Cooking Schools: Italian Education

If you've ever dreamed of studying Italian cooking in Italy, there are two new places that can help you fulfill the fantasy. Academia Barilla in Parma, founded by the eponymous pasta maker, offers one-day to two-week-long courses in English on subjects like olive oil tasting and pasta making. In Jesi, in central Italy's Marche, the Istituto Superiore di Gastronomia (ISG), launched by Slow Food, gives 10-week cooking courses—each week is devoted to a region of Italy, with guest teachers and trips to wineries and a balsamic-vinegar factory. DETAILS Barilla, from $300; academiabarilla.com. ISG, $12,000; italcook.it.

Published October 2004