Guido has been a food editor for many years, during which he had the chance to meet the most celebrated Italian chefs and learn their secrets. He is fully bilingual and has previously been running cooking classes in Italy (Tuscany), England (Cambridge) and Australia (Sydney).
At Convivio Rome, Guido is in charge of our cooking classes and wine-tasting sessions, with an emphasis on the freshest food available in season, the balance of flavours and ease of preparation. His classes are relaxed, fun and creative. In fact, Guido believes that inspired cooking always comes from a little bit of fun.
Signora Lina is our fresh pasta expert. She has been living in the hilltop village of Toffia all her life. If you happen to pass by her home you will be amazed at the marvellous smells that come from her kitchen. Learning the secrets of pasta making from Lina is a unique experience. “Every time I watch Lina creating the most beautiful egg tagliatelle simply out of flour and eggs, I know that a very ancient secret is being revealed right before my eyes”, says Guido.
Linnea and Valerio’s passion for olives and olive oil will be experienced during the Olive Grove Tour. Linnea's family began to learn about olives when they purchased their land (Oliveto Agostino) over 20 years ago. Their olive grove, situated on top of a hill, has commanding views and over 550 olive trees. When Linnea is not giving tours she works as graphic designer in Rome. For her olive trees are also a work of design with the round green-black olives, the silver-coloured leaves and the sturdy tree. Valerio is a biologist and PhD student in Ecology at the University of Rome. For him picking olives is not only a fantastic, natural experience but it gives him the feeling of participating in a tradition that is thousands of years old.
Italian cooking holidays
Signora Lina
