Taormina

Cooking Classes

Spend a morning in Taormina learning how to cook delicious Sicilian food from a professional chef. At the end of the class, participants enjoy the lunch they created along with wine. Meeting at 10:00 AM at the Arch of Porta Messina, the activity starts with a guided tour of the market of Taormina. Shopping for fresh ingredients, the group will enjoy learning about the local produce and take part in a small tasting of salamis and cheeses. Back at the restaurant the chef will explain the recipes in program while guests take a break for coffee. The preparation and the cooking of the food will then start, with the making of hand-made pasta a highlight. Once the dishes are prepared, everybody is invited to the table for the typical local lunch with accompanying wines. Afterwards, each participant will receive a certificate and an autographed apron as a souvenir of this special day.  

Discover the secret to making an authentic Italian pizza at a half-day pizza making course in Taormina. Held in a pizzeria in the beautiful resort town, the class is led by a professional pizza maker, who will demonstrate how to prepare and bake a perfect pizza. Learn the basics of pizza preparation, following the simple advice and techniques demonstrated by your guide. Enjoy a hands-on experience as you discover how to make perfect pizza dough, get tips on what goes into a good pizza sauce, and hear how to have fun with pizza toppings. Learn the importance of a good wheat flour rich in gluten, water, and fresh yeast, discover how to stretch your dough, and how to transform it into something everyone will want to eat. Then, enjoy your pizzas for a complete meal that also includes mixed bruschetta, complimentary mineral water and soft drinks, and some local wine. Before you leave, your chef will present you with a pizza certificate to confirm that you are now a qualified pizza cook.

Enjoy a full-day journey through the food culture of Sicily on a half-day combined market tour and cookery class. Start by meeting your chef for a guided tour of the local markets. Savor the aromas and colors of Sicily’s produce, selecting ingredients to prepare your lunch. Meet the fruit and vegetable vendors to find out what’s in season, and the fishmonger to choose the fresh catch of the day. Then, head to the kitchen for a hands-on cooking class in the company of Chef Massimo. You will learn to make some of his family recipes and Sicilian specialties, such as ricotta-stuffed zucchini flowers, a rainbow of sautéed peppers, eggplant and zucchini caponata, stuffed artichokes, and fresh egg pasta. For your main, you will prepare a fish, meat or vegetarian dish, such as involtini (rolled stuffed beef), fish cooked Taormina-style, or polpette (meatballs). End by making a typical Sicilian dessert, before enjoying a lunch based on the foods you prepared in class. Wash it all down with some delicious Sicilian wines.

The first thing that must be done when you want to prepare a traditional Sicilian meal is to find the right ingredients. So let’s start this culinary experience merging yourself with the colors, smells and flavors of a typical Sicilian market in the enchanting location of Taormina. Here, you will get tips on how to choose the best fish, meat and vegetables. The restaurant will be within a stone's throw of the market itself and that is where you are going to learn how to cook the day's meal. The chef will explain the day's menu and show you how to perform each step. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to try your hand and gain practical experience of the Sicilian cuisine from someone who’s really keen and expert about Sicilian gastronomic culture. When you then enjoy the Sicilian meal you created by yourself, a sommelier will help you and show you how to select the wines that best enhance the flavor of your food. Sicily is definitely famous for its culinary tradition and this will be a perfect opportunity to sharpen your 5 senses and, of course, your cooking skills.

Discover what makes an Italian local market distinct and learn how to recognize the best produce with the help of a local expert. Experience the joy of Italian food in a cooking class at a local home and savor the food you make over some red and white wines. During the lesson, your host will reveal their own personal secrets to making three authentic recipes. Relax, as your host will ensure you are equipped with all the necessary ingredients and tools to make the dishes.  Finish your meal with a hot cup of coffee, and feel connected to a local cook. Take home Italian cooking skills that will stay with you forever.

Immerse yourself in a cooking class at a local home, learning the secrets of the most famous dishes of regional cuisine and taste the fruit of your labour accompanied by local wines. Throughout the lesson, your cook will reveal the tricks of the trade for 3 authentic local recipes. You can have fun putting your cooking skills to the test, and will also have a workstation equipped with utensils and all the ingredients to make the dishes. Next, taste everything you have prepared accompanied by a selection of local wines. Instead of loading your suitcase with souvenirs, take home Italian cooking skills that will stay with you for life.

If you want to uncover the secrets of Italian family recipes on your travels, this is a fantastic way to learn the locals' wisdom, which has been passed down in their families for generations. You can visit the local market with your "Cesarina", enjoying the atmosphere of an Italian local market and learning how to recognize the best produce from the land. When you return to your Cesarina’s home, you will attend a private cooking demo where your Cesarina will share the secret of their family cookbook while preparing one of the dishes right in front of you. You will sit at an authentic Italian table and enjoy a 4-course seasonal menu including starter, pasta, a main course with a side dish, and dessert. Drinks included are water, a selection of red and white wines from regional cellars, and coffee. You can feel the warmth of Italian hospitality as you connect with local people.

Live this unique experience spending an unforgettable atmospheric evening with locals and where you will cook a delicious and hearty traditional 4-course Sicilian dinner. This cooking activity is private and includes pickup and drop-off by private comfortable air-conditioned car in Taormina area. Your friendly private guide will pick you up at your accommodation or port in Taormina, Messina or Catania, and in relax will chauffeur you to a charming home restaurant. You will prepare delicious and hearty traditional Sicilian 4-course lunch or dinner. First, you will cook traditional Sicilian starters "antipasti" - mussels soup, stuffed mussels, tuna carpaccio, marinated anchovy or sardines, traditional Sicilian relish "caponata", or Sicilian bruschettas. Then, for the first course you will cook traditional Sicilian pasta - "pasta alla norma" (pasta with eggplants, tomatoes and ricotta), "pasta palermitana" (pasta with anchovy and pistacchio), or pasta with mussels and clams. For the second course, you will cook fish of the day - tuna, sward fish, baked sardines, merlani, baccala, or other fish depending on season. For dessert, you will prepare traditional Sicilian dolce - cannoli or cassata siciliana. Finally, you will sit at a beautiful terrace and enjoy your own culinary masterpieces of Sicilian cuisine. Excellent Sicilian wines and liquors also included! Red and white Sicilian dry wines, limoncello, amaro. This evening you will spend with a real Sicilian family who will be happy to share their stories about history, traditions, culture and everyday life of Sicily. After the cooking class and dinner, your personal guide will drop you off at your accommodation or port in Taormina area.