Source New Jersey Hills.com
La Buona Cucina, a specialty Italian foods retail market and cooking school, will offer a cooking camp for young people 4 through 18 from Monday, June 20, through Thursday, July 21, at the Healthy Italia Cooking School, located behind the retail marketplace at 55 Main St. in Madison.
“Without having to travel, kids will experience Italy through language, culture and, of course, food,” said Lisa Sanderson, Healthy Italia’s marketing director.
The program is divided into weekly age-appropriate four-day sessions. Each week will be unique with different themes and recipes so campers can sign up for one or multiple weeks.
• The youngest chefs, ages 4-6, will get an introduction to Italy and the kitchen through bi-lingual stories, fun activities and making the food they will eat each day. Piccoli Cuochi — “Little Chefs” — also will take a “shopping trip” in Healthy Italia’s marketplace to find ingredients for their recipes.
• Older chefs will be divided into two groups: Giovani Cuochi — “Young Chefs,” ages 7-10 — and Aspiranti Cuochi — “Aspiring Chefs,” ages 11-14. Each day campers will make a meal from scratch, including such dishes as homemade tagliatelle, ravioli, and gnocchi.
• Teen Chefs — “Ragazzi Cuochi” — will learn how to make a different Italian specialty dish from scratch in a weekly Tuesday evening workshop. The final week will be a “Chopped” Challenge, in which teens will create a meal from a mystery basket.
To enhance the experience, each week will bring a trip to the Madison Farmers’ Market or the Whole Foods Market at 222 Main St. to shop for ingredients.
“We feel it is important that from even the youngest age, chefs know how to choose the best ingredients,” said Sanderson.
For the camp schedule, information or registration, visit Healthy-Italia.com, call (973) 966-5200, or visit the store at 55 Main St. in Madison. The hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.