Susafa Cooking School
Traditional Sicilian Cuisine Workshops
“Cucina” is Susafa's new cooking laboratory that aims to connect guests with the agricultural roots that define our precious identity.
Starting from the grains grown on the farm, we will explore their transformation process and learn how to use them correctly in traditional recipes such as breads, pasta and desserts. Susafa's "Cucina" is also an opportunity to discover or re-discover Italian cuisine, considered a "domestic meeting point", a quintessential place where the family gathered and spent time cooking, chatting, laughing, weaving deep family bonds and values.
In our kitchen, we dedicate ourselves to the preparation of bread, focaccia, “schiacciata” and pasta, but not only that, we also make biscuits, cannoli and baked cassata. We explore the roots of traditional Sicilian cuisine; we delve into the culture of extra virgin olive oil and always do so with a glass of local wine in one hand and a good Italian cookbook open in the other.
Susafa's Sicilian cooking workshops are a great way to learn to cook, but above all they are a sensorial journey that embrace the soul, in unique and engaging culinary experiences. Choose the workshop that intrigues you most and book your Susafa food experience.
EVERY MONDAY FROM 15 APRIL
Maiorca
– Cannoli making, introduction to Sicilian cakes and pastries
Ricotta-filled cannoli are iconic Sicilian pastries. All sorts of myths and legends play a part in their story, which date back to the days of Arab rule on the island. Every Monday, Rita reveals the secrets to making these mouth-watering marvels in crispy pastry shells. The fresh ricotta-based filling gets its distinctive smoothness from the sheep milk used to make it. Sweet ricotta also takes centre stage in cassata al forno, a baked cake resembling a pie that’s not as famous as the traditional cassata but just as exquisite. Rita will teach you how to make it in the traditional way. Finally, the experience wouldn’t be complete without the famous cakes made with almond paste that are always served at Sicilian tables.
Enjoy it after dinner, in the evocative atmosphere of our restaurant, while sipping one of the Sicilian dessert wines from our cellar.
Available on request, by prior arrangement, at an extra cost.
The workshop takes place in the bakery area of the kitchen from 11 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Lunch is included and will be a moment of sharing in perfect Italian style. For health and hygiene reasons, you will be provided with suitable equipment. You must wear closed shoes and long trousers.
Every Wednesday from 10 April
Perciasacchi
– Fresh pasta workshop
Start your Wednesday with a healthy, revitalizing walk in the vegetable garden, where you can pick some seasonal produce. Once you get back to the kitchen, Lumi will show you how to clean the items and use them as ingredients to go with our busiate, maccaruna and panzerotti, because this cooking workshop is all about fresh pasta. Before you roll up your sleeves and start cooking, you’ll find out all about the different types of wheat and flour we use. You’ll learn about their origins, history and how they’ve been used over the years, in an all-embracing educational experience.
The workshop takes place in the bakery area of the kitchen from 11:00 to 15:30. Lunch is included and will be a time of sharing in perfect Italian style. For health and hygiene reasons, you will be provided with suitable equipment. You must wear closed shoes and long trousers.
Every Friday from 12 April
Pane e olio
– Bread making and olive oil tasting
During this workshop, you’ll take a step-by-step look at wheat cultivation and then get the chance to make some get the chance to bake bread.
It’s an unbeatable opportunity to taste some freshly baked bread with our extra virgin olive oil. We’ll tell you all about our extra virgin olive oil and how we make it using age-old techniques. It’s a story that deserves to be shared, so you can learn to love natural products just as much as we do.
Every Saturday from 13 April
Frìiri
– Sicilian cooking workshop
While you’re chatting, you’ll make the panelle mixture and prepare everything you need for caponata in sweet and sour sauce. With its family atmosphere, our kitchen is a great place to learn the art of authentic Sicilian cuisine.
TO ENHANCE YOUR EXPERIENCE – C End the experience by tasting your own caponata to be served at dinner.
The workshop takes place in the bakery area of the kitchen from 11 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Lunch is included and will be a moment of sharing in perfect Italian style. For health and hygiene reasons, you will be provided with suitable equipment. You must wear closed shoes and long trousers.
HOW THE COOKING WORKSHOPS WORK
At Susafa, in cooking school ...
The classes of the Susafa Cooking School are held from 11:00 to 15:30, in the welcoming atmosphere of the bakery area within our kitchen.
The participants of our cooking workshops are the protagonists of a journey through the flavors of Sicilian tradition. With their own folder containing the recipes to be made during the class, a pencil and paper for notes, each participant will also receive an apron, gloves and a hat, to guarantee an immersive, authentic and safe experience. At the end of the class a certificate of participation will be given.
Each workshop combines practical experience with theoretical insights to learn about the history and culture of the raw materials used during the class, for example ancient grains from Sicily, local ricotta and dairy products, zero km products from the vegetable garden and orchard of Susafa. Each recipe is the chapter of a book that tells stories of ancient flavors and traditions handed down from one generation to the next.
The bread is kneaded as it once was and the shapes created from homemade pasta dough are symbols that link the past to the present, while we mix flour, eggs and water with our hands, with great expertise. From traditional desserts, such as cannoli and ricotta, you discover the goodness of the simple things, while the hearty and industriousness of the Sicilian “arancina” teaches us the secrets of good frying techniques and gives a lesson in patience and dedication.
You cook and, at the same time, taste what you have prepared while sipping a good glass of local wine. Lunch is offered in the same bakery area and is characterized by an informal "standing lunch" style, after which the workshop resumes until 3.30 pm. The tasting is the moment in which the participants savor the fruits of their labor, an ode to the history of an island rich in culture and passion for life. Tasting represents the essence of this experience, pure conviviality.
