Food Tours · Tour

Florence's First Cooking School: Lasagna and Market, or Pasta

Two separate classes sold under one listing, both at the school on Via Panicale near the Central Market, which was the first cooking school in Florence. The market option starts in the Mercato Centrale, walking it with the chefs, tasting what is in season and picking up the ingredients. Then back to the kitchen for lasagna made the way somebody's grandmother makes it, sheets of fresh pasta layered rather than assembled from a box, and tiramisù afterwards. The pasta and gelato option skips the market and concentrates on handmade pasta, the shaping techniques that take practice, and finishes with artisanal gelato and Tuscan wine. Both run in small groups with professional local chefs, use good local ingredients, and include the wine. You leave with a digital recipe booklet. Italian cooking went onto the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage, which is a formal way of saying that the technique matters and that watching a video is not the same as being shown. Up to fifteen people, in English. Vegetarian classes are available if you ask when booking. Not suitable for coeliacs, and eggs cannot be left out because several of the dishes need them. Under-eighteens must be with an adult. No pets. When the Central Market is closed, on Sundays and public holidays, the market visit is replaced with an introduction and extra tastings at the school.