Riviera Pebbles Blog: Cooking courses on the Cote d’Azur

Posted on 5th Jan 2017 in Art

Most Cote d'Azur cooking courses scour local Provençal markets for bargains

Want to cook like a master chef? The Cote d’Azur hosts courses on pasta, pastry making and much else besides. Practise makes perfect with our new three part blog series:

Cooking Courses on the Cote d’Azur

Most cooking classes on the Cote d'Azur start with a market tour. The colourfully photogenic chaos of Nice’s Marché Cours Saleya and Marché Libération, plus Cannes’ Marché Forville, serve to whet appetites for later.

A chat with local producers, in the company of a French-speaking chef, gives aspiring cooks the chance to understand the seasonality of regional cuisine (think Provencal sheep’s in spring, or figs from Gard in late September). Plus the location specifics about the food you’ll soon scoff: including Cavaillon melons and Menton lemons.

A Google search will bring up dozens of courses across the region to suit all budgets. In Antibes, France's former pastry champion Christian Cottard now runs weekly dessert classes (€60 for two hours, patisserie-cottard-antibes.fr) at his downtown patisserie.

While in deepest Provence, culinary celebrity Patricia Wells runs knockout Southern French cooking courses for knockout prices ($5,500 per week, patriciawells.com).

These hands-on cooking courses will allow you to compete with the Cours Saleya’s finest.

Course 1: Rosa Jackson's Petits Farcis

Who? Rosa Jackson, a bilingual Canadian cookbook writer, has two decades of experience running French food tours.

Why? Rosa knows everybody in Nice's culinary scene. These range from the septuagenarian salesman who forages for wild asparagus high above the city, to the Michelin-starred chefs that shop for under-the-counter cheeses at Marché Libération. Better still, she liaises with her clients beforehand to plan each aspiring chef’s perfect menu, be it for locally-landed sea bass or gluten-free stuffed pasta.

How? Foodies book online in advance for street food tours, day-long cooking classes or wine tastings in Nice’s offbeat caves. Guests may also specialise in macarons, vegetables, Provençal cooking and much else besides.

When? Rosa has a chockablock calendar of near daily events and classes, with plenty of last-minute availability.

Where? Rosa just opened a brand new cooking atelier in Nice Old Town, a short walk from the Cours Saleya market.

The bottom line. Food tours start at €75, with classes from €80. petitsfarcis.com