Bologna Cooking Class: Market Tour and Local Recipes

Immerse yourself in Bologna’s culinary scene with a market tour, cooking class, and wine tasting at a local’s home. Learn authentic recipes and taste the fruits of your labor!

Duration: 4 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights

• Explore the lively local markets or traditional Bologna food shops: discover how to identify the finest ingredients for an ideal Italian meal (1 hour)
• Join a private cooking class in the morning or afternoon: uncover the secrets of Bologna recipes and enjoy learning to recreate Italian specialties at home (3 hours)
• Engage with locals: meet the…

What's Included
  • 3 Italian recipes: starter, fresh pasta, dessert
  • Hands-on private cooking class
  • Private guided market tour
  • Beverages included: water, local wines, espresso
Additional Information

Embark on a culinary journey as you visit the lively local marketplace and traditional food outlets with a seasoned home chef. Dive into a private cooking lesson at a resident’s dwelling, learn the hidden techniques behind renowned Bologna dishes, and savour the result of your hard work paired with regional wines.
In this class, your culinary guide will…

Location
Bologna
Part of this experience will be held in a local's home. For privacy reasons, you will receive the full address of your Cesarina host after you have booked. We will contact you by e-mail after you've booked to match you up with your ideal host based on what you are looking for.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(17 Ratings)
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Marcelle_r
Jun 21, 2024
Company and food were wonderful - Maurizio was awesome! We loved the local market he took us to. The piadina was delicious, will definitely try that at home. Tagliatelle with porcini sauce from mushrooms foraged by his dad was memorable, finished it off with a lemon tart!
Review provided by Viator
Lauramg5426re
Sep 5, 2023
Great local experience - Rosa is fantastic. She adapted the menu on the fly around my likes and dislikes and to meet my experience/skill level. She had me do all the cooking, which is so much better than watching someone else. And she topped it off by recommending a number of different restaurants, enotecas, cafes, and gelato shops that I can easily walk to. She is also very friendly and speaks English very well.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Roberta
Jun 25, 2023
Cesarina Paola is outstanding - This was one of the most enjoyable and valuable experiences I have ever had in all my travels. My adult daughter and I met Paola in the city center and she took us on a tour of the Mercato delle Erbe, a public market with food stalls and places to eat and drink. We then continued on to her lovely home for the cooking lesson. Paola had everything set out and pre-measured in her spacious, well-appointed kitchen. She provided us with all the recipes for safe-keeping in advance of the lesson. We then learned to make piedine, garganelli, and tiramisù. Paola explained everything clearly and made sure we both got turns to work on all aspects of the preparation of each dish. Her directions were not only clear and easy to follow, but were filled with explanations, culinary history and tradition, and many helpful hints to ensure the best results. While we kneaded, rolled dough, and made garganelli, we also engaged in conversation about ourselves. Paola is a delightful and very interesting, warm person and she was wonderful to get to know. Once the food was prepared she served us our lunch in her dining room where she had set a beautiful table. She provided a choice of wines, and we chose a very tasty Lambrusco to accompany the garganelli al ragù. She had prepared several other antipasti to add to our meal, and everything was delicious! Added to the meal was more stimulating conversation and by the time we were done eating, we felt we had made a new friend. We had so much fun during this lesson, but also learned a lot. Even though we are both experienced cooks (for example, we had both made tiramisù many times before), we learned new tricks and techniques to increase our expertise. Rolling garganelli was so enjoyable that we followed Paola’s advice and bought a riga gnocchi on the walk back home to be able to make these pasta shapes again when we return home. We are happy to be able to provide the highest recommendation possible for this experience with Cesarina Paola. We made some wonderful food, warm mother-daughter memories, and a lovely new friend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Max_p
Jun 10, 2023
CANNOT MISS!!!!! Best part of our trip by far - How do I begin to describe this cooking class. This was absolutely the best part of our entire trip. I cannot say that enough. This was more than a cooking class, it was a look into the life of a true bologian. Learning about the local markets, stopping to say hello along the streets to venders, business owners and friends. The cooking portion of this experience was excellent and so much fun but this experience was much more than just a cooking class. Oriana welcomed us into her home as strangers and we left as friends. We decided as we left that if we every come back to Italy we definitely have to go to Bologna.
Review provided by Viator
Tadeo_r
May 9, 2023
Cooking with Paola!! - My wife and I were matched with Paola and we are so happy that this happened! We met her by the Fontana del Nettuno (Neptune Fountain) in downtown Bologna and asked her to show us the city market more frequented by locals (versus the more touristy one) and so she did. We went and bought a few ingredients together and she explained everything around the market. We then all chatted on our way to her beautiful home, where she led us through preparing a three-course meal of Piadina, Tortelloni, and Tiramisu. We ate the food we made at her table and she made us feel at home. It was honestly an amazing value because we can now go home and make this on our own. It’s not out of our reach, and that was her intention. She is kind, super intelligent, fun, and a great teacher. A Bolognese local! Ask for Paola and I hope you get her as a guide.
Review provided by Viator
Suzannehi3860dq
May 5, 2023
Cooking lesson with a true Bolognese - Alessia was and excellent host. We did local market tour in Bologna. Then to her house to make Tiramsu, tortelloni and tagliatelle. We actual made everything but the Bolognese sauce. Once completed we eat our pasta and tiramisu. Don’t miss this opportunity with Alessia! Great experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Penny_m
Apr 26, 2023
Cooking in Bologna 👌 - Paola was delightful and very generous in sharing her wealth of knowledge 🥰 The food was delicious.
Review provided by Viator
Guybi8098wd
Mar 7, 2023
Unique and brilliant! - Such a perfect way to spend a few hours. I had such a wonderful time, learnt plenty and really felt I was doing something unique and special. My guide, Paola was an exceptional host, warm, friendly and simply fabulous. Can't recommend this enough!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alberta_w
Oct 19, 2022
Cooking in Bologna with Oriana - Five Americans visiting Bologna — it was our last day and was the icing on the cake! Oriana’s gracious, warm, and lively hospitality made this a special day. One friend dubbed it a “Mama Mia experience”. We enjoyed shopping and trying some new recipes, the pasta making, the dessert and the selection of local wines. Unforgettable! Grazie!❤️🇮🇪❤️
Review provided by Viator
Ramy_f
Oct 2, 2022
Authentic and just fabulous highly recommend - Oriana was a fabulous host! She shared her knowledge of the area, her cooking class was authentic and she welcomed us into her lovely home - food and wines to accompany were delicious … Thank you again Oriana, would highly recommend!
Review provided by Viator
From $199
up to 10 guests
1 Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).