Cesarine: Market Tour & Cooking Class At Local's Home In Bologna

Rosa was the warmest, lovely hostess. She made us feel welcome and taught us how to make several wonderful Bologna dishes. We had a great time.

We did a market tour and cooking class with our host Paola. What an enjoyable experience. Paola was very knowledgeable and although we had already done a walking tour, she had a lot of new information to tell us! We then went to Paola’s house which was a short walk out of the city wall and she taught us to make tagliatelle, piadena and tiramisu. We were then invited to sit in her lovely garden and enjoy the food we made, along with additional food that Paola had prepared. Great experience, thank you!

Excellent food prepared by us with excellent instruction by our chef Mauricio! It’s not only great food. It’s great companionship great conversation. We only wish we had more time to spend.

All I can say is, Oriana is Bologna’s hidden gem. Smart, genuine, skillful, wonderful teacher. I could have chilled with her all day. Also, finders keepers!

We were on a tight schedule in Bologna, and were happy to find this cooking class geared towards making a visit to a local market and learning to prepare a homemade 3-course lunch. Although there was a bit of confusion initially on the meeting location (the Viator app indicated the meeting point to be near the Neptune Fountain in the city center, while one of the e-mails listed the address of the instructor's home), we were able to connect with the instructor to begin the tour. We were introduced to the Mercato Delle Erbe, where we picked up ingredients for our lunch. Some of the shops were closed due to merchants being on holiday during the month of August. However, we found some tomatoes, peaches, local squacquerone cheese, mortadella, guanciale, and fresh piadina wraps. We also stopped by a local bakery (Valentini), where we were introduced to some ravioli shaped shortbread-like cookies. Our instructor Maurizio was such a friendly host, and welcomed us into his beautiful home. We first enjoyed a quick piadina snack (local sandwich). We then enjoyed making our bruschetta appetizer. Maurizio taught us how to make homemade tagliatelle in a tomato based sauce. We finished the meal with a delicious peach cake. It's an experience we will always treasure from our travels there. Thank you for the wonderful lesson!

Maurizio was awesome! We loved the local market he took us to. The piadina was delicious, will definitely try that at home. Tagliatelle with porcini sauce from mushrooms foraged by his dad was memorable, finished it off with a lemon tart!

Rosa is fantastic. She adapted the menu on the fly around my likes and dislikes and to meet my experience/skill level. She had me do all the cooking, which is so much better than watching someone else. And she topped it off by recommending a number of different restaurants, enotecas, cafes, and gelato shops that I can easily walk to. She is also very friendly and speaks English very well.

This was one of the most enjoyable and valuable experiences I have ever had in all my travels. My adult daughter and I met Paola in the city center and she took us on a tour of the Mercato delle Erbe, a public market with food stalls and places to eat and drink. We then continued on to her lovely home for the cooking lesson. Paola had everything set out and pre-measured in her spacious, well-appointed kitchen. She provided us with all the recipes for safe-keeping in advance of the lesson. We then learned to make piedine, garganelli, and tiramisù. Paola explained everything clearly and made sure we both got turns to work on all aspects of the preparation of each dish. Her directions were not only clear and easy to follow, but were filled with explanations, culinary history and tradition, and many helpful hints to ensure the best results. While we kneaded, rolled dough, and made garganelli, we also engaged in conversation about ourselves. Paola is a delightful and very interesting, warm person and she was wonderful to get to know. Once the food was prepared she served us our lunch in her dining room where she had set a beautiful table. She provided a choice of wines, and we chose a very tasty Lambrusco to accompany the garganelli al ragù. She had prepared several other antipasti to add to our meal, and everything was delicious! Added to the meal was more stimulating conversation and by the time we were done eating, we felt we had made a new friend. We had so much fun during this lesson, but also learned a lot. Even though we are both experienced cooks (for example, we had both made tiramisù many times before), we learned new tricks and techniques to increase our expertise. Rolling garganelli was so enjoyable that we followed Paola’s advice and bought a riga gnocchi on the walk back home to be able to make these pasta shapes again when we return home. We are happy to be able to provide the highest recommendation possible for this experience with Cesarina Paola. We made some wonderful food, warm mother-daughter memories, and a lovely new friend.

How do I begin to describe this cooking class. This was absolutely the best part of our entire trip. I cannot say that enough. This was more than a cooking class, it was a look into the life of a true bologian. Learning about the local markets, stopping to say hello along the streets to venders, business owners and friends. The cooking portion of this experience was excellent and so much fun but this experience was much more than just a cooking class. Oriana welcomed us into her home as strangers and we left as friends. We decided as we left that if we every come back to Italy we definitely have to go to Bologna.

My wife and I were matched with Paola and we are so happy that this happened! We met her by the Fontana del Nettuno (Neptune Fountain) in downtown Bologna and asked her to show us the city market more frequented by locals (versus the more touristy one) and so she did. We went and bought a few ingredients together and she explained everything around the market. We then all chatted on our way to her beautiful home, where she led us through preparing a three-course meal of Piadina, Tortelloni, and Tiramisu. We ate the food we made at her table and she made us feel at home. It was honestly an amazing value because we can now go home and make this on our own. It’s not out of our reach, and that was her intention. She is kind, super intelligent, fun, and a great teacher. A Bolognese local! Ask for Paola and I hope you get her as a guide.

Alessia was and excellent host. We did local market tour in Bologna. Then to her house to make Tiramsu, tortelloni and tagliatelle. We actual made everything but the Bolognese sauce. Once completed we eat our pasta and tiramisu. Don’t miss this opportunity with Alessia! Great experience!

Paola was delightful and very generous in sharing her wealth of knowledge 🥰 The food was delicious.

Such a perfect way to spend a few hours. I had such a wonderful time, learnt plenty and really felt I was doing something unique and special. My guide, Paola was an exceptional host, warm, friendly and simply fabulous. Can't recommend this enough!!

Five Americans visiting Bologna — it was our last day and was the icing on the cake! Oriana’s gracious, warm, and lively hospitality made this a special day. One friend dubbed it a “Mama Mia experience”. We enjoyed shopping and trying some new recipes, the pasta making, the dessert and the selection of local wines. Unforgettable! Grazie!❤️🇮🇪❤️

Oriana was a fabulous host! She shared her knowledge of the area, her cooking class was authentic and she welcomed us into her lovely home - food and wines to accompany were delicious … Thank you again Oriana, would highly recommend!

A Bologna native teaching you to make pasta, combining history and cooking was a real treat! Extremely hospitable and welcoming, the best part of our visit. Thank you Laura!

A delicious and educational experience, our host, Paola was charming, informative, and patient! Dining in her beautiful home, and eating local dishes that we prepared under her watchful tutalage is an experience not to be missed!

Very knowledgeable instructor! Lovely tour of the markets and city. Excellent food. Very lovely and inviting home!

No question, this was the highlight of our trip and the activity that is squarely at the top of my list to repeat on our next visit. Marzia and Sisto are the most warm and wonderful hosts. First, we toured the historic market and then went to their home for a cooking lesson and dinner. We started with a sparkling red wine and had mortadella and prosciutto that Marzia and Sisto purchased from the market during the tour. Delicious!! The fresh pasta lesson was fun and a real eye-opener about what it takes to make fresh pasta—- it’s more work than we imagined and we have a real appreciation now for this craft. We also made tiramisu with Marzia and it was the best I’ve ever tasted. I cannot adequately express what a lovely evening this was and how lucky we are to spend an evening with this couple in their home. An amazing and unforgettable time!

No question, this was the highlight of our trip and the activity that is squarely at the top of my list to repeat on our next visit. Marzia and Sisto are the most warm and wonderful hosts. First, we toured the historic market and then went to their home for a cooking lesson and dinner. We started with a sparkling red wine and had mortadella and prosciutto that Marzia and Sisto purchased from the market during the tour. Delicious!! The fresh pasta lesson was fun and a real eye-opener about what it takes to make fresh pasta—- it’s more work than we imagined and we have a real appreciation now for this craft. We also made tiramisu with Marzia and it was the best I’ve ever tasted. I cannot adequately express what a lovely evening this was and how lucky we are to spend an evening with this couple in their home. An amazing and unforgettable time!

My friend and I spent an amazing day with Oriana that I will never forget. She was not only knowledgable about food and cooking, she was warm, friendly and welcoming. We were able to submerge ourselves into her lifestyle and gained a true perspective of the life of a Bolognese. Her daughter and husband, Salvatore, joined us for lunch and they too were happy to have us in their home. I walked away with great recipes and insight, and I now have a lifelong friend. Grazie Oriana. I will miss you...until we meet again!