Sicilian cuisine is an intriguing melange that developed over centuries, the result of an endless stream of conquerors—Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Normans, and Spanish—that shaped the island’s culture and cooking. Learning about a destination through its food is one of travel’s great delights, of course; a good way to do that (beyond all the restaurant “research”) is to take cooking lessons in situ. It can help you connect to a locale in deliciously simple yet profound ways.
Here are classes and culinary sessions throughout Sicily, many held in historic settings, where you can try your hand at this distinct form of Italian cuisine, get a better understanding of the island’s past and traditions, and have a scrumptious meal.
Palermo: A Day Cooking with the duch*ess
To get a glimpse of insider Sicily while polishing your culinary skills, it’s hard to beat “A Day Cooking with the duch*ess” in Palermo. During the course you learn to prepare an authentic Sicilian pranzo under the guidance of an Italian duch*ess, Nicoletta Polo Lanza Tomasi, who also happens to be an expert cook. The location is one of the city’s most notable residences, the Palazzo Lanza Tomasi, a former of home of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, who wrote The Leopard. (The best-selling and now iconic novel was made into the famous Luchino Visconti movie, Il Gattopardo.) Lanza Tomasi, the duch*ess of Palma, teaches throughout the entire session, which starts briskly at 8:30 AM (and runs to 3-3:30 PM) with a visit to Palermo’s buzzing Il Capo market to buy fresh produce for making lunch. Another stop is in the palazzo’s gardens for herbs and fruit that will also be used for the meal. “The class is hands-on, and all students must participate in the preparation of the menu,” says Lanza Tomasi. No particular skill level is required, she says, with students varying from “absolute beginners to experienced cooks.”
During class students tackle everything from appetizers to dessert. Naturally, there’s a pasta course to master “with one of the many delicious pestos and sauces Sicilian cuisine is known for,” says Lanza Tomasi. She also demonstrates how to prepare a secondo, or main course, with meat or fish, as well as vegetable side dishes and dessert. The completed lunch is then served in the palazzo dining room.
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Lanza Tomasi points out that “my classes are not only about food. They also offer a unique cultural experience.” And they most certainly do. After lunch students are given the chance to tour the 18th-century palazzo and see the original handwritten manuscript for The Leopard, the author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s library, and historic family documents and portraits.
The palazzo, one of the country’s Dimore Storiche Italiane, also has recently refurbished apartments that both participants in classes and non-students can book for overnight or extended stays.
Sicilian Countryside: Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School
The late Anna Tasca Lanza, an aristocratic Sicilian and pioneering culinary personality, grew up at a time when the kitchen was typically terra incognita for a palazzo’s chatelaine, a place to be visited rarely (if ever). But Tasca Lanza, who had gone to finishing school in Switzerland, where she learned the basics of French cuisine (and, according to her bio notes, “how to be a good wife”) remained interested in cooking, and eventually, as she established her own household, found herself ”facing the stove.” In 1989 Tasca Lanza created the school on a plot of family land in the countryside near Vallelunga Pratameno, about two and a half hours by car from Palermo.
The project began as a pastime, but Tasca Lanza soon saw it as a way to make authentic Sicilian food known beyond the stereotypes, and to increase awareness for its rich diversity outside of Italy. As an admired cookbook author, advocate for her native island’s multi-layered cuisine and history, Tasca Lanza’s work earned international acclaim. Today her daughter, Fabrizia, runs the school and culinary complex.
The school conducts classes and learning experiences of various length (one-day lunch lessons to in-depth six-week sessions), immersive stays and workshops hosted by prominent chefs and members of the Anna Tasca Lanza cookery staff. Among the guest-led workshops for 2024 are Vegetarian Family Cookery with chef and author, Claire Thomson (June 10-June 15), where students will learn how to create a range of vegetable dishes including tenerumi with squash leaves, as well as such Sicilian favorites as caponata and panelle (chickpea fritters). Sarah Owens, a renowned baker and James Beard award-winning author, will conduct Baking and Preserving Sicily (September 30-October 5) and show how to prepare breads and sweets with heirloom Sicilian grains; make preserves; and cook pizza using pestos and foraged ingredients. You’ll even learn how to craft vermouth. Another class, Delicious Sicily (October 14-19), led by chef and New York Times food writer David Tanis, will delve into ways to maximize seasonal produce.
During the one-day (for a minimum of two people) and two-day programs participants are shown how to prepare four-course meals using Tasca Lanza family recipes; the latter includes visits to the nearby Tasca d’Almerita winery and to a local ricotta cheese maker.
The school offers various housing options like Case Vecchie, where classes are held, and other properties near the school, including one on the Tasca d’Almerita wine estate.
Taormina: Villa Lawrence
When D.H. Lawrence, and later, Truman Capote, stayed in Taormina, they rented a stone house with lush gardens and sweeping views of the Ionian Sea. This idyllic haven, which came to be called Villa Lawrence, now provides a memorable backdrop for classes run by Louisa Vittorio (a relative of an earlier owner of the villa), whose family was written about in Capote’s, Fontana Vecchia. The villa still contains some of Lawrence’s books.
Vittorio oversees lessons at Villa Lawrence. The sessions typically start at 10 AM and run about four hours with demonstrations on how to prepare a full Sicilian meal, which is then sampled during the follow-up lunch. In good weather lunch is served on the villa terrace with those knockout views. Classes are designed for two or more people.
After lunch you can stroll in the garden, the site of a 2000-year-old Roman tomb. For longer stays there’s the nearby Villa Britannia (prior site of the classes) with two suites named after Lawrence and Capote that have terraces overlooking the sea. You can also rent the entire villa.
Mt. Etna, Catania, Siracusa and Taormina: Cotumè
Cotumè taps into Sicily’s diverse cooking traditions by holding classes in locations throughout the island— Catania, Mt. Etna, Siracusa and Taormina. Participants can choose among lessons devoted to classic Sicilian specialties; mastering the fine art of making pasta; and learning the secrets of Sicilian street food. Certain sessions can be paired with wine or olive tastings. Pastry and pizza courses are available in Catania and Taormina, the latter at the Villa Zuccaro, where chefs are famous for turning out 50 varieties of the popular dish.
In Catania, classes are held at various venues like the Scammacca del Murgo Palace. Some begin with a visit to the foodie favorite, the Piscarìa, a renowned fish and produce market. In the Mt. Etna area, which the company describes as a “volcano of flavors,” courses take place at such top wineries as Benanti, located on the south-east side of the volcano, or at an olive-oil estate. The site for classes and tastings in Siracusa is either a Norman castle or 19th-century farmhouse. All bookings require a certain number of participants and need to be scheduled in advance. Cotumè also arranges in-villa cooking instruction. Special lunches or dinners can be organized in Catania’s magnificent Biscari Palace.
Ortigia (Siracusa): Lazy Italian Culinary Adventures
Francesca Montillo, cookbook author and travel planner, organizes a number of trips to Italy each year through her company, Lazy Italian Culinary Adventures. Montillo, born in Italy but now based in the U.S., typically hosts a week-long trip to Sicily each September. While the 2024 excursion is sold out, Montillo creates custom tours. “All of our public culinary adventures are available as private trips for groups of six or more,” she says. Her Sicilian program is based in Ortigia (in southeast Sicily), an island that’s home to Siracusa’s centro storico.
The itinerary includes visits to food markets, foodie walking tours and cooking lessons, one located at a farm that produces many of its own products, including extra virgin olive oil, saffron, and ancient flours. “We do like the locals do, and plan our menu based on our findings at the market,” she says. One class focuses on learning how to cook the Sicilian favorite, arancini. “Arancini are Sicily’s most popular street food,” says Montillo. ”They are made differently based on the city,”she explains, so their taste varies depending on whether you’re in Palermo, Syracuse or Ragusa. The Sicily trip also includes visits to Noto, Taormina, Etna and Ragusa
