Palermo: Half-Day Cooking Class & Market Tour

About This Experience

This half-day class starts at an apartment in the centre of Palermo, in a private home inside a seventeenth-century building with a view of the Cathedral. The group is capped at 15 people. From the apartment you go with the chef to the Vucciria or Capo market to buy the fresh, seasonal ingredients for the meal. Reviewers describe the cooking as casual and the hosting as personal.

Back at the apartment, the chef guides and supervises as you cook. The meal follows Sicilian structure: a starter, a primo of pasta, a second course of fish or meat, caponata, which is a stew of aubergine, celery, green olives and capers, and a typical Sicilian cake. The aim is to show you how to prepare classic dishes in an easy way.

You then eat what you cooked. The listing includes lunch and a Sicilian wine tasting, with wines chosen to pair with the courses. On the walk back from the market you pass views of old Baroque Palermo. Reviewers mention the host explaining the market's traditions and products as you shop. The listing adds that the experience is both a food and a cultural one, so expect conversation about Sicilian traditions as well as recipes.

The class is led in English, Italian, French or Spanish. Vegetarian and gluten-free menus are available, and a private class for smaller groups with different start times can be requested. The listing says people with mobility impairments should not book. Smoking is not allowed at the apartment, and the listing advises comfortable shoes for the market walk. Check the option you pick, since it decides your meeting point. Plan on about four hours in total.

Highlights

• Shop with the chef at Vucciria or Capo market for the day's ingredients
• Cook four courses, from a pasta primo to a second course of fish or meat
• Make caponata and a typical Sicilian cake
• Cook in a private home in a seventeenth-century building with a view of the Cathedral
• Taste Sicilian wines chosen to pair with each course
• Small group of no more than 15 people

What's Included

• ✓ Ingredients as per the itinerary
• ✓ Lunch made up of the dishes you cook
• ✓ Sicilian wine tasting, with a wide selection available
• ✓ Guidance from a chef through the market and the cooking
• ✓ Small group capped at 15 people

Not Included

• Drop-off, available on request
• Hotel pickup
• Gratuities
• Extra food and drinks beyond the meal and wine tasting

What to Bring

• Comfortable shoes

Good to Know & Caveats

• The listing has two meeting points, and the one you get depends on the option you select.
• Vegetarian and gluten-free menus are available.
• A private class for smaller groups, with different starting times, can be arranged on request.
• The market is Vucciria or Capo, and the listing does not say which one you will visit.
• Smoking is not allowed.
• Languages listed are English, Italian, French and Spanish.

Meeting Point

Depends on the option you book; the exact point is in your confirmation. The listing shows two meeting points for this activity.