Syracuse: Traditional Cooking Class & Ancient Market Visit

This is one of the best activities I’ve ever done. Ettore was do much fun to hang out with at the market as we tasted local Sicilian products. Everyone knew him! It was such a good experience to pick the food we’d be cooking that afternoon! And everything tasted yummy! Giuseppe hung around in the background, but he was such a big piece of the day. And my husband is gluten free - Ettore did everything possible to provide a great experience considering the restriction. This activity is not to be missed!

Ettore was incredible. He was incredibly generous with his time, his teaching, the food and tasting. The whole experience was incredible. The market was brilliant to understand what to look for and how it can be used plus tasting seafood and ricotta in the markets! The food we made was incredible and the whole experience was incredibly fun! Thank you!

The activity was exceptional from beginning to end. We met Chef Hectore and his staff at the entrance of Ortigia. He first asked us what we wanted to cook. Then, he walked us to through the local market where he purchased the ingredients and introduced us to many of the vendors who provided us with samples. Walking through the local market was definitely a highlight for our group. Next, he and his staff drove us to the restaurant where he is the chef to cook what we had selected. He allowed us to participate in the cooking while he explained the process in great detail. all of this, while drinking Prosecco and beer. After we were done, we sat together to enjoy the lunch we cooked together. He and the staff then drove us back to our hotel. It was so much fun and everyone in our group said it was the highlight of their day.

Es war ein unvergessliches Erlebnis. Vielen lieben Dank unserem Guide und Koch Ettore. Er war mit uns auf dem Wochenmarkt einkaufen, wir haben viel interessantes über die sizilianische Küche erfahren haben viel probiert und sind dann zum Kochen in ein Restaurant gefahren, wo wir zusammen mit Ettore ein leckeres Essen gezaubert haben. Wir haben schon in Deinem Kochbuch geblättert und werden vieles zu Hause ausprobieren. Nochmals vielen Dank. Wir können es nur empfehlen.

A fabulous experience with a very experienced chef. He seemed to know quite a few people in the market and he taught and helped us sample some of the most delicious things that we otherwise would not have seen. He selected and purchased all the ingredients in the market, then he drove us to his restaurant and cooked away in the kitchen sipping on Prosecco. I learned a lot, and I’m very appreciative of the time chef Etorre gave us. I have a new appreciation for the simplicity of pistachio pesto, why size matters for a caper, and how to cook tuna beautifully.

We had a wonderful time on our cookery class and market visit with Ettore! We've done a lot of cooking lessons across Italy, and it was so refreshing not to make the standard ravioli and tiramisu! Instead, we selected fresh seafood (or we could have used beef - our choice) and other ingredients (the pistachios and sundried tomato paste are amazing) from the market, with our wonderful chef introducing us to the market stallholders and allowing us to sample their wares, before heading to his restaurant to cook everything, accompanied by plenty of wine! We would highly recommend this class - it's a fantastic way to spend the day, meet new people (max 8 in a class) and eat delicious food! A real taste of Sicily!

Etteodore, ein Vollblutkoch aus der Stadt, hat mit uns bei seinen charmanten Freunden auf dem Markt die feinsten Zutaten eingekauft und dann gemeinam mit uns zubereitet. Auch der obligatorische Vino Spumante dazu (beim Kochen und Essen) hat natürlich nicht gefehlt. Ohne den netten Kerl hätten wir nicht mal 10% von dem erlebt was ein sizilianischer Markt zu bieten hat. Das war echt der Hammer, danke!

We had the best time! From exploring the market to spending the afternoon with Ettore learning to cook the Sicilian way! It was a perfect afternoon and delicious too!! We purchased Ettore's book and just made one of the recipes last night at home! It was delicious and brought us right back to the great afternoon we spent cooking in Sicily!

Chef Ettore is an amazing host and chef. The tour through the Ortigia market was so much fun and informative. My family of 6 was engaged and tried all the different Sicilian foods chef introduced us to! We would take this tour again and try different dishes! This time we made pistachio pesto (oh. My. Goodness. AMAZING!!), pasta alla norma, sea-bass in a pomadoro sauce and a fennel and citrus salad. It was so fantastic, even my 2 sons were full and happy!