If you start talking about gelato, a huge smile will come over my face. I just adore gelato, BUT it has to be really good gelato. And I’m picky! When I was in Italy this past year (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), I asked around to see if there were gelato making classes. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to take one, but I realized I forgot to share the classes I found out about. So here we go… let’s make some gelato! In general, these classes are 2-4 hours long, held either at gelato shops or at cooking schools, and can be taken by kids, too.
Near Venice, in Padua, Mama Isa, the owner of Mama Isa’s Cooking School, offers a four-hour private gelato-making lesson at her house. She has family recipes that she teaches you, and lunch is included. The fee starts at 130 euros per person.
Image source: https://isacookinpadua.altervista.org
InRome Cooking, a cooking school housed in a 17th century palazzo, you can take a small group, two-hour class. They do offer private classes as well. You’ll learn to make gelato using both a machine and by hand. They use ingredients sourced from around Italy. The group class starts at 60 euros per person.
Image source: http://www.inromecooking.com
Also in Rome, Access Europe offers a two-hour class at Giolitti, a gelato shop near the Pantheon. Giolitti opened in 1900! You’ll learn gelato-making working with a gelataio (a person who makes gelato) and even be allowed to go behind the counter and serve your gelato to customers. You’ll also enjoy a gelato tasting. This experience is high-end and costs 700 euros per person.
Image source: https://www.facebook.com/accesseurope/photos/a.10150098924568277.273582.154243793276/10153536922718277/?type=3&theater
Florencetown, in Florence, offers two-hour private gelato classes where guests first visit four well-known gelaterias for tastings. In a fifth gelateria, the gelato-making lesson begins and you’ll learn how to make an in-season flavor. The fee for this starts at 75 euros per person with a four person minimum.
Image source: https://www.florencetown.com/161-pizza-gelato-cooking-class.html
This option in Florence interested me the most. Heck, I visit at least four gelato places when I’m in Florence anyway, though I absolutely have my favorite. It would, however, be great to do these visits with a professional gelato maker. And somehow making gelato IN a gelato shop, rather than in a school, seems like more fun. OK, all this gelato talk has me really missing Italy. In Italy, it’s always the gelato hour, and I never miss a day of enjoying gelato.
Have you ever taken a gelato making class in Italy? Did I miss mentioning any you know of? Let me know.