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COOKING IN TROPEA IS TAKING THE straight shot into the rustic, generous spirit of the Calabria region, a treasured spot in the toe of Italy’s boot.

The program was created by Tania Pascuzzi, an Australian-Italian whose parents were born in Calabria and then emigrated to Melbourne. Tania, who grew up around delicious Calabrian food, came to live in Tropea after fourteen years of high-pressure work as a New York stylist. She’s a sophisticated woman, the type who looks glamorous even when she’s wearing faded jeans.

Tropea is a beautiful school base. It juts out above the sea, a jumble of crumbling sandstone baroque buildings, tiny piazzas that look like opera sets. I’m staying in a seventeenth-century renovated palazzo, right off the main square. Inside is a modern surprise: a spacious suite, sleekly designed, with filmy taupe curtains and balconies where I can overlook the action in the piazza below.

The cooking program includes a food tour of Tropea, where with Tania by my side, everyone treats me like I’m part of la famiglia. This is hot red pepper territory. They’re dried and tied up in garlands all over the place. They’re minced up and made into n’duja, a spread that sizzles on the tongue or has me choking and gasping, depending on intensity.

“It’s so much more than a cooking school,” says Nicole Gait, a New Yorker, who went on the adventure with her husband. “The week was about becoming a part of this authentic community, an experience we never would have had without Tania’s guidance.”

Guests rave about how Tania customizes their experiences to match their desires and the changing seasons. Along with cooking classes, she can add mushroom hunts, visits to festivals or award winning wineries, guided hikes by the seaside or in the mountains, and painting classes. All is set up at a leisurely pace, so there’s time to relax on Tropea’s beaches, which are praised as some of the best in Italy. Tania also offers genealogy tours, so visitors can be escorted to villages where their ancestors came from, find their relatives’ names in record books, and visit hidden cemeteries.

The coastline offers beautiful opportunities for boating excursions with Tania’s friend Francesco, who takes guests on fishing expeditions, dropping anchor at choice spots where they can swim or snorkel. Francesco doubles as a chef, and will cook up the catch-of-the-day right on board, for a memorable lunch.

Hands-on classes take place in home kitchens with a range of teachers who passionately share Calabrese traditions. One day you’ll be with Antonella, a mamma who’ll teach you how to make the region’s specialty pasta—fileja—a shape similar to cavatelli (or what Calabrian moms in New Jersey called “gavadeels”), while another class will be with Giuseppe the Butcher to learn the art of sausage making in his shop, then finishing in his upstairs dining room, where a delicious meal is served with local DOC wines.

An evening class at the agriturismo of Pepe and Vera is a beloved highlight, where the whole family, including their two children, join in. As the sun sets, students stroll around the farm, picking grapes from the vineyards, sample freshly pressed olive oils and honey, and make meals using Tropea’s prized red onions, which thrive in the fields. The outdoor table amidst all this beauty is lit with candles, as course after course is served. And don’t be surprised if strolling musicians appear to bring even more heart and soul to the delicious experience.

TOUR

In Italy Tours (www.initalytours.com) offers cooking classes in Tropea, throughout Calabria, and on a private yacht while circling the Aeolian Islands. In addition are excellent classes in the Castelli Romani, hilltop villages near Rome.