Sicilian Cooking Class with Vucciria Market Tour

What to Expect

The Sicilian Pantry is a family-run cookery school located in the heart of the historical centre of Palermo. We offer daily market tours and cookery lessons of traditional Sicilian dishes.

On the day of the class, we will meet in the morning at one of Palermo’s oldest markets, shop around for any items we will need for the lesson and then stroll to our air-conditioned school kitchen where we prepare a 4-course Sicilian meal, learning the techniques and tricks needed to recreate it when you return home. After the lesson we can sit down together to enjoy our efforts along with a selection of Sicilian wines rounded off with some homemade liqueurs and coffee.

We believe that the true expression of Sicilian cuisine comes from the quality of its fresh seasonal produce so we strive to always ensure that we have the best of what Sicily has to offer in order to share this with our guests.

This is an entertaining and informative day out, recommended for cooks of all levels.

All utensils and materials are supplied and each participant will receive a booklet of the recipes we make in the class to take home with them. 

Menu

Menus will change throughout the year as various produce comes in and out of season. We encourage you to let us know if you have any menu preferences or dietary requirements, we will sign off the proposed menu with you a day or two before the lesson.

These are just a few examples to get your taste buds tingling:

Starter (Antipasto):

• Panelle - fried chick pea fritters, served with a squeeze of lemon
• Polpette di finocchietto selvatico - little fritters of wild fennel, currants and pine nuts, stuffed with melted provolone cheese
• Arancine al burro - breaded and fried saffron flavoured rice balls filled with ham and cheese
• Caponata - chopped fried eggplant and celery with sweetened vinegar in sweet and sour sauce

Primo / Pasta dish or appetiser:

• Fresh hand made pasta
• Pasta con le sarde - pasta with fresh sardines, wild fennel, saffron, currants and pine nuts, topped with toasted breadcrumbs
• Pasta al forno - baked pasta dish with ragu sauce
• Pasta alla Norma - pasta with fried aubergines, tomato sauce and fresh basil, topped with some freshly grated salted ricotta
• Minestra di tenerumi e cucuzze - Vegetable minestrone soup

Secondo / Main course:

• Involtini di carne - skewered, breaded and roasted meat rolls stuffed with cheese, breadcrumbs, currants and almonds
• Stuffed squid with pine nut, raisin and cheese stuffing
• Arrosto panato alla palermitana - baked thinly sliced beef dipped in extra-virgin olive oil and coated with a mixture of breadcrumbs, parsley, parmigiano and citrus zest
• Pesce spada panato - swordfish dipped in extra-virgin olive oil and coated with breadcrumbs seasoned with fresh parsley, mint and lemon zest, served with seasonal salad and a slice of lemon.

Dolce / Desert:

• Cannoli - fried pastry tubes filled with sweet ricotta cream and garnished with candied orange peel and pistachios
• Cassata - home made almond paste and sponge cake stuffed with sweet ricotta cream and decorated with candied fruits
• Granita di mandorle - frozen desert made with water, sugar and almonds
• Gelo di melone - Jellied watermelon pudding

Schedule

• 10:00 am: Meet at Piazza Vittorio Emanuele Orlando
• 10:10 am: Start strolling through the Capo market to shop for produces we need for the lesson
• 10:30 am: Head to the air-conditioned kitchen for the cookery lesson, there we will prepare a 4-course meal from scratch
• 12:30 pm: Italian tradition 'Aperitivo', time for a glass of wine as we make our final preparations
• 1:00 pm: Lunchtime! We will sit together and enjoy what we have made with a selection of Sicilian wines, then some coffee and homemade limoncello
• 2:30 pm: End of the culinary experience