Cooking Class at a Chef’s Home in Sicily
You can spend a lot of time in Palermo just wandering. The streets are loud and messy in the best way, and there’s always someone shouting over a pile of oranges. But if you’re looking to get under the skin of this place—past the street food and into someone’s home—Cesarine offers a darn good way to do it.
If you’re searching for a Sicily cooking class that actually feels connected to the culture—something that goes beyond a demonstration and into real conversation—this is it. With Cesarine, you’re not just learning recipes. You’re cooking in someone’s home, shopping at their market, making pasta by hand, and sitting at their table. It’s the kind of experience you remember long after your trip is over.
I booked a Cesarine experience that included a market tour and cooking class with Chef Antonio in Palermo, and it ended up being one of the most memorable things I’ve done in Sicily.
Here’s a short video I put together of the experience:
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission. I will only recommend products and services that I would [or currently use] myself.
From the Streets to the Stove
We met Antonio outside Vucciria Market, in Piazza San Domenico. No signs, no “tour starts here” marker—just Antonio, waiting like a friend. And within five minutes, we were weaving through the market stalls to meet a vendor he always goes to. Not in the center of the market—kind of tucked away, easy to miss if you didn’t know to look. He had crates of fennel, tomatoes, lemons, blood oranges. The kind of produce that looks like it still has dirt under its nails.
He pulled out a jar of marinated artichokes and handed me one to try. A little acidic, a little earthy. I wanted to just take the whole jar.
Then a stop for bread—some crusty, salty loaf I didn’t catch the name of—and we were off to Antonio’s apartment.
A View Like This Is Almost Unfair
Antonio lives in a bright, airy apartment with a ridiculous view over the port of Palermo. Out the window: rows of boats, palm trees lining the harbor, and the mountains looming in the back like it’s some kind of movie set. His place was spotless but lived-in, plants hanging from the ceiling, everything functional but personal.
If you’re imagining a sterile cooking class setup, forget that. This was a home kitchen, and we were the guests.
The Menu: Simple Food, Done Right
We made pasta from scratch—cavatelli. Flour and water, that’s it. The technique is in the dough, the feel, the pressure. Antonio showed us a few traditional shapes, and we settled on these ridged little cavatelli.
They’d eventually get tossed in blistered cherry tomatoes with garlic, olive oil, and fennel fronds—the delicate green tips, called finocchietto. It’s wild, licorice-y, and way more subtle than fennel bulb.
On the side, we built a salad with thinly sliced fennel, blood oranges, lemon, and more of those fennel tops. It was sweet, acidic, and refreshing—nothing fancy, just really good ingredients treated with respect.
Dessert? Of Course There Was Dessert
For dessert, we made what Antonio called gelo siciliano, a chilled citrus custard made from fresh orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch, gently whisked until thick and glossy. Not heavy. Just enough sweetness to finish the meal and sit back feeling like you did something good with your day.
Why Cesarine Worked
Cesarine, if you’re not familiar, is a network of home cooks across Italy who open up their kitchens for travelers. It’s not a gimmick. It’s not a “dining experience.” It’s real people cooking real food—regional, personal, and completely tied to where you are.
Antonio wasn’t just hosting us—he was proud to be part of this community. You could feel it. He talked about how much he values being able to share Sicilian traditions through food. No pretension, no showmanship. Just a guy who loves what he does.
And that made all the difference.
How to Book This Experience
If you’re headed to Palermo and want to cook with Antonio, you can book this same experience here. He runs these often, and they tend to fill up fast—so plan ahead if you’re traveling in high season.
🧑🍳Book your in-home cooking class with Cesarine here
For other cooking classes and local experiences across Italy, check out Cesarine’s full offerings here.
