Four classes, each taught the Sicilian way
Fresh Pasta Making
The class most people start with. You'll work the dough by hand — no machine shortcuts until you've felt what the dough should feel like — then shape, fill and cook it.
- ✦Egg dough and semolina dough, and when to use each
- ✦Hand-rolling and shaping — busiate, cavatelli, tagliatelle
- ✦Filled pasta: ravioli and tortelli
- ✦Two sauces built to match the shape you've made
Sicilian Pastry
Cannoli and cassata as they are actually made in Sicily — the shells fried to order, the ricotta drained and sweetened properly, and never filled until the moment they are served.
- ✦Cannoli shells — the dough, the rolling, the fry
- ✦Sweetened ricotta filling, the Palermo way
- ✦Cassata siciliana: sponge, marzipan and glaze
- ✦Why a cannolo filled in advance is a ruined cannolo
Arancini & Street Food
Sicilian street food is its own cuisine. This class covers the fried classics you'd eat standing up at a friggitoria in Palermo or Catania.
- ✦Arancini — risotto base, ragù and mozzarella fillings
- ✦Shaping, crumbing and frying without them bursting
- ✦Panelle and crocchè
- ✦Caponata, and how to balance the agrodolce
Sicilian Bread
Bread with a long, slow rise and real character. You'll leave understanding fermentation well enough to bake it again at home without a recipe in front of you.
- ✦Building and keeping a starter alive
- ✦Semolina bread and pane di casa
- ✦Pane cunzato — the dressed bread of Sicily
- ✦Focaccia and sfincione
What's included
A class runs like dinner at a Sicilian house that happens to have a chef in it. You cook, you drink, you argue about how much salt goes in the water, and then you sit down together and eat it.
- ✦Small hands-on groups — everyone cooks, nobody just watches
- ✦All ingredients and equipment provided
- ✦Wine and aperitivo throughout
- ✦You sit down and eat what you have made
- ✦Printed recipe cards to take home
- ✦Dietary requirements accommodated with notice
Frequently asked
Do I need any cooking experience?
No. Classes are built so complete beginners can follow comfortably, while people who already cook still pick up technique they haven't seen before. Chef Gabriele teaches the way he trained — by hand, with explanation of why each step matters.
Where are the classes held?
In Sydney's Inner West. Most classes run at Table & Together, with some hosted at La Botte D'Oro, 137 Marion St, Leichhardt — both a short walk from Norton Street and easy to reach from the CBD, Newtown and the Inner West.
Can you run a private or corporate class?
Yes. Private classes for birthdays, hens' parties, team building and client entertaining are available on request, and the menu is built around what your group wants to learn. Get in touch with your group size and preferred dates.
Are the classes suitable as a gift?
They are one of the most popular gifts we're asked about. Contact us and we'll arrange it for the recipient, including their choice of class and date.
What makes these different from other Sydney cooking classes?
You're taught by a Sicilian chef who runs his own kitchen — not a general cooking-school instructor. Gabriele grew up cooking this food in Sicily and now serves it at his own award-winning restaurant in Leichhardt, so what you learn is what is actually cooked and sold, not a simplified classroom version.
