Naples - South Italy's Best Kept Secret | Fri Nov 14

About this experience

Naples is one of the oldest cities in Europe, and its hard to exaggerate its importance to Italian cooking, yet it rarely gets the credit it deserves.

Take tomato sauce, for example. Can you imagine pasta without tomato sauce? That's the way Italians ate it for centuries, until Neapolitan cooks turned the tomato, a New World vegetable brought to Europe by the Spanish, into the quintessential sugo for pasta: pomodoro! 

Then there's ragù, the dish the Neapolitans reimagined - and respelled! - based on traditional French ragout. With typical  frugality, the cooks of Naples transformed one dish into two: cooking small, inexpensive cuts of meat in tomato, and using the leftover sauce to flavour their macaroni. (To this day, no two households in Naples can agree which meats should be used or the exact recipe … but that's another story). 

And let's not forget pizza - perhaps the world's most popular Italian dish. Pizza was the street food of Naples for centuries before it started to spread across Italy in the 1950s, and quickly becoming popular all over the world. 

And that’s just scratching the surface! There are many more famous dishes (like puttanesca or sfogliatelle) and hidden gems (like lagane e ceci and mozzarella in carrozza) that make Naples one the finest places to eat in all of Italy. 

ABOUT TONIGHT'S CLASS 

Of course we can only scratch the surface of such a rich culinary tradition in a single class, but not worry, there will be more to come! 

But for now, let's begin at the beginning: Neapolitan chef Bruno di Sarno will guide us in preparing a typical Sunday meal, the kind his mother made when he was growing up. When we’re done cooking, guests will sit down together at a long harvest table to enjoy the meal, served by the Cucinato team. 

MENU 

Antipasto

Pizza montanara - Pizza fritta (fried pizza) topped with tomato, fresh ricotta and basil  

Primo  

Pasta e fagioli con castagne e cotena - Rustic pasta and bean soup, with chestnuts and (optional) pork rind 

Secondo e contorni 

Coniglio all’ischitana - Slow cooked rabbit stew (or chicken if you prefer), with herbs tomato and wine, typical of the picturecsque island of Ischia, just off the coast of Naples
Scarole alla partenopea - Neapolitan escarole with pine nuts, raisins and olives 
Zucca arrosto al rosmarino - Rotasted winter squash with rosemary 

Dolce 

Graffe - Pillowy soft citrus-infused donuts

BEVERAGES 

A selection of wines, beers and soft drinks will be available for purchase at the event. Our wine list can be viewed here: https://cucinato.ca/collections/wines

We also offer corkage, the fee is $15 per bottle. 

TERMS & CONDITIONS 

• No refunds after purchase
• Exchanges (one per ticket) permitted up to 5 days prior to the event.
• Tickets to Cucinato events are transferable - you can give them to someone else if you can’t attend (but please notify Cucinato in advance!)
• We will do our best to accommodate dietary needs – please contact us before booking