Join Chef Davide for a Sicilian hands-on cooking experience in the heart of historic Catania. Chef Davide will awaken your five senses, both in the kitchen and at the outdoor market – shopping for ingredients at the open air market and La Pescheria, Catania’s famous fish market. Following the market visit, tie on your apron and get ready to prepare a four-course Sicilian dinner complete with antipasto, pasta, main course and dessert. Learn how to prepare pasta alla Norma, the famous Catanian dish, just the way Vincenzo Bellini would admire. Choose from the freshest tuna, squid or hand-picked oranges among the local markets as Chef Davide guides you through the rich flavors of Catania’s cuisine. From smoked salmon carpaccio, red tuna fillets, pistachio-crusted black Nebrodi pork, fresh pasta, to cannoli and desserts with almonds of Avola, you’ll be cooking like a professional. Tie on your apron and roll out cannolis in the shadow of Mt. Etna.
Catania Cooking Classes
Chef Davide fell in love with the kitchen growing up in Catania. He first followed his passion to Tuscany, where he studied under Chef Carmelo, a prominent Sicilian chef. Then, he returned to his roots in Catania incorporating Sicily’s farm-to-table ingredients and Mediterranean fish selection along with the famous almonds and pistachios.
Meet our Chef for a morning tour of the Catania Market and famous Fish Market. You will learn about local farm-to-table Sicilian ingredients arriving each day from the local famers, fishermen, cheese makers, vintners, and where you will experience life at the market with your Chef. Learn how to select products and ingredients while soaking up Sicilian culture. Following the market tour, you will go to the kitchen for your cooking class. In the cooking class, you’ll learn how to prepare Sicilian fare in four courses, including for example an antipasto of eggplant pie and baked ricotta cheese, followed by fresh pasta – think tagliolini with prawns and squid – and a main course of fresh tuna fillet with pistachio crust and grilled seasonal vegetables. Desserts are delicious in sunny Sicily with the bountiful almonds, citrus and exotic fruit. You will mix and bake ingredients to make spinella pears picked on Mt. Etna with caramel sauce or authentic cannolis. Pasta is endless in Sicily – ravioli alla Norma, a twist on the traditional pasta alla Norma originating in Catania, or gnocchi with lemon sauce. Main courses may include pork fillet with Ragusano cheese and seasonal vegetables, or roasted lamb with a pistachio crust and summer Sicilian vegetables – grilled, stuffed and rolled!
Program Includes
- Shop with the chef market tour through the famous Catania Market and Fish Market.
- Hands-on cooking class including the preparation of a four-course traditional Catania menu.
- Lunch is included and includes the foods that were prepared in the cooking class with wine and beverages included.
- Cooking Vacations apron and recipe booklet.
Program Prices:
$195 per person, based on 2 guests.
* Please note: One-day cooking classes do not include transportation, accommodations, or any other excursions. If you would like to add on transfers to and from your hotel or cruise ship port ~ please let us know your group size and we will be happy to provide a price and reserve the transfer(s) for you. If you have a non-cooker who would like dine, but not cook, please let us know and we will also send you pricing.
2024 Dates: This program is available throughout the year and cooking classes are held every day. Rates are subject to change based on currency exchange. Call for updated rates. Airfare not included. Group transfers for any cooking tour or tours that include transfers, are for the group and are not private. Transfers before, after or to another destination outside of your cooking tour are not included in the program price. If you would like to add on a private transfer or transfers, let us know and we will send you pricing.
