Experience Italy with Locals in Puglia

COOKING LESSONS AND WINE EXPERIENCES IN PUGLIA

Ylenia Sambati is the owner/operator at COOKINPUGLIA, PUGLIA WINESCHOOL and YLTOUR PR.

With an extensive experience of over 15 years in the tourism and culinary fields, she designs some exclusive cooking and wine experiences and programs in Puglia that showcase the most authentic lifestyle of this incredible area.

Her cooking and wine school in Squinzano (in the Salento area which now proves to be the trendiest part of the region) is unlike any cooking school you will have encountered in Puglia. If you are looking for a partner to create unique cooking and wine experiences, rich in cultural and lifestyle insights, she could be a great fit.

Ylenia is also the curator of bespoke trips in Puglia and experiences for local 5 star Hotels and Masserie: once you get in touch with her, she works with you to create a perfect cooking lesson and wine + olive oil experience, creating exceptional cooking lessons and wine tastings unique and crafted with just you or your clients in mind.  She is also famous for her special picnics in an olive grove with a country chic flavor.

Her cooking and wine school is just 15 minutes from Lecce and from Brindisi, a perfect place to include in a Puglia program for a half day experience.   The school is located in the magnificent northern Salento area with spectacular vineyards and olive groves around.    It is a unique in style venue that can welcome from 2 to 40 people comfortably accommodated. The Palazzo with spacious rooms for cooking, tasting or just relaxing on the sofas enjoying the view, overlooks an almost cinematographic square which is a postcard of the most authentic Salento slow life with colors, architecture, great atmosphere and old men still playing cards.

Learn with a mamma in Puglia

A view from the school window

The cooking class is hands-on with the preparation of a four course meal, an informal wine tasting and lunch or dinner to follow, while listening to Opera music and getting to know the many aspects of this magnificent land.

As a lifestyle expert,  passionate in fact – she also writes on a lifestyle blog on her website – she shares with the guests all the most incredible information and insights not just about the food and wine, but also about the region, traditions, local culture.

                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                         
 Wine tasting parties are arranged with the presentation and tasting of a great selection of not commercial wines and paired with great local foods, cooked on spot by the local women of the town.

Ylenia Sambati also works with travel agents and she designs exclusive travel experiences to craft any specific vacation: your Puglia trip planning begins the minute you send her your private enquiry.

You tell her the dates and preferred ingredients of your exclusive cooking class or wine experience and she develops the perfect program for you, your small groups, your clients. Her cooking and wine school can be a wonderful addition to your Puglia program.

Visit her websites and contact Ylenia Sambati: info@yltourpr.com

www.cookinpuglia.com

www.pugliawineschool.com

www.yltourpr.com

Southern Italy Travel Puglia Part I

  Southern Italy Travel

       The big 3, Roma, Firenze and Venezia, are the most visited cities in Italy but exciting alternatives await you in less know Southern Italy    Having never traveled south of Naples it was a new adventure to explore the Salento  the past two years. 


        Puglia does not receive much, if any coverage in tour books.   Cities in Puglia are smaller, towns along the coast cling to the edge of cliffs, and thousands of olive trees stand like soldiers along the country roadways.         What cannot be captured by a camera is the impossible

blue color of the sky early in the mornings and the glow of the honey colored stone that is intricately carved to embellish the countless churches
in Lecce.  

                                                                              
      You may need to consult a map to find the towns of Puglia:  Lecce, Gallipoli, Oltrano, Bari, and Brindisi, the Unesco World Heritage sites of Alberobello or Castel del Monte.  These are only a few of the many unique and welcoming towns and villages throughout Puglia.    
Closer to northern Africa than Europe, the history of Puglia may reflect this in the architecture and the cooking traditions.  The food of Puglia is based on the Mediterranean diet:  fresh produce, wonderful olive oil and wine.                                                                           


Cooking classes or entire cooking holidays incorporate the products of the local wineries, olive oil farms and local farmers.
This is not an area of only art and museums.   Travelers seeking an active adventure can dive in the Adriatic on the coast of Puglia, bike on the roads along the sea or into the interior or hike in the national park.   

                                           Photo courtesy of Yltour

I found Puglia to be a part of Italy where meeting the local tradesmen, master pastry chef, artisans, wine growers and olive oil producers to be the captivating part of a visit. 

Consider exploring Puglia with the help of a local expert who has spent many years creating ‘travel adventures for her guests’.   Yle Sambati established yltour.com to offer visitors to her native region  a complete exposure to The Salento.     A specialized tour will be created based on your special interests, budget, group size, dates or itinerary.

Contact Yle for your special travel 'wish'...

ylenia (info@yltourcongressi.com)