My time in the Toscana Saporita cooking school, by Sam Craig

In the March of this year, I won the 2025 Rotary Young Chef of the year title. Along with the amazing experience, meeting great chefs and people, and obviously, the trophy, the main prize was a trip for two to the Toscana Saporita cooking school, in Italy.  
 
Firstly, I would like to say how thankful I am, both to the Rotary Club, to Filipo Berio, and to the team at the cooking school for providing me with this amazing experience. Me and my mother set off from Manchester Airport and arrived at Pisa a few hours later. Immediately after leaving the airport to be driven to the school, we were both struck by the beauty of the city, and the surrounding countryside. There were olive groves stretching as far as the eye could see, breath-taking mountains and cliffs, and beautiful orange and red buildings. 
 
After a 20-minute drive, we arrived at the stunning 17th century villa, and were immediately introduced to Sandra Lotti, the owner and main teacher of the school. After a few minutes to unpack, we were immediately thrown head-first into the cooking – and we both loved it. Everything from pizza dough, to ravioli and tortellini, to risotto. What ensued after was two full days of amazing food, brilliant people, and visiting amazing places, such as Pisa, San-Gimignano, Volterra, and many more both breath-taking and historically significant places.  
 
As a whole, although we were only officially at the cooking school for two and a half days, we both came out as new people, with a new-found respect for traditional Tuscan food, the history, and the people. Furthermore, I can ensure all reading that I will be striving to cook as much traditional Tuscan food at home and otherwise as possible, much to the delight of my family.