Holidays in the kitchen: all cooking classes for an unforgettable holiday in Sicily, Italy

The Italian cooking school has a long tradition, both fascinating and versatile. Different variations of the same dish exist in different regions, and indeed also within the same region. Our Italian cooking schools in Palermo, Catania and Modica will lead you to discover these rich nuances. Cooking schools in Sicily (cooking courses) have each their own uniqueness, choose your own!
Sicilian cooking vacation: richness and tradition, everything to discover. 
Participating in a one day cooking class in Palermo with a visit to the historical Market Vucciria, starting a cooking school in Catania, or following a Sicilian pastry course means throwing oneself into an extraordinary world, where smells, history, culture and tradition overlap and intertwine to make a unique Mediterranean flavour, not only a culinary experience.
It's no coincidence that Sicily has been defined gastronomically not as as region but as a small continent, so many are the local traditions and historical and cultural factors which over the centuries have led to one of the most unique and impressive food and wine heritages in the world.
To describe Sicilian cuisine is indeed almost impossible: too many nuances, the colours, the scents and the suggestions that abound. A true melting pot of cuisines with the raw materials of a sun-kissed land, thanks to which the flavours are more pronounced than in other parts of Italy.
In which part of Sicily do you eat the best? It's impossible to say. Each province has its own distinct cultural identity, which is also reflected in the kitchen.
For this reason Italian cooking classes in Palermo are also enriched by other visits to Catania, Taormina, Ragusa and many other corners of the island.
For those who want to have an authentic cooking experience and discover the great traditional dishes and the many flavours of local variations, it's time to forget about the renowned restaurants and take to the streets. To really take in the richness of the ingredients that make Sicily unique, you've got to walk in the historical markets of Palermo, Catania and Taormina, to see the best fresh fish of Italy and to touch fruits and vegetables full of energy, colour and fragrance and do your own shopping for seasonal ingredients. For this reason many of our Italian cooking classes start with a visit to the local market, where the choosing of the best fresh ingredients is key to understanding the richness of the tradition of the island.
There are two faces to Sicilian cuisine, the noble and the common: that of the rich and elaborate, fruit of a tradition created and perfected for the tables of the noble landowners, and the simple and basic, typical of country people, of shepherds and fishermen. The two worlds could not but influence each other: French, Spanish and Arabic dishes, the legacy of the ancient rulers, have been revised thanks to  imagination and originality, as well as local produce (vegetables, wild herbs, fresh fish, pork, goat and sheep meat).
Many traditional peasant dishes are exquisite and unique in their simplicity: the maccu, the matarocco, the frittedda, stuffed fritters. Then there are the many popular recipes that require the combination of many different ingredients: in the peasants' house often a single dish was served, with everything that was available throw-in, creating hearty dishes able to satisfy the appetites of those who worked all day long. Other recipes belong exclusively to the noble world: aggrassata meat is one example, or a whole range of pies and pastries; as well as desserts, real delights for the palate, but also beautiful to look at. The pasta alla Norma, the falsomagro, stuffed sardines, are all good examples of the fusion of these two culinary traditions, in which richness and simplicity are a perfect match. Our offers of cooking classes in Catania, Palermo and in many other parts of the island will help you to discover all this: a unique and extraordinary opportunity to get to know, through the traditional dishes and local produce, the Sicilian civilization with all its precious traditions and cultural heritage. Humble or noble dishes, local or famous, all, without fail, require pairing with excellent regional wines. Our Italian cooking classes held in winecellars or agriturismi farmhouses will introduce you to the strong flavours of Sicilian wines and their wealth of combinations with the best traditional dishes.
The Sicilying Italian cooking classes: a unique experience
Come and discover with us the secrets of Sicilian food with an Italian culinary vacation! Italian cooking classes and pastry-making lessons are open to all, revealing many of the great flavours of tradition. And, last but not least, you will also get the chance to taste the dishes you prepared with your own bare hands!
A cooking vacation at Catania, Italian cooking classes in Palermo, as well as the other opportunities Sicilying can offer you, give you the chance to live a new and different experience.
You could learn the classic recipes of the Sicilian pastries with expert local chefs, from the basics of the classics, to the most typical sweets: short pastry, puff pastry, millefoglie, puddings and traditional desserts such as cassata, cannoli and the seni di vergine. You could live the experience at 360 degrees during a culinary vacation with local families selected by our chef. Or you could decide to discover the secrets of Sicilian cuisine by following a guided trail, a day with the chef from doing the shopping at the market to the final product... and time to eat!
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO DISCOVER NEW FLAVOURS, many of our Italian cooking classes start with a visit to the local market. With the chef alongside, you will buy all the necessary ingredients for the making of the dishes during your Italian cooking class. You will then head to the kitchen or a characteristic place in the area to begin the preparation, guided by the chef, of the typical Sicilian dishes.   If you choose a cooking vacation at Palermo, you will have the chance to visit the historical Capo Market of the city centre, where you will take in the  smells and the flavours of a local market and you will taste typical street food such as the panelle, bread with milza and octopus, testimonies of one of the oldest and most extraordinary street food traditions. The Palermo cooking classes are an immersion in the real Sicily away from the beaten track of traditional tourism!   If you find yourselves instead on the Eastern side of Sicily, the Italian cooking classes of Catania and Taormina are waiting to offer you a discovery of smells and colours in the streets of the fishmarket of Catania and the Etna market at Taormina.
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO DISCOVER THE LAND AS WELL AS ITS FLAVOURS, with Sicilying you can choose not only the chance to cook, but indeed an Italian cooking class in an exceptional location.   If you're looking for a different way to visit Sicily, why not choose one of our cultural and culinary vacations, which combines tours of palaces and manor houses (some of which are listed UNESCO heritage) with Italian cooking classes. You can also be hosted in a charming agriturismo farmhouse or  manor house, following the cooking class of your choice during your stay.   FOR THOSE WHO LOVE WINE, visit the vineyards carefully selected by our experts, some of which are located in some of the most beautiful spots in Sicily. Your tour of the vineyard will include a tasting of fine wines, accompanied by tastings of some of the most delicious traditional Sicilian dishes.
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE MOST DOWN-TO-EARTH, TRADITIONAL AND LOCAL EXPERIENCES, amongst our offers you can also find the unique opportunity to cook, and then have lunch or dinner at home with a local family. With their own traditions, the heads of the house, carefully chosen by our trusted chefs, will make for you various traditional dishes: fish, meat, seasonal vegetable dishes, homemade bread and scacciate from Modica. Dishes that you can only truly experience in a real Sicilian home, hosted in a local family, as if its your own home.
For those who love cuisine and eating well, unique experiences in discovery of the treasures of Sicilian gastronomy. The most authentic way to live the flavours and smells of a such a rich culinary tradition. Sicilian cooking classes and courses and much much more surrounding the world of enogastronomy and culinary vacations in Sicily. Italian cooking schools in Taormina and on Etna, or in the province of Ragusa, where you can learn to make first and second courses, or learn the secrets of pastry-making: cassate, cannoli, sweets with ricotta and so much more, lead by expert local chefs.
Cooking schools in Sicily (cooking courses). Unmissable experiences.