a Cooking Class in Giardini Naxos

One of the most amazing experiences you can enjoy in Sicily is a cooking class.

Sicily is where Europe ends and Africa begins. It began its history as part of Ancient Greece and then became part of the Roman Empire. Thereafter the island was invaded by the Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, French, Spanish and Bourbons before unifying with Italy. Each conquest left its mark on the island including its cuisine, cooking methods and ingredients.

Everyone has their own reasons for enrolling in a cooking class and learning the intricacies of Sicilian cooking in a hands-on environment not only provides you with a unique culinary experience it is also sure to give you the skills and confidence to demonstrate your new cooking talents with family and friends, once you return home from your trip.

From couples cooking classes to pizza making workshops you will be sure to find something to excite the palate of your inner amateur chef or budding masterchef star.

The most popular classes are usually half a day or a full day at cooking schools, villas or kitchens in local homes. Most will start from scratch with a market tour to help you discover the fresh produce that you will be using to create your perfect Sicilian dishes, but if you only have a couple of hours to spare then a cooking class in a restaurant is a perfect choice.

What makes these types of classes unique is that you are in a working kitchen with orders that need to get out "PRONTO" giving you a feeling of being part of Masterchef working under a deadline.

One of our favourite restaurants in our town, Giardini Naxos, is Ristorante Pizzeria Spizzicannu. It is always a good idea to head where the locals eat and in Giardini Naxos this is one of the places.

Spizzicanu is owned by Giovanni, his wife Sabrina and their amazing family and it is a super friendly and welcoming place. It is a place where you are made to feel at home and become part of the family. It boasts a lively atmosphere and really is a happy place which is evidenced by the team in both the kitchen and front of house who are always happily singing to themselves as they work. It is also known for making some of the best pizzas in town and its seafood dishes are sublime. We have been visiting there at least once a week for many years.

Spizzicanu is a place that if I am home alone I can go to eat on my own and be well looked after and cared for.

Head chef is the lovely and cuddly Andrea. One evening last month as we were eating at the restaurant we noticed a couple of Amercian tourists coming out of the kitchen wearing chef's hats. They sat on the table next to us and exclaimed that they had just experienced an amazing cooking class with Andrea. Towards the end of the evening Andrea came to sit with us for a chat and I asked him if he would tell me how to make the Sicilian dish Sarde a Beccafico (Sicilian Stuffed Sardines) and he replied "Sure!!! Let's do a cooking class together" and so a date was set for the following week.

Move over Lisa Snowden, the recent winner of Celebrity Masterchef UK, a new masterchef was in the making.

The evening of my cooking class arrived and myself, my husband and Daisy (Spizzicanu is dog friendly) arrived and my husband sat at our table ready for the dishes I was about to prepare for him.

Chef Andrea and Chef Nikolay adorned me with an apron, a chef's hat and gloves. I had been practicing my "Yes Chef" responses and so I was ready for my cooking class.

Tonight we would be making bruschetta, pasta with anchovies and fennel, stuffed anchovies and caponata.

First we needed to prepare the tomatoes and onion for the bruschetta and the vegetables for the caponata. I was handed a knife and Andrea showed me how to cut the ingredients the professional way, first with the tomatoes and onions.

Bruschetta is an antipasta consisting of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and then topped with olive oil and salt then varied toppings with the most popular being tomatoes and of course we all know that the best tomatoes are Sicilian. With my super sharp knife, I diced my tomatoes and onion easily and put them into a bowl. My next duty was to prepare the vegetables for my caponata.

Caponata is a classic Sicilian dish which ranks highly with my love affair for arancini, pasta alla norma and cannoli. The original recipe combines Sicilian baroque with vegetables that grow in abundance throughout the island. The dish is bright in colour and each ingredient really looks like sparkling jewels once cooked. The main ingredients include aubergine, tomatoes and red peppers, but what gives this dish its own unique taste is the addition of sugar and red wine vinegar giving it that "agro dolce" (sweet and sour) taste. Once again Andrea showed me how to cube my aubergine, peppers and courgettes the professional way and they were then set aside to cook later. Next to prepare were the anchovies.

Being an island Sicily has wonderful fish and seafood and when dining in restaurants you will find that the fish you are eating were all caught that morning. Our catch of the day was fresh anchovies that we would prepare to butterfly and stuff and also use in a pasta dish.

Sarde a Beccafico is a much loved dish across Sicily which sees fish, traditionally sardines, stuffed with raisins, pine nuts and breadcrumbs before being baked until golden and crisp. It is an inexpensive version of a dish once enjoyed by Sicilian nobility. The word "Beccafico" (fig pecker) refers to a bird which was considered a delicacy in those times. The stuffed sardines are said to resemble cooked stuffed birds with their little tails sticking out. The raisins and pine nuts are an inheritance from Arabic rule in Sicily.

Any small fish can be used for this dish and for my cooking class we were using anchovies which are a good substitute for sardines. Anchovies are slightly smaller in size than sardines but have a slightly more intense flavour, both fish are in abundance in the seas that surround Sicily. We needed to butterfly the anchovies in order to stuff them but first we needed to make our stuffing.

First we had a tray of breadcrumbs and cracked two eggs into the crumbs. Next we added chopped tomatoes, pine nuts, raisins and fresh fennel fronds. Then we gave it all a good mix and squidge with our fingers a bit like making pastry. Then came the icky bit. Chef Andrea showed how to pull the head off the anchovy (ewwwww!!!) then how to run my finger down the anchovy towards the tail, gently pull it apart and gently pull out the bone, open the fish up and place it on a board with its tail on display. I found this quite tricky as wearing gloves the anchovies were slimy and slipping out of my hands so it took a few attempts to get the technique correct and Andrea assured me that any mistakes could be added to the pasta dish. After this we took a small handful of our stuffing and rolled it into small oblong balls and encased it with an anchovy each side.

Meanwhile out on the restaurant floor Mr Kearney was getting hungry ...

Up next was the cooking of the caponata. We added the vinegar and sugar to my bowl of cubed vegetables and all the ingredients were put into the deep fryer. If you have never experienced the aroma of caponata being cooked I can only describe it as one of the most amazing cooking fragrances in the world.

So, my bruschetta was ready, the caponata was bubbling away nicely and my stuffed anchovies were ready to be baked. Andrea told me to go out to my husband to present the bruschetta. I only had time to sit on my chair, remove my chef's hat and enjoy one slice before Andrea called me because I was needed back in the kitchen to prepare the next course with Nikolay.

"Yes Chef !!!!!" I replied.

I quickly put my hat back on to join Nikolay and he burst into laughter and said I looked more like a Bishop than a chef because I had put it back on the wrong way.

To make our pasta dish we heated some oil until it was very hot then added some anchovies and raisins then some pine nuts, tomatoes and fennel fronds. The ingredients were tossed around in the pan whilst the aroma of fennel filled the kitchen and we boiled the pasta.

Pasta con Sarde is a popular Sicilian pasta dish and the sardines can easily be replaced by anchovies for a more intense fishy taste. Legend says that when Euphemius of Messina returned from exile in Tunisia to mount a military expedition in 827, his Arab cooks, on landing at the harbour of Mazara put together the first ingredients that came to hand. This dish is made using wild fennel, pine nuts and the freshest of sardines.

Finally I was released from my kitchen apprentice duties and was allowed to enjoy my dishes with my husband. First came the pasta and then my stuffed anchovies with caponata on the side. I would love to take credit for the presentation but this credit goes to the professionals.

I had so much fun with much love and laughter with Andrea, Nikolay and their team in the kitchen and the dishes we produced were delicious. I would highly recommend the experience. This cooking class gave me a real authentic feel of what it is like to work in a busy restaurant kitchen.

I went home to our Sicilian house with my apprentice chef certificate and my new culinary skills.

My certificate is now framed with pride of place in my lovely Sicilian kitchen.

The following week when we returned as usual Giovanni teased me by exclaiming "Sarah you're late!!! Get in the kitchen we are short staffed!!!"

My reply? "Yes boss!!!"

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Ask me for more Information on

Cooking Classes at Ristorante Spizzicannu

at sarah@whitealmond-privatesicily.com

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a BIG thank you to Giovanni, Sabrina and their amazing Family

also to Chef Andrea