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The Tasca home supports a traditional Sicilian cuisine, which Anna, while respecting the local culture, has combined with the more international one she found in the Lanza Di Mazzarino family. In this productive small universe, amidst the vineyards and the hum of tractors, the family shares its passion for the land and for time-honored
Italian cooking and recipes with those who want to learn and appreciate the secrets of old traditions.
Come
join us for Italian Cooking Courses at
The World of Regaleali!
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Anna Tasca Lanza In the News:
In Sicily, a Winery Tour With Lunch Included
By MARIAN
BURROS,
New York Times
 BOUT
halfway between Palermo, on the north coast of Sicily, and
Agrigento, on the south, lies one of the island's premier wineries
and cooking schools - Regaleali, which has been in the family of
Count Lucio Tasca since 1830.
Regaleali,
near the tiny village of Vallelunga, is not a palazzo but a grand
country estate of 1,200 acres. It is also a working farm that
provides all the wine and almost all the food it serves its
guests. A couple of years ago the count's son, Giuseppe Tasca,
realized that those who were coming for the wine tasting were
interested not only in the vineyards but also in the wonderfully
peppery green olive oil from the 4,000 olive trees, the extensive
vegetable garden and fruit trees, the chickens and sheep and the
cheese made on the estate from the sheep's milk.
Soon
a simple wine tasting was turned into a typical Sicilian
five-course lunch paired with the estate's wines.
Regaleali,
which is derived from an Arabic word meaning home of Ali, offers a
serenely romantic view of Sicily. The cultivated hillsides stretch
as far as the eye can see from the buildings that house the winery
and the count's residence. The wine tastings and lunch are served
in the handsomely remodeled barn, its ochre stucco walls trimmed
in blue, the barnyard now a brick-and-cobblestone courtyard.
The
wine lunch changes with the season. A typical meal would start
with panelle, deep-fried wedges made from chickpea flour, or with
vegetables from the garden. The antipasto is always served with
Almerita Spumante, a delicious sparkling wine.
The
primi, or pasta, course might be served with fava beans or with a
tomato sauce and the farm's fresh sheep's-milk ricotta. The
secondi course is often the estate's tender lamb, cooked with one
of the winery's finest reds, Rosso del Conte, or the fat and
succulent chickens. Homemade cheeses follow. For dessert the
ricotta is sweetened and used to stuff freshly fried cannoli.
Fruit in season is another choice.
Mr.
Tasca's aunt, Anna Tasca Lanza, the cooking teacher and cookbook
author, conducts cooking classes, as she has for more than 15
years, at Casa Vecchie, in the middle of the vineyards. Her
charming demonstration kitchen has white tile walls, brightened
with a border of blue and white tiles. Like the lunch with wine
pairings, she bases her classes on the seasonal offerings of the
farm. A five-day stay includes cooking classes each day with side
trips. Up to 10 students can be accommodated.
The
five-day course (including accommodations in rooms with private
baths at her home or that of her sister, Costanza di Camporeale)
is $3,026 a person; a three-night course, including
accommodations, $1,681 a person; an overnight stay with lesson and
lunch is $1,076 a couple; one day lesson and lunch is $175 a
person.
Regaleali
is one and a half hours by car or train from Palermo.
Anna Tasca Lanza To Appear in New York
Anna Tasca Lanza, from the World of Regaleali, will be hosting a dinner at a new restaurant in New York. She will be at Bellavitae on Tuesday, February 15, 2005. There is a reception from 6:30-7:30 pm where you can meet this fabulous chef, and a dinner following at 7:30 pm. The dinner will be a special five-course menu featuring Sicilian dishes preapred from Anna's cookbooks and will include a tasting of Regaleali Tasca d'Almerita wines and olive oil. A Night in Sicily will be a rare opportunity to meet and talk to a noted culinary authority and taste the flavors of Sicily here in the United States. Reservations are limited, so please contact Bellavitae at 212.473.5151 as soon as possible.
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