Sicilian kitchen

Sicily's cuisine is an explosion of color and aromas, the product of a sun kissed land and the diverse civilizations to have inhabited it over the centuries. A leader amongst the island's culinary institutions, the Egata Italian Cooking School organizes lessons for both absolute beginners and professional chefs interested in learning more about Sicily's food culture. The main seat of the school is located in Trapani, in the Villa Speranza Restaurant, right next to Trapani's Nature Reserve. The restaurant has a large and functional kitchen in which lessons are taught in a relaxed and jovial atmosphere. The school is run by Managing Director, Titti Taranto, famous for her passion for her island's traditions and food, aided by a team of highly qualified teachers, including the internationally renowned chef, Mario Bianco. The school runs numerous Italian and Sicilian cooking courses, divided into monographic, thematic and master classes and, also, on request, special courses anywhere in Sicily.

The monographic courses are comprised of 1 or 2 half-day meetings, each of which deals with a specific aspect of Sicilian gastronomy. The "Cunzati" course introduces students to typical Sicilian starters such as caponata, marinated anchovies, and stuffed peppers. The "Marafarada" course, named after the soup bowl in which, traditionally, the semolina for couscous is prepared, teaches pupils how to make Sicily's Arab, Spanish and Greek influenced first courses. "Panza" is the name of the course devoted to traditional second courses including rollè, involtini, pasticcio and polpette. "Il Cannolo", as the name suggests, is dedicated to the Sicily's irresistible desserts and confectionary.

Those interested in learning how to prepare a complete Sicilian menu, can choose one of the half or full day theme lessons, one of the most intriguing of which is that dedicated to Sicilian street food. Much of Sicily's traditional gastronomic fare is based on recipes for food originally designed to be made and consumed in the island's streets and markets, at any time of the day or night: delicacies such as arancine, crocchete, sfincione and panelle. Students are taught how to make all of these specialties, accompanied by details of each recipe's origins and a final tasting session. The first part of the "Dal Mercato" lesson takes place in Trapani's fish and fruit and vegetable markets. Here a local expert is on hand to help pupils in the choice of ingredients for the dishes which will be prepared in the second part of the lesson.

For the more experienced of cooks, ready for a full immersion in Sicilian cooking, there are 2 to 7 day master courses which, among other things, study the various cooking techniques and the organoleptic characteristics of the ingredients used.

Egata cooking school
"Villa Speranza", Trapani
"Quello che c'è c'è", Favignana
Tel +39 3332111969
www.egata.it