Pizza class
 

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced pizza cooking class in Rome. My husband and I are taking our two 13 yr olds to Rome and this is something they want to do but all the classes I have looked at are $100. pp. thanks
Gail

seriously, can they make bread and cheese?

sorry I jest, it is such a basic thing and made such a fuss of Italy.

Are you going to Napoli (where it comes from) ?

I must admit that I am a little surprised that pizza cooking classes for tourists are a thing.

I now have to wonder if European tourists to Boston take New England Clam Chowder or Lobster Bisque cooking classes.

Roman pizza has a tradition that is as important as the one in Napoli. If it didn't take any skill to make pizza, the world wouldn't be full of so much bad pizza (although some people can't tell the difference).

I find nothing odd at all about teenagers or anybody wanting to learn to make pizza from Italians.

gailk,

Consider asking your question on the Chowhound board for Italy, but explain that because it for 2 teens, you'd like to keep the cost down and don't want a pizza master class. Most cooking (and language) classes in Italy are more expensive than most people realise.

I think that you are not going to find cooking classes for much less than what you are seeing in your search; those prices are considered reasonable.

Here is a link to a pizza making class. I can recommend the agency, but we have not taken a cooking class with them; they also do tours. The link suggest you contact them for a price quote. It's a start.

http://threemillennia.com/food/priva...-making-class/

I don;t understand people who take pizza making classes - since there is no way to make them at home properly unless you have an actual pizza oven at home.

Also not sure why people constantly talk about eating pizza in italy (as if there aren't a number of decent places in the US) since it is primarily a snack or light meal - not a dinner or even a real lunch.

I could understand taking a course in making different interesting pastas from scratch - since I imagine there are a lot of places where fresh pasta is just not available.

nyt, it's for kids :-) and the OP's kids at that.

Well, thank God we don't all have to live in nyt's world.

Signed: someone who eats pizza for dinner

Very few people in Italy eat pizza for lunch. Most pizzerie aren't open for lunch. It is food that is eaten after 4pm in Italy -- and yes, it's dinner along with sides. If you eat pasta with tomato sauce and basil and cheese for dinner, why not eat pizza?

Think it's possible the kids might learn something by taking this class -- like things nyt doesn't know despite her advanced age and claims to being an ace on Italian culture?

Not much of a helpful response to the OP to say: "I don't understand your travel interests and I never will! So they must be WRONG!"

nyt is actually correct. One of the most important factors in producing a proper pizza is the temperature of the oven which at least 450 degrees C and often as much as 600 C. Only professional ovens reach this temperature.

A good pizza is made up of simple but quality ingredients - the proper flour, tomato layer (San Marzano), morzarella (di bufala) etc. The dough has to have sufficient time to rise.

Making a good pizza is in fact quite difficult - just compare one pizzeria in Italy to another. What is easier - and here I have in mind the OP - is producing grissini. You can make grissini using exactly the same dough as you use for pizza and just like pizza the combinations are limitless. Roll out a small amount of dough by hand - even if it is slightly uneven it doesn't matter as it is a more genuine product than the perfectly even factory produced grissini.

But before rolling out you can flavour the grissini in avariety of ways - cheese, onion, rosemary, red peppers, etc etc

You don't have to do a class to take away the information and replicate it at home. I've done sailing lessons but don't even live near water. It's all about interest and learning. I hope the OP finds a class that suits their budget.If you can't find something, then a tour such as the one linked may appeal to the children

http://sophieminchilli.com/food-tours/

That price is ridiculous. When are you looking to be here in Rome?

I know a couple of places and can inquire for you but need to know when and how many classes are you looking to take (just the one?)

thanks

Laura