Culinary Experience

HOW MY COOKING CLASSES WORK

Send me an email and I will reply soon with a suggested menu. We will decide together what we can cook. Once you are in Venice, we will meet in the city centre, Dorsoduro district, in San Barnaba square. My apartment is 1 minute walk from our meeting point. A good Italian coffee, and some Venetian homemade biscotti together and then we start to cook. I explain to you what to do and then I let you practice. Learning how to cook is easy if you have a private home chef in front of you who will reply to all your questions.  We will enjoy lunch together at around 1.30 pm. The class will end at about 2.30 pm. I will provide all the ingredients we need. At home,  I always have a good choice of wine.

WHAT WE WILL COOK

My culinary experience is an opportunity to learn how to cook iconic Italian recipes and traditional family Italian dishes. I also focus on and teach simple tricks that you can use daily in your kitchen. No problem if you have dietary restrictions, I will adapt the menu for you. Here are just some examples of what we can cook together: pasta from scratch with any kind of homemade sauce, potato gnocchi, lasagne, parmigiana eggplant, any kind of risotto, ragù sauce for pasta, pasta e fagioli, any kind of stuffed pasta, tiramisù dessert, Venetian biscotti.

LUNCH WITH SOME GOOD ITALIAN WINE

Italy has an incredible variety of wines. You’ll get the chance to try some typical local varieties such as Prosecco, Valpolicella, Recioto, Sauvignon, Tocai, Garganega, Moscato and Lugana as an accompaniment to the food we’ll cook. Learning to cook also means knowing how to choose the right wine. In Venice, for example, a “fish risotto” is accompanied by a Prosecco wine and “parmigiana” with the red Valpolicella wine.

A CULINARY EXPERIENCE IN ITALY: THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET

My recipes use ingredients typical of the Mediterranean diet: extra virgin olive oil, fish rather than meat, seasonal vegetables bought at the local market, fresh homemade pasta, Italian rice and fresh or dried legumes  ̶  nothing frozen! The eggs I buy are from shops supplied by small farms, the cheeses local varieties made from milk produced in the Italian Alps and the meat always ‘made in Italy’. I use salt sparingly and create flavour with a range of fresh herbs and spices. And I know the best places to buy wine.

VENETIAN RECIPES

Anyone interested in local cuisine can try out some traditional fish- or meat-based recipes. Many Venetian staples are low cost:  risi e bisi (risotto with peas), “sarde in saor “(sardines marinated in onions and vinegar), seafood risotto (with mussels and clams), “baccalà mantecato” (salted codfish cooked in milk), “seppie con il nero” (cuttlefish cooked in their ink), “pasta e fagioli “(pasta and beans), “fegato alla veneziana” (veal liver cooked with onions and served with polenta), artichoke hearts, “bigoi in salsa” (spaghetti with an anchovy and onion sauce). All these dishes are both delicious and easy to prepare but quite difficult to find in restaurants, where the focus is more international. Then there are sweet Venetian specialities: tiramisu, made with creamy mascarpone and cocoa; “frittelle and galani” (treats eaten during Carnevale); and “zaeti” – biscuits made with polenta flour. During my culinary experience, I always offer to my guests some Venetian biscuits or pastries or cakes.

LOCAL FISH

We are lucky enough to have excellent fish all year round in Venice, fresh from the Venetian lagoon and the Adriatic Sea. Local clams and mussels are used to make risottos or spaghetti sauces all over Italy. Cuttlefish are typical of the Adriatic and are caught in the lagoon during the summer. Gilthead bream and seabass are so flavoursome, they can be cooked in the oven and served with just a drizzle of olive oil. In Venice, squid is deep-fried with shrimp or baked in the oven with potatoes; mackerel – a highly nutritious blue fish – is cooked with garlic and vinegar (it’s impossible to describe the flavour, you just have to try it!); tonno rosso is tuna stewed with tomatoes and peppers and eaten with fresh pasta; and sardines, caught in great quantities, are fried or baked in an onion and garlic marinade.

MEAT -BASED RECIPES

Venice is not famous for its meat-based cuisine, but there is one recipe you must try: meatballs. Venetian meatballs, unlike those from other parts of Italy, are fried in oil. Made from minced beef and potatoes and with a distinctive squashed shape, they are so delicious you can never stop at one (especially when you’re in a bar with a group of friends drinking a glass of good wine). Another Venetian speciality is liver and onions, or “fegato alla veneziana”. This was once peasant food (offal was snubbed by the rich), but today it is extremely expensive. Served with polenta, it is easy to prepare and its distinctive flavour will appeal to people who like simple, traditional fare.

SEASONAL VEGETABLES FROM THE ISLAN OF SANT’ERASMO

Not familiar with our local vegetables? My cooking classes in Venice Italy will be an opportunity to try it.Sant’Erasmo, an island located in the north of the Venetian Lagoon, is completely given over to agriculture: small family-run farms grow fruit and vegetables of the highest quality. The asparagus, artichokes, peas, aubergines, chicory and pumpkin grown on the island are sought after throughout Italy. The farmers of Sant’Erasmo (just over 30 families) sell their produce at the Rialto market. Venice offers something that’s impossible to find elsewhere in Italy and which any visitor to the city should try – “fondi di carciofo” (artichoke bases). After removing the artichoke head and stalk, and trimming all the leaves, what is left is a disc-shaped base. Artichoke bases are stored in water and lemon and then stewed in a pan with garlic, olive oil and fresh parsley. They make an excellent risotto, too.

A VIDEO BY PASTA GRANNIES ABOUT ITALIAN RECIPES

Have a look at this video by Pasta Grannies, one of my favourite YouTube Channels. It gives useful insights into Venice, local recipes and Venetian apartments, as well as showing how friendly the locals can be!

COOKING CLASS EXPERIENCE WITH GIOIA TIOZZO: SOMETHING ABOUT ME

I was born in Venice and have lived here all my life. I am from a large family that taught me the pleasure of sitting around a table and sharing a meal with friends or relatives. I first learned to cook by helping my mother and my grandmother in the kitchen (I still use their recipes today), but I am now a psychologist specializing in nutrition with more than 20 years of experience and a professional cooking instructor. I’m also a student of the Italian Sommelier School. Please, read more here about Gioia Tiozzo and see what I do.

SOMETHING ABOUT HOW WE LIVE IN VENICE

In 2021, I had the opportunity to participate in a French documentary, by France 5  – “Echappées belles Venise”, about life in Venice. You can see me in this video at minute 29′.

 READ WHAT MY GUESTS SAY ABOUT ME

If you want to have an idea about my cooking classes, you can read the reviews on TripAdvisor or on Google Maps.  There must be a reason why so many people rate my classes with five stars.

MY ONLINE COOKING VIDEOS

If you like to cook, but can’t come to Venice to take part in my cooking classes, you can try my online courses. In 2020, I founded Accademia di Cucina Italiana, an online platform where you can subscribe and have access to pre-recorded videos where I teach how to cook iconic Italian dishes. My online course is the best solution for those who want to learn from the comfort of their home. All cooking videos are in English with comprehensive charts. On my YouTube channel, Accademia di Cucina Italiana,  you can watch short videos and have an idea about all the recipes you can learn by subscribing to my online courses.

VENICE IN THE NEWSPAPERS

It is quite easy to find news about Venice in international newspapers. But it’s difficult to find accurate news that will help tourists find their way around a very complex city.  If you give it a try and type “Venice” on Google, you will find thousands of articles. Good luck reading them all. Better to have a clear idea and know what to look for. If you are interested in food and wine in Venice, you can do a more select search. On the attached pdf, you will find an article from “The Spectator”  newspaper by Tania Gold about food in Venice. The interview also talks about me and my work as a “cooking instructor.” The Spectator – article about Venice

MY KITCHEN IN MY VENICE APARTMENT

My kitchen is very well equipped with a large worktable, a gas oven and stovetop and many utensils. None of my recipes requires special appliances or instruments. I do have a food processor but I never use it! I prefer to prepare everything by hand. I have a pasta machine (manual Italian pasta machine by Imperia) for rolling pasta dough – a simple model you can buy anywhere, as well as pasta cutters, a blender, stainless steel saucepans with thick bases and good kitchen knives. Are you ready to start your culinary experience with me?