Cook Matera traditional dishes in a home kitchen class

Step into a grandmother’s kitchen where recipes and memories blend in every dish

A four-hour cooking class in Matera where you prepare traditional local dishes alongside the host in her home kitchen, then sit down to eat them together in the informal, convivial atmosphere she has built around the table. The menu changes with the season: spring brings cardoncelli flan and baked pies with Pezzente salami, winter shifts to married soup and carnival calzones with pork ragout. A live guide in English or Italian is present throughout. Lunch and dinner are included.

The experience

What separates this from a cooking school is the setting itself. You're working in a home kitchen (the same one where the host learned to cook from her mother and her aunt) not in a commercial space built to teach. The recipes you'll make are rooted in what her family has cooked for generations: cicirata in hen broth, baked cazzomarro, dishes built around seasonal vegetables pulled from the countryside around Matera. The host describes the experience as an attempt to recreate the rituals and knowledge she absorbed growing up, and she's asking for your help to do it.

You'll prepare dinner together, combining the structured knowledge of recipes with the leisure of cooking alongside someone who knows the tradition. The menu shifts depending on when you visit. If you come in spring, you might work with cardoncelli mushrooms and field greens. In winter, the focus moves to heartier broths and filled pastries. Cold wafer, a salad made from stale Matera bread, tomatoes, onion and oil, often appears. Beyond the main dishes, you'll transform spontaneous products of the earth (cimamarelle, chicory, sivoni) into baked pies or meatballs. The class runs four hours and ends with the meal you've cooked, eaten at her table in the convivial, informal way she describes as "Slow."

The space is wheelchair accessible, and the host welcomes service animals. A guide who speaks English or Italian is there throughout. Public transportation options are nearby if you're traveling without a car.

What’s included

• Lunch and dinner, both made during the class.
• a live guide in English or Italian throughout the four hours.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day except Tuesday and WednesdayDeparts at 18:00

Book up to2d before

AgesAdult (18 and older) · Youth (12 to 17 years) · Child (3 to 11 years) · Infant (under 3): free

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish and Italian

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather or if the minimum number of travelers isn't reached. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated 3 days ago

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Francesco Linzalone

Is this one for you?If you're traveling as a couple or a small group and want to learn by doing rather than watching a demonstration, cooking in someone's home kitchen gives you the informal, unhurried pace that a commercial class cannot replicate. The host is teaching the specific traditions of her own family, not a standardized curriculum.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English and Italian.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (12 to 17 years); Child (3 to 11 years); Infant (under 3): free.

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

What dishes will I actually cook when I visit Matera in spring?

Spring menus center on seasonal vegetables and the Easter cardoncelli flan, along with baked pies filled with Pezzente salami, meatballs, or podolic caciocavallo cheese. The exact dishes shift year to year depending on what's available and what the host wants to teach that season.

Do I need cooking experience to join this class?

The class is suitable for all physical fitness levels and is built around learning together, so prior experience is not required. The host is teaching the traditions and knowledge she inherited, not assuming you already know them.

What happens after we finish cooking?

You sit down together at her table and eat the lunch and dinner you've prepared, in the informal, convivial atmosphere the host has built around the meal. This is part of the four-hour experience, not something separate.