Wine and food experience - Cooking classes in Sicily

"Experience the wonder of the complex and exotic cuisine of Sicily"

Cooking classes available in Catania (Viagrande) and in Palermo.

Cooking classes available from minimum 9 participants to small and big group.

We know three kind of Sicilian cookery: the Patricia or Baronial, the Folk cookery and the cookery of the street, so called of the "Buffeters", appellative derived from the French "Buffet". Pasta also is a piece of the Sicilian history; The Arabs created at the beginning of the X century in a place called Trabia, near Palermo the first system for the production of the "Itrya", the ancient spaghetti. When Marco Polo brought them from Catai, people from Sicily ate them already for 300 years. The western cookery, or "Palermitana" is tied to the court of the kings, contemplate sumptuous and solemn dishes, scented with spices, full of contrast between the bitter and the sweet, to be presented at table in a very showy and coloured forms. The eastern cookery is tied to the ancient Sicily, drenched with the Greek culture and different from the pompous "Corte Palermitana", a gastronomy essentially linked to the land. Dishes are simple, unsophisticated, with an archaic flavour scented by wild herbs, sun, land and see.

Cooking class with "La cucina del sole" by Mrs Eleonora Consoli

The courses are held in a typical Sicilian house of the 18th century, surrounded by green countryside, in one of the characteristic villages on the slopes of Etna and only 15 minutes from the centre of Catania. The house is set in the pleasant atmosphere of the volcano whose fertile soil and particularly favourable climate provide a rich variety of farming. The area is known for its orange and lemon groves, vineyards producing DOC wine (the red, rosé and white wines of Etna), known since Roman times, and luxuriant orchards and market gardens which offer some of the tastiest fruits and vegetables in the world. Also native to the area are the precious pistachio and olive groves which yield an excellent pure olive oil.The lesson is conducted by the gastronomy journalist Eleonora Consoli in Italian, English or French and is held in her kitchen. It is orientated towards direct exchange with the students, in a pleasant atmosphere, with the aim of conveying not only the cuisine but also the culture, traditions, habits and customs from which it stems. The courses are based on the more famous Sicilian recipes, focusing on pasta, fish and vegetable dishes. Other courses available on request include: Italian cuisine, Haute cuisine, Country-style cookery, Plate and table decoration, Etiquette, Ecole ménagère, Quick recipes, Hand-made pasta, Lectures and tasting of olive oil, Lectures and tasting of Sicilian and/or Italian cheese. Standard cooking class time: 3 hours plus lunch or dinner with tasting of the dishes prepared. Special intensive courses could be arranged. Each student will receive a small gift Sicilian style, the recipes and a pen; at half cooking class, the groups could participate to a little prize-contest. After lunch/dinner, a diploma is given to the students.

Eleonora Consoli review

Eleonora Consoli, a noted authority on Italian and Sicilian gastronomy, lives and teaches in her lovingly restored "antica casa siciliana" in Viagrande, on the slopes of Mt. Etna near Catania. Here, surrounded by orange groves and vineyards which flourish in Mt. Etna's fertile soil, the sensual pleasure of Sicilian cuisine comes alive. For 30 years she worked in promoting tourism for the Provincial Tourist Board of Catania, organizing exhibitions of Sicilian gastronomy and products throughout Europe, as well as in the U.S., Japan, Thailand, Egypt and Brazil. She is the author of the book in 2 volumes, Sicilia - La Cucina del Sole, a collection of 486 Sicilian recipes, with quotations from authors associated in some way with the cuisine of the island. This book has been recently republished, in one volume. Other books published include Cucina del Sole - La Buona Tradizione Siciliana, Autunno - Cucina delle stagioni, Inverno - Cucina delle Stagioni ("Autumn" and "Winter", the first two books of a series dedicated to seasonal recipes) - Agrumi (citrus fruit), Le Olive (the Olives) and Cucina Casalinga Siciliana, published in Japanese. She has received many awards, including the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and a Medallion of Merit from Sicilian Chefs' Association. She is an honorary member of the Italian Academy of Cuisine and a past President of the Catania Chapter. She has appeared on television in Japan, Germany, England, USA and has hosted her own culinary program in Sicily for Teletna - Antenna Sicilia. Her column appears in the daily newspaper "La Sicilia". She has collaborated on editorial articles about Sicily in the magazines "Vogue - Paris", "Maison et Jardin", "Marmite", "Cuisines du Monde", "Voyager". She wrote the introduction of the book "La Sicilia a Tavola", where some of her recipes are included, too. The book is published in Switzerland, in German. Eleonora lives in Viagrande, where she writes, conducts her cooking school and brings pleasure to those lucky enough to be invited for dinner.

Cooking class in Palermo

These hands-on cooking classes begin at 9 am in one of the most important restaurant of Palermo in Via Manin, 22, just off Palermo's main shopping district. Classes are limited to a minimum of 4 people and a max of 8 people and usually last until 1:30 pm. We will venture to one of Palermo's historic markets (Il Capo, La Vucciria or Borgo Vecchio) were we will purchase all the ingredients necessary to prepare our meal. Along the way, we will also taste some of Palermo's most typical foods, such as "panelle" and "pane con la milza". The lunch that you've prepared will be served with just the right Sicilian wine, and dessert accompanied by local biscotti and Sicilian dessert wine.

Capo market in Palermo review

Situated in the present day Palazzo Reale-Monte di Pietà neighbourhood, it presents the typical Arabian market plan and stretches all the way to the square bearing its same name, among via Beati Paoli, via Porta Carini, via S.Agostino, via Cappuccinelle and discesa dell'Eternità. Rising in the upper part of the ancient Hârat-as-Saqâlibah, the Slovenians neighbourhood, named Seralcadio in the Norman period, its name (Il Capo, the top) stems from the fact that the district where it was created occupied the upper part of the neighbourhood. This market surely has Arabian origins; it is named platea publica Seralcadi in some end of the XIII century documents and later, in another document, platea magna. It is proven that it was a grascia (food) and fish market, and today it is still renowned for the very good quality of the fish. It was correctly stated that the Capo market resisted to all attempts to modify it, from the building of a bigger market nearby in 1874 to the urban rearrangement of the Concezione neighbourhood in 1935, and finally the 1943 bombings and the depopulation of the central neighbourhoods of the city. Together with Ballarò, this market will help you imagining how life was in Saracen Palermo, with the most typical Palermitan smells, tastes, colours and voices. Visiting this market will get you in touch with the people who live among old merchants and new traders, both experiencing the problems of a modern city and living with and giving new life to their most sincere traditions.

Text taken from: AAPIT of Palermo.