COOKING CLASSES IN ROME

While planning our schedule for Rome, Stephen and I wanted to include a cooking class after our great experience in Bali. After a bit of research, I booked spots for us with Cooking Classes in Rome located in Trastevere. The entire experience was a lot of fun, hands on and informative. We learned about ingredients and cooking techniques that Stephen uses in our kitchen fairly often! I also loved the very detailed instructions that Chef Andrea emailed out after the class.

The Basics

Class was about 5 hours, starting at 10am, from start of cooking to end of enjoying our cooked meal. When we took the class, it was €65.00 per person. The cost has increased now to €75.00. We prepared 4 courses including dessert and were able to make requests when confirming our booking. Chef Andrea did a great job accommodating everyone’s requests and having all the components still prepared during the class. Wine pairings were available during the meal for an additional charge.

Getting to class was easy from our AirBnB via public transit and we found the address with no issues. While we waited for everyone to arrive (our class had the max of 12 people), Chef Andrea offered us cups of fresh coffee to start the day.

The Chef

Chef Andrea was super personable, fun and a great host and instructor. He led the class, made jokes, gave thorough directions and taught us about the ingredients we used in addition to the cooking techniques. The day of our class was actually his wife’s due date for their second child. He mentioned it to apologize for checking his phone throughout the class. We all understood.

The Cooking

During our class, we made 4 dishes including fresh made pasta, dessert and pizza. Chef Andrea gave an introduction to each dish before we started cooking and divided up the tasks. Everyone had the chance to chop, stir and knead as much or as little as they wanted to. The class was 100% hands on but there was also no pressure to take on anything you weren’t comfortable with (ie. depp frying pizza dough). I loved using the chitarra pasta maker and wish we had room in our luggage to bring one home.

The 4 hours passed quickly and each course came together from prep to cook. Once each dish was at about 90% completion, Chef Andrea took over to finish up and plate each dish, while the guests settled down at the table ready to enjoy.

The Meal

Our meal that day started with a mini deep fried pizza appetizer, meatballs in a tomato sauce, spaghetti carbonara and tiramisu. I loved the tiramisu (and grabbed the biggest slice), which was the best slice I had in Italy. The pasta was creamy and flavouful, also one of the best pastas we had on our trip. With all the different cooks in the kitchen, the thickness of the spaghetti was inconsistent leading to some strands being more cooked than others, but overall still delicious.

After a morning in the kitchen, sitting down to eat was incredibly satisfying and every bite was truly delicious.