Cooking class at a Cesarina's home with tasting in Siracusa
- 3 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- 2 languages
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
Immerse yourself in a private cooking class at the Cesarina's home, learn the secrets of the most famous dishes of Siracusa cuisine and taste the fruit of your labour accompanied by a glass of local wine. During the lesson the Cesarina will reveal the tricks of the trade of 3 authentic Siracusa recipes. Have fun putting your cooking skills to the test. Each participant will have a workstation equipped with utensils and all the ingredients to make the dishes. Then, taste everything you have prepared accompanied by a selection of red and white local wines. Cesarine is Italy’s oldest network of 1000+ home cooks all over the country in more than 120 cities. They are passionate and welcoming hosts that open the doors of their own homes to curious travellers for immersive culinary experiences.
Inclusions
What's included
- Beverages (water, wines and coffee)
- Private Cooking Class
- Tastings of the 3 recipes
- Local taxes
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
4.6
- 529
- 40
- 31
- 20
- 13
Ratings come from 33 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Showing reviews written in English.
1Did not receive address in time for class
We were unable to get to the class because we were never sent the address. We took a taxi to the only point that was provided and then found out that it was not the address by the time we realized we were not provided the address and contacted Viator and viator contacted the provider, the provider informed us it was too late for us to come and the class was cancelled. We are requesting a refund.
5Highlight of our vacation!
Gilda was OUTSTANDING! Truly enjoyed learning from her. She was a lot of fun, and made the experience memorable. Definitely a highlight of our vacation.
1Worst cooking class ever!
Don’t waste your money on this experience! Our host was on her phone most of the time and acted annoyed. Also, when I asked for the recipes she said she would give them to us if we gave her a good review. Overall, the experience was a waste of time and money.
5This was by far the most enjoyable, memorable cooking class we have ever had.
It's was an amazing hands on experience. Ewa was a gracious host who made us feel at home and the food we prepared and ate ws spectacular.
5Great personalized Italian cooking lesson
Fantastic experience at instructor’s home. Very personalized. Greeted with a wonderful lunch with many dishes to try. Learned to make 3 different dishes and how to make several different pasta’s. Host showed us her garden and fruit trees. All ingredients were fresh from the garden. We tried 4 different homemade cellos, lemon cello, orange cello, and 2 others. So much enjoyed visiting with the host and learning to cook Sicilian dishes. Highly recommended.
5Sicily's Best Kitchen Isn't a Restaurant — It's Gilda's Dining Table
My wife, our two daughters (16 and 23), and I spent this evening in Gilda Failla's home in Ortigia for a cooking class, and it was one of the highlights of our time in Sicily. Gilda's kitchen is small and cozy, so when it came time to make pasta, we moved to her dining room table, which turned out to be perfect — plenty of room for all four of us to flour the surface, roll dough, and shape cavatelli side by side. There was something wonderful about the whole family working elbow to elbow, flour on our hands and clothes, laughing at our uneven first attempts and slowly getting the hang of the little ridged shapes as Gilda moved between us, gently correcting technique with real patience and good humor. She has a natural way of teaching that never feels like a lecture. While we worked the dough, she told us stories about growing up in Ortigia, about Sicilian cooking traditions, and about why certain ingredients and methods matter the way they do. Once the cavatelli were shaped, we moved back into the kitchen for the cooking itself, and Gilda walked us through building the sauce with the same care and clear explanation she'd brought to the pasta-making. Nothing felt rushed. She explained the reasoning behind each step, which made the techniques feel genuinely learnable rather than just something to watch. By the end of the evening, all four of us — independently — said we wanted to make cavatelli at home. That's the best compliment I can give a cooking class: it didn't just entertain us, it actually taught us something we plan to use. When the food was ready, we invited Gilda to sit and eat with us, but she politely explained that wasn't something she does — a boundary she held warmly but firmly. It didn't take anything away from the evening; if anything, it reflected a kind of professionalism and respect for the experience that we appreciated. We ate the meal we'd made together as a family, with Gilda checking in from nearby, clearly pleased with how it had turned out. This was exactly the kind of experience we hoped to find in Sicily — hands-on, personal, and rooted in real tradition rather than a tourist routine. Gilda is a wonderful teacher: warm, knowledgeable, and genuinely invested in making sure everyone at the table (or in this case, the dining room) leaves with something real. If you're in Ortigia and want an evening that's more than just a meal out, book a class with Gilda. We're already talking about making cavatelli together back home.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- This experience will be held in a local’s home. For privacy reasons, you will receive the full address of your Cesarina host after you have booked. We will contact you after you've booked to match you up with your ideal Cesarina based on what you are looking for.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- Cesarine: Cooking Class
- Public transportation options are available nearby
How it compares in Syracuse
- Its from-price is 66% below the median of the 119 experiences we list in Syracuse.
- It is shorter than most of them.
- By number of reviews it ranks 17 of 119.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Syracuse
Syracuse is a Sicilian city on the Ionian Sea, once a great power of the Greek West, with a baroque island old town and a Greek theatre.
Founded by Greek settlers from Corinth in the eighth century BC, Syracuse became one of the most powerful cities of the ancient world, and Archimedes was born here. Its old town, Ortygia, is a small island joined to the mainland by bridges, where baroque palaces and narrow lanes open onto the Piazza del Duomo. The cathedral incorporates the columns of an ancient Greek temple of Athena into its walls, and the Fountain of Arethusa feeds papyrus plants at the water's edge.
Top-ranked sights in Syracuse: Mercato di Ortigia, Ortygia (Ortigia), Syracuse Cathedral (Duomo di Siracusa).
