I’m fond of Italian Riviera authentic food. I love the stories behind it, its traditions, the people who produce it and the places where that food is created and consumed. I also believe in genuine homemade food as magical tool to pull people together, to create a sense of community and family and to help finding common points of view. Traditional food, in particular, is the best lens to know and understand the others’ history and cultural identity.
This is why I give cooking classes on Italian Riviera cuisine: to share my passion, my stories and my knowledge with people of different countries, always learning something new myself!
I open my house and my kitchen to you for a genuine, local, cozy, convivial food experience. So, if you are interested in learning more about our regional cuisine, chose a class and let’s cook together! I will explain and demonstrate the classic Italian culinary techniques used in the day’s menu, and then everyone will get to work prepping the ingredients and participating in the hands-on cooking class. Once the cooking is done, aprons will come off, and we’ll head up to the terrace for a leisurely lunch.
An experience in my small kitchen is truly unique as it is so much more than just a cooking school. You will be immersed in the everyday Italian cooking. You will experience the warmth and hospitality on my kitchen and quickly become fast friends and part of an extended family. Amidst the chopping, dicing and the clanking of copper pots, you will learn a lot about the food you will prepare and the local artisans producing it. At the end of your cooking day you will take home much more than just the recipes. You will return home inspired to cook Italian Riviera dishes and to share the table with the people who matter most.
As I know that also wine is a very attractive aspect of Italian culinary culture, I can organize on request also in addition to the cooking class – or separately as a sole experience – a high level wine experience with a local certified sommelier (more details of this additional funny stuff after the description of the cooking classes !)
If you want to have a long lasting memory of your experience, maybe to share with family and friends when you are back home, I can also ask a portrait photographer to join us for the day.
Finally, large families with kids are always welcome!
.
.
Are you looking for a real-life food experience in Genoa? Are you curious about how in Genoa people do their daily food shopping? How they chose the best ingredients for their traditional recipes? How they distinguish what food is really genuine, local and on season? And, of course, how they, at home, in their family kitchen cook their food? Well this is what I offer you with my Genoa market to table cooking class!
First of all we will have a coffee in a traditional bar where we will discuss our seasonal menu while tasting some local cookies, just to break the ice with something greedy. Then we will visit Genoa Mercato Orientale, the biggest covered food market in town, and there we will shop all the ingredients for our lunch. We will choose the best veggies on season, buy some bread and focaccia, taste and grab local cheeses and charcuteries for a glorious cheeseboard, and of course fish or meat according to our planned menu and availability.
Then we will go to my home (15 minutes walking from the market, but we can take also a taxi ), in my old-style kitchen, and cook together a traditional Genoese lunch. If the weather is fine we will eventually enjoy our culinary efforts with a glass of local wine on my terrace facing the whole town! This experience is very immersive and will last as a whole about 6,5 hours.
We will cook 3 traditional dishes (always including pasta and basil pesto hand-made in the mortar) according to seasonality and time at our disposal. There are vegetarian, pescetarian and vegan options too.
Here an example of possible menu options.
Starter: farinata (Genoa chickpea tart), or local cheese and charcuterie board or butter and salted anchovies bruschetta, or fried sage and always a tasting of extra virgin olive oil produced in our family olive grooves.
Pasta Course: Traditional fresh hand-made pasta (tagliatelle or corzetti, or mandilli de sea) or potato gnocchi with pesto in the mortar or pansotti (veggies filled pasta) with walnut sauce or a traditional soup.
Main Course: a savory pie and a cheese pie (focaccia al formaggio di Recco), meat rolls (tomaxelle), Italian Riviera braised chicken, rabbit Ligurian style, filled anchovies (acciughe ripiene), stewed cuttlefish (seppie in zimino), greenbean and potato meatloaf (polpettone), braised stockfish (stoccafisso accomodato)
Side dish: traditional tomato salad (condigiun), seasonal vegetables stewed, roasted potatoes
Dessert: shortbread cookies (canestrelli), baked peaches, Italian Riviera floating islands (sciumette), Genoa cake (pandolce), almond cookies (quaresimali), extravirgin olive oil cake (stroscia di Pietrabruna), chestnut pie (castagnaccio).
This class is for maximum 6 people to keep it as intimate as possible.
Price starts at : € 165 per person (tax included)
What is included in the price for the Genoa Market to table Cooking Class:
Any allergy or adversion must be communicated in advance (any liability is waived in case of omitted information). Dishes in the menu can be changed according to your needs.
Classes take place on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. You can check available dates on my food experience calendar. (note: reservations are taken first come first serve. Early bookings are strongly advised. I update the calendar manually, so apologies for any delay!)
For more information and reservations (min 2 persons – max 6 persons) please write me at enrica@asmallkitcheningenoa.com.
For an anticipation on my cooking classes get a peek at the video above or at the special contents in my Instagram profile or have a look at my cooking class gallery at the end of the page!
And if you wish a total full immersion in the flavors of Genoa, you can enjoy also my Genoa food tour !
.
A fun, creative, cultural and interesting 360 degree cooking class in Genoa with your friends or family! This class is for groups, from 4 to 6 guests (maybe 8 with young kids)
We will meet at my place and cook an entire Italian Riviera menu that you will be able to easily duplicate at home, all from scratch!
The class is 100% hands-on. I will guide you through all the ingredients and the cooking techniques and you will learn how to cook like an Italian (or better like a Genoese!).
During the course we will chat on Genoese and Italian cuisine and I will tell you stories behind each local product we will use and each traditional dish we will prepare. It will be a full immersion in the Italian Riviera food culture.
In this 4 hours cooking experience I can teach you how to make traditional Genoese focaccia, how to make pesto sauce in the mortar as tradition rules (my speciality, I can boast of having gone to finals at the 2016 Genoa Pesto Word Championship!) , how to prepare handmade traditional pasta or savoury pie learning how to stretch dough thin like a bride veil or another traditional main dish. We will cook also a dessert to finish big!
During the class we will enjoy an aperitivo where you will taste a local DOC wine jointly with samples of local cheese and charcuterie. Btw it’s also a party!
And finally, after our Genoa cooking class, we will eat all together what we prepared, all wrapped up with a digestive as the Italians do. It will be as a feast with friends.
Here an example of possible menu options. We will cook three dishes according to your preferences (there are vegetarian, pescetarian and vegan options), to the time at our disposal and to the season, of course.
Starter: farinata (Genoa chickpea tart), local cheese and charcuterie board or butter and salted anchovies bruschetta; focaccia genovese. In any case a tasting of the extra virgin olive oil we produce in our family olive groove.
Pasta Course: Traditional fresh hand-made pasta (tagliatelle or mandilli de sea, or corzetti) or potato gnocchi with pesto in the mortar or pansotti (veggies filled pasta) with walnut sauce or a traditional soup.
Main Course: a savory pie and a cheese pie (focaccia al formaggio di Recco), meat rolls (tomaxelle), italian meat balls (polpette), pork roasted (arrosto di maiale) Italian Riviera braised chicken (pollo alla ligure), filled anchovies (acciughe ripiene), stewed cuttlefish (seppie in zimino), greenbean and potato meatloaf (polpettone), stewed stockfish (stoccafisso accomodato);
Side dish: traditional tomato salad (condigiun) or seasonal vegetable stewed;
Dessert: shortbread cookies (canestrelli), baked peaches, Italian Riviera floating islands (sciumette), Genoa cake (pandolce), almond cookies (quaresimali), extra virgin olive oil cake (stroscia di pietrabruna), chestnut pie (castagnaccio) .
Any allergy or adversion must be communicated in advance (any liability is waived in case of omitted information). Dishes in the menu can be changed according to your needs.
Price starts from €210 per person (tax included)
Classes usually take place on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. You can check available dates on my food experience calendar.
However, if you do not find a suitable date, write me an e-mail and I will check possible alternative dates!
For more information and reservations (min 4 people- max 8 people) please write me at enrica@asmallkitcheningenoa.com.
For an anticipation on my cooking classes get a peek at the special contents in my Instagram profileor have a look at my cooking class gallery at the end of the page!
And if you wish a total full immersion in the flavors of Genoa, you can enjoy also a Genoa food tour !
.
.
Do you stay in Genoa just for a short time but don’t want to miss a memorable food experience in the city?
Join a market tour + pesto cooking class with me! (my speciality, I can boast of having gone to finals at the 2016 Genoa Pesto Word Championship!)
We will visit together the Genoa General Market (Mercato Orientale) and do the shopping for all the ingredients. Then we will move to my home kitchen where I will teach you how to make the authentic Genoese pesto in the mortar: the correct gestures, the right ingredients and the story behind them, the perfect balance of all the flavors.
You will come back home with all the secrets to make a perfect pesto.
After the pesto lesson a light Italian Riviera lunch will follow during which you will have the possibility to taste a typical pasta dish seasoned with your own handmade pesto (and confront it with the others!), a traditional salad, focaccia, a glass of local wine, coffee and limoncello.
Price starts at € 120 per person (tax included)
Classes take place on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. You can check available dates on my food experience calendar. (note: reservations are taken first come first serve. Early bookings are strongly advised. I update the calendar manually, so apologies for any delay!)
For more information and reservations (min 2 people – max 8 people) please write me at enrica@asmallkitcheningenoa.com
For an anticipation on my cooking classes get a peek at the special contents in my Instagram profileor have a look at my cooking class gallery at the end of the page!
.
.
This cooking class is focused on making traditional Ligurian fresh pasta from scratch and to prepare its perfect seasoning.
I teach you how to make traditional Ligurian fresh pasta shapes and then how to prepare the authentic Genoese pesto in the mortar (the correct gestures, the right ingredients and the story behind them, the perfect balance of all the flavours).
Or, you can opt for learning how to make pansotti (our traditional vegetarian stuffed belly-shaped ravioli) and walnut sauce in the mortar, their perfect seasoning.
The class is 100% hands-on. Each participant has his working station and his mortar.
After the lesson a light traditional lunch will follow during which we will taste our pasta with a salad or savory pie, some focaccia, a glass of local wine, coffee and limoncello. The experience as a whole will last about 4 hours.
Any allergy or adversion must be communicated in advance (any liability is waived in case of omitted information). Dishes in the menu can be changed according to your needs.
Price starts at € 130 per person (tax included)
Classes takes place on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. You can check available dates on my food experience calendar. (note: reservations are taken first come first serve. Early bookings are strongly advised. I update the calendar manually so apologies for any delay!)
For more information and reservations (min 2 people – max 8 people) please write me at enrica@asmallkitcheningenoa.com
And if you wish a total full immersion in the flavors of Genoa, you can enjoy the Genoa food tour in the very same morning !
For an anticipation on my cooking classes get a peek at the special contents in my Instagram profile or have a look at my cooking class gallery at the end of the page!
If you love wine and not only food, I have the perfect experience for you. Always in the warms of my kitchen or on my terrace facing the whole city, you can enjoy a wonderful wine experience in Genoa. A certified AIS (Italian Sommelier Association) sommelier will introduce you, with love and passion, the most iconic wines of the Italian Riviera. All along with a selection of local cheeses, cold cuts, nuts, fruits, herbs and flavors that will enhance your mouth and nostrils adventure.
This experience can be included in one of the cooking classes to boost your food experience. Otherwise it can be booked alone as well, as small parenthesis of your journey in Genoa (in this case it’s for minimum 4 people and maximum 10).
For more information and reservations please write me at enrica@asmallkitcheningenoa.com
Brief gallery of my cooking classes:
