I read in my newspaper that someone took a class in Siena for 3 hours and then they sat down to eat what they prepared. The price was only 150.00 each. I looked it up but their are lots. Has anyone tried this? It was under Epiculinary Tours-Daily cooking classes. Sounds fun to go home and whip up a great Italian meal ha ha.

not to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but $150 is a lot to pay for what little one can actually learn in 4 hours. granted you do get the meal albeit prepared by amateurs.

as an alternative invest $30 in marcella hazan's "essentials of classic italian cooking" and spend the remainder on exotic and well prepared dishes at good restaurants.

There are a couple of courses that I've heard about (though I believe they last a few days, not 4 hrs) including a famous one run by Marcella Hazan herself. There's also a well regarded one by Lorenza di Medici, and I'm sure several others. (My mother attended a similar thing in France several years ago, taught by Patricia Wells at her home in Provence.)

Anyway, if all you're after is a good meal, I'd agree with subcon above. However, if you're seriously into cooking, Italian culture, etc. I think this type of program would be great. Besides ending in a great meal (and I believe there's enough supervision for it not to be amateurish) you also learn about local ingredients, culinary history, visit the best local markets and local makers of olive oil/wine/cheese/etc., eat in the best local restaurants like a regular would... so, there's a lot more to the experience than just one meal, and much more than you could get just by buying a book. However, if this class in Siena is basically one afternoon, it will obviously be much more limited than this and you might want to find out what's on the agenda to see if it's worthwhile.

Well for my money -- $150 gives you a lot more than subcon suggests. For one you are making food in Italy with a local person. The ambience of that alone would be worth that much to me

Hi Joanie,

May I suggest two alternatives?

Watch Molto Mario (4:30 PM daily)on the Food Channel, "Carlo Cooks Italian" and "Biba's Kitchen" on the Travel and Liesure channel.

Soon you will be making your own antipasti, pastas and main dishes just like Mamma.

Hi Joanie,

On another post www.accidentaltourist.com
was recommended.

They do a tour where you do lunch under the guidance of a master chef. Costs only 78E.