It's hard to overstate the importance of Naples in Italian cooking.

Take tomato sauce. Can you imagine pasta without tomato sauce? That's the way it was eaten in Italy for centuries, until Neapolitan chefs took the Spanish recipe for tomato sauce (which they served with meat) and turned it into the quintessential sugo for pasta: pomodoro!

Then there's ragù, a dish the Neapolitans learned, reimagined - and respelled! - based on the classic French ragout. With typical Southern Italian frugality, the cooks of Naples transformed this slow cooked dish into a two course meal, using the sauce to flavour their homemade maccheroni, and reserving the braised meats to serve as the main course. (To this day, no two households in Naples can agree which meats should be used in a traditional ragù, but that's another story).

And let's not forget pizza - only the world's most popular Italian dish. Baked or fried, pizza was the street food of Naples for centuries before it started to spread across Italy in the modern era, and quickly gained popularity the world over.

These are just the most obvious examples. 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. You'll learn to make fried pizza, homemade pasta, slow cooked meat ragù, two meat dishes (braciole and meatballs), the "scapece" way of preparing seasonal veggies, and a delicious citrus custard for dessert!

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

Antipasti

Pizza fritta in due modi - Two types of fried pizza: ricotta & salami; tomato and mozzarella

Primo

Strozzapreti al ragù - Homemade semolina pasta with slow cooked ragù

Secondi e contorno

Polpette - Homemade meatballs

Braciole di manzo - Beef cutlets, rolled with pine nuts, raisins and herbs

Pane - Rustic Southern Italian bread to soak up the tomato sauce

Verdure alla scapece - Fried seasonal veggies, marinated in white wine vinegar

Dolce

Crema di arance - Citrusy orange custard, served in a cup

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

Naples: Southern Italian Cooking at its Best! | Fri May 31 - SOLD OUT

$135.00