Italian Cookery Course in Venice – At Home With Arianna & Monica

With Venetian ladies Arianna and Monica, Italian mamma-style cooking is simple thanks to their friendly, home-based Italian cookery course.

Cook In Venice’s unique offer is, in part, the fact that neither Arianna nor Monica are professional chefs. Instead they are food-loving locals who specialize in typical Venetian homemade faire and just love sharing what they know.

Visit them at Arianna's home kitchen, just outside Venice on the Riviera del Brenta, and you’ll learn how to prepare centuries-old dishes in the ‘Veneto cooking’ tradition, including hearty polenta, risotto, pasta (of course), fish plates and much more.

The ladies use only seasonal products, so what you make will vary depending on when in the year you take your Italian cookery course.

Where do classes take place?

Don’t worry – you won’t need to go to pains to reach her house, as clients are picked up from Venice’s main Piazzale Roma by car and driven there along the Brenta river, where you’ll be welcomed with a beautiful plate of ‘cicchetti’ (small Venetian starters) and a nice glass of fizzy white prosecco wine.

Like with most Italian classes, the lesson itself is followed by devouring the beautiful meal you prepared and the wines you tasted during the class.

As mentioned, recipes vary according to the seasonal ingredients available, which Monica and Arianna source from local shops, nearby farmers or from Arianna’s own garden. In fact, you’ll help grab some of these tasty goodies on the way to class.

Who teaches the classes?

With Monica’s passion for food and her 20 years of teaching experience, combined with Arianna’s culinary skills and extensive knowledge of Venetian cuisine, you will learn to cook just like Venetian women do.

Monica speaks fluent English and although Arianna speaks only Italian classes are always held in English along with a fun smattering of lively Italian hand signs and gestures!

Arianna and Monica offer two types of Italian cookery course: a one-day class and a longer three-day course. Both courses are fully hands-on, so make sure you’re truly ready to try and taste everything you’ll be preparing – and you’ll need a healthy appetite!

What types of dish and cooking techniques are covered?

During the single day cooking class you will prepare a full Venetian menu, starting with the antipasto (starter), then a selection of two first courses (primo piatti), one main course with side dishes, and finally of course, dessert.

Some of the ladies’ favorite example recipes include:

For antipasto - Venetian style stuffed tomatoes, pancakes with mushroom and cream, grilled salami with potatoes and ricotta rounds.

First courses - the famous Venetian pasta dish ‘Bigoi in salsa’ and spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with mussels), and many varieties of risotto.

Main courses – Burano-style chicken (Burano is a super-cute Venetian island) or squid in tomato sauce with peas.

Dessert – authentic Italian tiramisu, a Lord Byron-era apple pie, or ‘Zuppa Inglese’.

3-day course

Take the ladies’ three day Italian cookery course and you’ll learn how to make a perfect risotto, fantastic potato gnocchi shapes and even more amazing desserts, all of which you should find easy to replicate once you get back home.

Arianna and Monica specialize in home cooking, and that includes you being able to make these dishes when you arrive back home after your vacation, so the ingredients they use and the recipes they teach will be those you can replicate when you return to your country.

When do classes take place?

Each Italian cookery course starts at around 10am and finishes around 3pm (after which you'll likely roll home, having eaten the results of your day's hard labour and quaffed some delicious local wine).

All students are encouraged to actively participate in each class, with the emphasis very much on fun; in addition to sharing the art of cooking and Arianna’s own kitchen, your teachers place great value on socializing and having a good time.

Classes run to a maximum of 8 participants and discounts are available for group bookings.

For more information, see the Cook In Venice website.

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