Cooking Class in Bologna

Saturday, 8th September '12
This day was one of the most memorable of my entire trip in Europe. I had looked online for cooking classes, but they all seemed too expensive. I eventually found this class online, and it was very well priced, the website was very professional looking and they had a lot of different classes on offer.

http://cookingclassesinbologna.com/ 

The recipes for what we cooked are online here as well. :) 

I really wasn't sure what to expect, having never done something like this before. I was actually very nervous as I've never had anybody teach me to cook, and because I'm me and bad with new people... I was just really anxious I would be awkward and bad and break everything.

I was totally surprised to arrive and find out that the entire class was 1 on 1. I thought it would be a group of people, but it was just me and Stefano. For how little I paid, that is incredible. Normally that would be my worst nightmare, but Stefano really made me feel welcome in his restaurant and feel totally comfortable and at ease the entire day. It was wonderful.

The day began around 10am and we walked around Bologna and visited the marketplace. Had a coffee and decided what we wanted to cook. I decided that day would be a "yes" day and I would be adventurous and try new things.

We went back to the kitchen, and shared a big space at the back with the pastry chef of the restaurant, who, like all the other workers there, was very friendly. We started working on lunch, first up was to start the sauce for the ragu and then the pasta for the tagliatelle. Making pasta by hand is super hard work, my goodness! We even rolled the pasta by hand with a huge rolling pin, it was about a metre long. If you ever want to work out without having to pay for the gym, here's your calling! Because I'm weak, Stefano did most of the rolling but it was so awesome to see how pasta is made.

After lunch, we walked around Bologna for an hour or so. We even walked up onto the terrace of the main church in the centre square. We could see all over the city. It was beautiful. Not only did I get a cooking class from an experienced chef, but I had a tour with somebody who has lived in Bologna almost all his life. Totally worth every cent I spent!

 I made really pretty ravioli :D

 The pasta cut-offs for the soup

 (The vegetables used for the sauce)

(filling for the pasta - ricotta, nutmeg, salt and pepper!)

Once arriving back, we got to work on the first and main courses for dinner. Our menu was a ricotta filled ravioli with a vegetable sauce and rabbit cacciatore. Had to go ahead and make another sheet of pasta - so much work. We also used the left over pasta cut-offs for a simple, yummy soup. The ravioli was very simple to make and was probably my favourite meal of the day, it felt fresh and simple and healthy. But it was quite time consuming, as I made each ravioli by hand.

Not really sure why, but I felt very faint when we came back inside from walking around the city. I must have looked like a super freak and seemed a bit out of it, sorry Stefano! It happens sometimes with me, promise! But after an hour or so it passed, thank goodness.

The waiters in the restaurant even asked me to join them for drinks that night. I really should have gone, but I felt so tired... I have no stamina, honestly. It had been a busy, fun packed day and I just wanted to go home and rest for a bit. It didn't help I had to catch a train the next day.

Anyway, overall it was an amazing day. I was a little tired, just from travelling so much, so I feel like maybe I didn't really show that I was enjoying the day. Everybody kept asking me if I was having fun... haha, I'm sorry, I just don't emote very well. But honestly, I would highly recommend the course to anybody going to Bologna. It's really an experience I will never forget.