This one-day culinary experience is not just a cooking lesson: it is the perfect introduction to Sicily, and a unique piece in our Sicilian cooking classes selection.
It offers an insider’s view of a modern Sicilian noble lifestyle, paired with a learning experience and delicious food and a day of immersion into the Palermitani everyday life that includes shopping for the meal, a tour of Palermo and an impressive 18th century palace, learning the secrets of traditional Sicilian cuisine with a nice lady, member of one of the most important Sicilian noble families, cooking in her kitchen a grand meal.
Her Palazzo belonged to Prince Giulio Fabrizio Tomasi di Lampedusa
(the model for the prince in The Leopard) and was subsequently purchased by his great-grandson, author the author of The Leopard, the famous Italian novel that chronicles cultural changes in Sicily during Italy’s unification in the 19th century. Her husband is the adopted heir of Prince Giuseppe Tomasi and they both restored his family’s Palazzo so that nowadays it still retains its original charme and tells the history of the family as well as of the island.
Students join tour nice host in the morning, accompanying her at the market and local shops to learn how to navigate Sicily’s busy market and food shops and select the right ingredients for a typical multi-course Sicilian meal. Her menus are strictly inspired by the season, and her vendors provides the best catch of the day, freshly picked seasonal vegetables and fruit.
After the market, back to the palazzo for your hands-on cooking lesson in her kitchen: everyone is welcome to join in the preparations, while she carefully explaines her moves, assigning tasks to participants and answering questions as they go.
Lunch is served in one of the palace dining rooms. The table is elegant, set with a silver pheasant centerpiece, linens and silverware. Plates featured the Duke of Palma di Montechiaro’s coat of arms (a lion standing over a crown), cut crystal goblets held water and wine, while heirloom candelabras and low flower arrangements decorated the table.
Participants are given copies of her recipes along with an elegant printed menu with the family crest that includes a history of the palace on the back.
A tour of the family’s Palazzo is given to participants before they leave for another Sicilian experience.
Book this experience OR ask for a customized proposal info@isolabella.it
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