The recent Meryl Streep hit movie "Julie and Julia" spawned a number of culinary tours to France, and it is a good bet that the upcoming Julia Roberts film, "Eat, Pray, Love," set for release in 2010, will do the same for Italy, India and Bali.
You might argue that Italy doesn't need any more culinary tours, given that the destination has been at the forefront of this trend for years. But while many foodie treks are geared to the very upscale, experienced cook looking to spend a week with a celebrity chef at a tony hotel, Select Italy has come up with a menu of programs designed for a more mainstream audience.
For starters, the destinations in the Taste of Italy Specialty Experience collection are the big three -- Florence, Venice and Rome -- with an eye to building on those destinations' core appeal, according to Select Italy president, Andrea Sertoli. And the itineraries zero in on the most accessible aspects of Italian cuisine, namely pizza, pasta, seafood and, yes, gelato.
In Rome, for example, participants tour the Colosseum and other A-list sites before settling down to a class in making their own hand-tossed pizza. Other Rome offerings include a Pasta Romana class as well as a three-hour La Dolce Vita course, featuring lessons on making a trio of sinful desserts.
The Rome classes are held in a culinary school in Rome's Prati neighborhood.
The three-hour Pasta Fiorentina classes take place in the home of chef Francesca di Leonardo in Florence and are aimed at cooks advanced enough to take on making their own pasta from scratch.
In Venice, participants in the Seafood in the Serenissima tour embark on a guided visit to the Rialto Market, followed by a gondola ride to the Il Fontego del Pescatore restaurant, where the chef whips up a seafood feast and offers advice on wine and food pairings. Participants then tour the Cannaregio neighborhood before returning to Il Fontego for a four-course seafood meal.
Another refreshing aspect of these Specialty Experiences tours is the price: starting at $175 per person, they are reasonable enough to tempt even budget-conscious travelers. The calorie-conscious, on the other hand, may have a challenge.
For details, visit www.selectitaly.com.