Cook the Farm
Immerse Yourself in Food, Place, and Community
WHEN
February 12, 2026 – March 27, 2026
PRICE
€ 12,000
Costs do NOT include flights to and from Sicily, breakfast, dinner and weekend meals, or individual travel and transport on weekends.
What’s Included
- All classes, outings, and housing over the 6-week period
- All lunches during lesson days (Monday to Friday)
- Six nights accommodation during field trips around Sicily (Accommodation for overnight trips is in shared double rooms. Single rooms available for a supplemental price)
- Transportation to and from daily lessons and for school outings
- Initial pick up and final drop off at select times from Palermo airport or train station
- Access to digital content such as recipes, presentations and readings as well as printed readings and handouts
Welcome to Sicily: Ten Years of Cook the Farm
Cook the Farm Sicily is a six-week immersion into the rhythms of Sicilian food, land, and tradition. Set at Case Vecchie in the heart of Sicily, surrounded by wheat fields, olive groves, and vineyards, the program invites participants to cook, learn, and think deeply about where food comes from, how it’s shaped, and where it’s headed.
Founded in 2016, Cook the Farm brings together a global community to explore the stories, systems, and flavors that define Sicily’s rich food landscape. Through hands-on kitchen lessons, fieldwork, tastings, and conversations with farmers, artisans, and experts, participants engage with food as culture, community, and care. While the heart of the program remains steady, each year brings new voices, producers, and opportunities, ensuring that no two sessions are the same.
With off-site travel and optional weekend activities woven in, Cook the Farm offers space not just to learn, but to reflect, to ask where you are in your own food journey, and where you want to go next.
Limited Spots Available
for 2026
Early application deadline: June 15
Regular application deadline: September 15
Please reach out to cookthefarm@annatascalanza.com for any questions.
Sessions
Monday - Friday, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
(with some exceptions). Occasional Saturday excursions.
Language
English/Italian
(Course material in English. Translation provided for Italian lecturers/experiences)
Projected Program 2026
Projected schedule. Activities and presenters are subject to change without notice and dates of events may be shuffled to suit guest presenter and/or producer needs. The program below is an idea of themes, activities, and topics that may be covered.
There are two optional paid weekend trips: one to Palermo, the other to Catania so you can explore the island's two main cities.
Intro | Welcome to Cook the Farm
Arrive on Thursday and get settled into your new hometown of Valledolmo. Join us at Case Vecchie to get a lay of the land. We will get to know each other and go over course aims and objectives. Saturday you will have a group visit around Valledolmo and a group lunch.
Week 1 | Communicating Taste + Terroir
Starting from the idea of taste, we’ll explore what taste means scientifically and culturally. We focus on language as a tool for narrating our personal food experiences. We examine the concept of terroir, what is “natural,” and communicating the tasting experience. Familiarize yourself with the Tasca D'Almerita wines made on site.
Explore
how to taste | the language of food | icons of Sicilian cooking | winemaking | vine pruning | the pairing of wine and food
Visit
citrus tasting | wine tasting | visit to Tasca d'Almerita winery and vineyards
Guest presenters
flavor specialist Nikki Welch | master pruner Livio Tognon
Week 2 | Food Landscapes
Dive into the Sicilian food landscape with a taste for Sicily’s staple crops: wheat and olive oil. Get familiar with wheat varieties, processing practices, and uses. Learn about olive oil making, tasting, and history.
Explore
wheat (origin, diversity, and uses) | from grain to flour to pasta | pasta making (northern and southern techniques) | olive varieties | olive oil labelling | baking with olive oil
Visit
local frantoio a.k.a. olive oil press (not in production)
Guest presenters
professional pasta-making master Rina Poletti | Olive Oil expert, taster, and grower Sarah Wolferstan | in-house pastry chef Enza di Gangi
Week 3 | Biodiversity of an Island
Using Sicily as a case study for biodiversity, we will explore how the landscape and farmers are reacting to a changing climate. Then head off to see Sicily's western coast!
Explore
biodiversity vs. agro-biodiversity | pollinators | black bee of Sicily | honey tasting | climate resistant farming | Slow Food ideology
Visit
Maria Grammatico's pastry shop in Erice | flour mill in Castelvetrano | Marsala wine production | Salt flats of Trapani
Guest Presenters
Sicilian beekeeper and researcher Carlo Amodeo | local Valledolmo farmer | owner of Molini del Ponte flour mill Filippo Drago | Organic winemaker Natalia Simeti
Week 4 | Pasture to Product
A week dedicated to cheesemaking, shepherding, and butchering. From pasture to pecorino cheese, we will talk about the importance of animals in agriculture and land use. A chance to think about how our food consumption shapes our identity and question the ethics of meat-eating.
Explore
cheesemaking basics | heritage breeds | the art of butchering | a Sicilian BBQ| a day in the life of a shepherd
Visit
a local cheesemaker | a shepherd's farm
Guest presenters
local butcher Salvatore | goat cheese maker and breeder Giacomo Gati
Week 5 | Defining Tradition
Fall into Sicilian culture with hands-on experiences to witness how traditions are living and ever-evolving rituals. Following the seasonal rhythms, we will spend the week foraging, preserving, and witnessing the celebration of San Giuseppe/ St. Joseph's Day in Valledolmo. Final group trip to our island's infamous volcano Mt. Etna!
Explore
traditional Sicilian cooking | foraging for wild greens | canning and preserving | volcanic wines | local tradition of St. Joseph's Day
Visit
low intervention winery | citrus orchard | granita maker | Etna vineyards |
Guest presenters
| local forager Carmelo | kitchen staff at ATL | Benjamin Spencer of Etna Wine School | winemaker Sonia Gambino | pastry chef Giovanna Musumeci
Week 6 | Community Reflection
Reflect on your time together and how we translate and carry our gained experience to our home communities. A time to celebrate the CTF 2024 community.
Explore
cooking in community | final reflections
Guest presenters
food journalist Rachel Roddy | pastry chef Enza di Gangi
Precedente
Successivo
Where You’ll Live: Life in Valledolmo
During Cook the Farm, you’ll call Valledolmo home—a small hill town just eight kilometers from Case Vecchie (a short 20-minute bus ride). With fewer than 4,000 residents, Valledolmo offers an authentic glimpse into the rhythms of rural Sicily. Here, life unfolds slowly: laundry dances on the lines, stoops are swept daily, and benches brim with expansive conversations. This is a town rooted in agriculture, where traditions remain tied to the land and the seasons.
You’ll find a few pizzerias, coffee bars, and local shops to explore, but the true heart of Valledolmo is its community and pace. Located about two hours from Palermo and Catania, with the nearest train station (Roccapalumba-Alia) 40 minutes away, it’s a world away from the rush of urban life.
Homestay with a Local Family
For a deeper cultural experience, stay with a local family. You'll have a private room and bath, share common areas, and join in daily life—meals, gatherings, and outings. It's a great way to practice Italian and enjoy true Sicilian hospitality.
The Convent
Located on Valledolmo’s main road, the convent offers simple single rooms with private baths, linens and towels provided. 8 students in the convent share a kitchen and have a provided weekly laundry and cleaning service. Two nuns live on-site in separate quarters, but you have your own keys and full independence in a respectful shared space.
Independent Apartment
For those who prefer more privacy, a small independent apartment is also an option. It features two bedrooms, each with its own private bathroom, as well as a shared kitchen and living area. This option offers 2 students comfort and independence while still being connected to the community.
Participants
As of 2025, 109 participants have been engaged in the CTF program. Participants have hailed from eleven different countries including the United States, Canada, Egypt, Australia, Brazil, the UK, Italy, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the Netherlands, Mexico, and Panama. Students come from backgrounds as varied as fashion, finance, farming, front-of-house and back-of-house restaurant work, wine, catering, community organizing, teaching, non-profit management, politics, and real estate. Cook the Farm graduates have carried on to start their own homesteads, flourish in food writing careers, open bakeries, work in food education, start media consulting businesses for small producers and farmers, and run corporate dining services.
CTF Sicily Experts
Nikki Welch
The Science of Taste
Sarah Wolferstan
Olive Oil + Cultural Heritage
Livio Tognon
Vine Pruning Systems
Rina Poletti
Northern pasta making - Emilia Romagna traditions
Giacomo Gatì
Cheese Making and Pastures
Mary Taylor & Natalia Simeti
Wine Maker
Carlo Amodeo
The Black Bee of Sicily
Francesca Paternoster
Mieli Thun: Nomadic Beekeeping
Emmanuele Cottone
Butchering the whole animal
Danny McCubbin
The Good Kitchen
Rachel Roddy
The Language of Food
Gianfranco Marrone
Meat, Death + Semiotics
This experience was one of a kind and changed my life and everything to come. I am so grateful to have been a part of this and I thank ATL immensely for building something so special.
K.J.
2025
I travel about 8 months of the year since I retired. Been to 120 countries and seven continents and I would say CTF was probably my best overall travel experience ever. So well thought out, executed. Just a once in a lifetime experience.
J.E.
2025
I have enjoyed every aspect of this experience so much. The beautiful countryside and nature, the slow life in Valledolmo, its warm and welcoming people, getting to know Sicily and its culture, the amazing lunches (miss them already so much), the inspiring people and unique experiences.
L.T.M
2023
I had no idea how much of Sicily we would get to experience. I knew it would be a lot, but I feel like I've seen so much of it and that we covered SO MUCH in 6 weeks. It's bonkers.
M.E.H.
2023
ANNA TASCA LANZA COOKING SCHOOL
Contrada Regaleali, Case Vecchie
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