About PMCA

About the Adventures

Astonished at the rich tapestry one discovers when exploring cuisine and culture, Peggy traveled beyond the Tuscan origins of her first Adventure in 1992, La Cucina al Focolare.In 1993, she started The Ligurian School of Poetic Cooking (1993–2000), with Angelo Cabani, master chef and proprietor of Locanda Miranda in Tellaro, a small village on the Italian Riviera. The program focused only on fish. "Angelo would take rustic ancestral recipes that survived lean times and embellish them in a refined way. Never using cream, he works with emulsified olive oils and fresh herbs. The fish was plucked out of the sea and into his capable hands. The pastel colors of the Cinque Terre made it all seem like a dream." Later in the 90’s, Elba: Rustic Tuscan Island Cooking began as an adventurous excursion, taking people into Luciano Casini’s kitchen, like friends coming home for a holiday. Elba's relaxed lifestyle mingles well with fishing and cooking the day's catch. “The style of this cuisine is rustic Mediterranean. Everything goes into the pot at once, but there’s still a plan at work. It's the freshness of the ingredients that create the dish. Not just the cook,” Peggy observes.
Sicily: A Different Italy (1998) came out of a trip Peggy took with a friend. "My curiosity was getting the best of me. It was time to venture south, down into unknown territory. What I found was a treasure of riches waiting to be discovered. I knew Sicily would have to be explored as in 'a moveable feast.’ Sicily is full of delicious surprises." Morocco: A Feast for the Senses (2001) arose out of Peggy’s attraction to Morocco's color, the foreign texture of its landscape, markets and people. The importance of cultural exchange is paramount in this Adventure. “We have landed in an exotic land full of flavor, kindness and over a thousand years of culture, still visible and palpable,” Peggy says.
In 2007, Amalfi: Slow Sailing and Savoring the Amalfi Coast was added as a delicious, GREEN, "gone with the wind" seafaring culinary experience.
In 2008, Peggy was invited by Asia Transpacific Journeys to lead a passage to India,India: Tasting Royal Rajasthan, to discover the superb cuising and cultural wonders of one of the world's most intriguing civilizations.
In this spirit of openness and exploration, PMCA continues today to offer singular travel experiences for the gourmand – or the simply curious!
Not everything can be learned from reading a book. The three dimensional world of travel engages the senses like no other experience. Why not bring that book to life?”
– Peggy Markel