Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

One of the best things about Italy is definitely the food and we decided we both should learn how to cook like Italians while we were there! So we booked in for a whole day of cooking and it was the absolute best fun.

Aprons, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Our fancy aprons, all set to cook like Italians!

We did our Italian cooking class during our time in Florence with the company Walkabout and they were fantastic. We opted for a whole day which seemed to fly by. It was really interesting to learn so much about Italian cooking and their culture and history of food.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Shopping for the fresh vegetables we needed, check out the cool purple cauliflower!

We started with a tour of Florence with an emphasis on the development and history of its cuisine. As we walked around we also picked up some of the ingredients we needed for what we were cooking that day. Tomatoes and basil from the fruit and vegetable shop (that had bright green and purple cauliflower that neither of us had ever seen before!) and meat and cheese from the central market. This was a bit of an eye opener as they use every single piece of the meat and it’s all out on display everywhere!

Mince meat preparation, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Preparing the mince meat for us.

A quick coffee stop on the way, we were also educated about how to drink coffee in Italy. You never sit down to drink it, but rather have it at the bar so you don’t have to pay extra for the use of the table, and you never have a cappuccino after 12pm, after that its only espressos or macchiatos!

After that it was time to cook! So we headed to a farmhouse that was near the Piazza Michelangelo. It was gorgeous, a beautiful garden complete with olive trees and absolutely stunning views over the city of Florence.

View, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

The garden of where we learnt to cook.

Our beautiful teacher Carmela, didn’t speak much English but it didn’t matter, you got the general gist of what she was saying and we had the lovely Elisa and Olivia translating everything she said for us as well. They were all a lot of fun and really made the day incredibly enjoyable.

Teaching, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Our beautiful Italian teacher, Carmela

We started with preparing the Ragu sauce (basically a Bolognese) and cutting the tomato and basil for the Bruschetta. We all got to take a turn using the cool curved knife which made it so much easier and lots more fun!

Eilis Cooking, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

I want one of these!

After getting everything sorted for the Ragu sauce, we got to enjoy our Bruschetta and even better, try some Chianti wine! Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the red wine which is unusual for me!

Wine and bruschetta, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

The perfect start to any Italian meal!

Chianti wine, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Chianti Wine

Next up, was making pasta from scratch. Not as difficult as we both expected but I still wouldn’t want to be making it for too many people!

Making pasta, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Carmela showing us so we didn’t yell “Carmela, help!!” all the time!

Eilis making pasta, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Cutting up my pasta to the right size.

Pasta, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Our pasta!

We then prepared a roast pork and roast potatoes and learnt that while the olive oil may be essential ‘kink’ of Italian cooking, they also use a lot of salt! An Italian pinch is more like a handful to us!

Following this, we went out to the pizza oven to learn how to make pizza like they do in Naples. We had Carmela’s niece teaching us and it was a lot of fun. Scott was pretty much a pro at throwing our dough for us…we thought his co-ordination would be much better than mine!! It’s crazy how hot and therefore, how quickly they cook the pizzas! It only needs 90 seconds in the wood fire oven!

Scott preparing our dough, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Scott preparing our dough.

Scott tossing the pizza, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Such a pro!

Eilis putting the toppings on, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

I can do this part!

Pizza, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

It was amazing!!!

After enjoying our pizza, (which traditionally they have with beer!) it was time to make our deserts! We made the Italian favourites, gelato and tiramisu!!

Tiramisu, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Eilis’ tiramisu!

Having finished all the hard work preparing the food, it was now time to enjoy it all. It was all amazing and we sat in a fantastic dining room watching the sun set over Florence.

Pasta with ragu sauce, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Pasta with Ragu Sauce.

Roast pork with potatoes, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

The roast pork with potatoes – amazing.

We went home incredibly full but had the best day learning how to cook like Italians! Carmela, Elisa and Olivia from Walkabout were absolutely fantastic and it was such a fun experience and who knows, maybe we might even cook some of it for you one day!!

Such a fun day, Italian Cooking Class, The Two Drifters, www.thetwodrifters.net

Us with Carmela and Elisa.

As always, Instagram is the best way to see what we do each day and we would love to hear from you if you would like to leave us a comment!!

Written by twodrifters
Hi there, we're Scott and Eilis, an Australian couple. We have been together for over 10 years and got engaged 2 days before we started our adventure of exploring Europe on a one-way ticket. We love adventures and have been lucky enough to have had plenty of them and now are endlessly dreaming of the next ones. We hope you enjoy our photos and stories - there's such a lot of world to see! Feel free to contact us at: admin@thetwodrifters.net