The Bologna Buongusto Cooking School presents the sober and elegant style of Italian cooking. It is different from the decorated table prepared for tourists, who have no knowledge of the Italian cooking. The style depends on the composition and presentation of the dishes, the way you serve the wine, the grace and the beauty of the whole, the table and the external context.
The high quality is another aspect which characterizes the expressions of Italian culture like cooking. This quality depends on the recipe, the cook’s ability, the ingredients, the method of cooking, the matching with wine and other elements. Our school is inspired by the high quality restaurants, which usually are not showy. They offer a discreet and friendly service in keeping with the traditional Italian table and their dishes and wines, presented without emphasis, are excellent. The real elegant restaurants are not snobbish. Bologna Bologna Cooking School does not approve the restaurants which seem luxurious but then present expensive dishes of poor quality. The high prices depend on the embellishments of the dishes, which want to impress the mass tourism.
Wine and cooking
are important elements of Italian culture, as are art, architecture, design, fashion and the beauty of the landscape.
Bologna’s cooking is the most famous in the world. Here you find a very high quality combined with an elegant style.
There are few foreign tourists in Bologna, restaurants are for Italians.
Unlike the low and medium quality restaurants, the high quality restaurants in Bologna are less expensive than in other Italian cities. Bologna is a rich city and, according to the statistics, the majority of Italians would like to live here.
Bologna is deeply elegant, but its beauty has not been displayed to the tourists. Bologna has a deep interior beauty, which produces the real elegance.
A cook must learn the technique and develop his/her creativity
In the Bologna Buongusto cooking school the students learn high quality cuisine. Moreover, the sober style of the school allows the development of an elegant idea of the table, an elegance without affectation or frills. The quality of the school is high, the style is sober and the prices are moderate.
Prices
are moderate because the cooking expert Mario Scalera manages the school both in his private kitchen and in the restaurants’ professional kitchens.
Students learn very well, because the cooking school is specialized in teaching to foreign people.
Staff and collaborators
a. Three people manage the school in a private kitchen
Mario Scalera managesthe team and teaches the cooking techniques.
He worked for 10 years as a cook in different restaurants, where he experienced different cooking techniques and different kinds of recipes.
Today he is a researcher of the traditional way of cooking. He recovers ancient recipes, that are then elaborated and presented close to our present taste.
He has a deep interest in cooking and he is able to transmit it to the students. He is an excellent teacher for amateur and professional cooks.
b. The cooking abilities are not enough, it is important also to teach cooking ways and techniques enthusiastically
Mario Scalera is able to understand the needs of the students, adapting his lesson to students’ requests. He co-operates with two cooks who work permanently in two different restaurants and participate in the lessons according to the number of students.
c. Bologna Buongusto Cooking School , moreover, co-operates with the Association Amici di Babette for the professional courses
This association, former Sorelle Simili, organises training courses especially for industrial restoration.
d. Some restaurants put their kitchen at students’ disposal for training and work experience
Bologna Bologna Cooking school is connected to the cooking and wine culture of the city. Some restaurants put their kitchen at professional students’ disposal, so that they can try the actual creation, learn the use of different utensils, to work in a team and to respond to the different needs of clients, all that with the guide of Mario Scalera and the restaurant’s chef. Through the school it is possible to organise work experience at restaurants. The restaurant’s disposal depends on the period and the request, work experience is possible in case of vacant places. The school books for the work experience, but the effective availability, the period and the length depend on the restaurant.
e.
Mario Scalera holds
the meetings of wine tasting
where the aim is the coupling between wine and food. These meetings are heldin a specialist wine bar and the aim is to recognize the different wines. Here the student learn to choose the wine comparing quality and price.
f. Three prestigious external chefs
hold thematic lessons for the professional students of Bologna Bologna cooking school .
The cooking lessons
The lessons start with the Bologna’s and Emilia-Romagna’s cooking and spread to the various specialities of the other Italian regions (this schedule varies according to the length of the course). The programme balances cooking tradition and technique of North, Middle and South Italy.
In the amateur courses students make fresh pasta once a week, in the semi-professional every day. The dishes of semi-professional courses are elaborated and the students must have adequate cooking abilities, even with regard to the coupling of food and wine. The professional courses are very technical and are for cooks or chefs.
Four dishes every day
Everyday students cook pasta, a main course, a side dish and a dessert. There are different kinds of dishes and if you cook an elaborate main course (for example tortellini) you then prepare an easy side dish.
Every week students learn four kind of pasta, main course, side dish and dessert, coupling them with the wines and preparing four complete dinners. Every dish offers many variations, so that in one week a student learns to cook 16 basic dishes plus variations (about 64 different dishes in a week).
Seminars
The programme provides a general cooking course designed to teach the basic skills necessary to prepare authentic Italian dishes. Students, together with the teacher, prepare a complete menu:
pasta, main course, side dish, dessert and wine. Seminars are held twice a week - Tuesdays and Thursdays - from 7 to 11 p.m. After cooking, the students and teacher enjoy the meal they have cooked in a convivial atmosphere, tasting wines and liqueurs, talking with the chef and his assistant throughout the evening.
2 meetings a week, 8 hours, 6-12 people per group
1 week
Euro
60
2 weeks
Euro
114
3 weeks
Euro
168
4 weeks
Euro
222
every extra week
Euro
57
Amateur
Courses
Amateur courses are designed to teach students the methods of Italian cooking and help students to uncover the secrets of Italian cuisine. Subjects concern cooking tradition in Italy in general with particular focus on bolognese and regional cuisine. They're arranged by courses (starters, pasta, main courses, side dishes and dessert) or by theme (pasta, meat, vegetables, wines). Each meeting lasts three hours, from 9.30 to 12.30 a.m., you can choose five days a week or four or three days a week. Two other meetings are devoted to ways of choosing and buying ingredients with a visit to the local market and to the kitchens of some prestigious restaurants. This course is organized in 5 levels: 1. Beginners' course: for those with no experience in cooking at all 2. Basic course: for those who can cook, but have no experience in Italian cooking 3. Italian, Bolognese and Regional Cooking course: for those already familiar with Italian cuisine and who have experience in cooking Italian dishes 4. In-depth course: for those already competent in Italian cooking and who already know several different recipes 5. Specialized course
5 meetings a week
(5 cooking classes plus 2 visits to the market), 20 hours (15 hours of cooking plus 5 hours in the market and restaurant)
3 – 6 people per group
1 week
Euro
350
2 weeks
Euro
665
3 weeks
Euro
980
4 weeks
Euro
1295
every extra week
Euro
332
4 meetings a week
(4 cooking classes plus 2 visits to the market), 17 hours (12 hours of cooking plus 5 hours in the market and restaurant)
3 – 6 people per group
1 week
Euro
308
2 weeks
Euro
586
3 weeks
Euro
864
4 weeks
Euro
1142
every extra week
Euro
293
3 meetings a week
(3 cooking classes plus 2 visits to the market), 14 hours (9 hours of cooking plus 5 hours in the market and restaurant)
3 – 6 people per group
1 week
Euro
231
2 weeks
Euro
439
3 weeks
Euro
647
4 weeks
Euro
855
every extra week
Euro
219
Semi-
professional Courses
Semi-professional courses develop abilities in order to become a cook and have a good knowledge of how to combine food and wine. It provides students with a wide overview of recipes - which can be interpreted according to individual style - and the techniques of preparing different Italian dishes. One acquires a deep background knowledge of the Italian culinary art according to tradition.
Three levels: 1. First Level – general. Overview of different kind and ways of cooking, different traditions 2. Second Level – in-depth. Further exploration of general Italian cooking, based on starters, pasta, main courses, side dishes, dessert, bread-making and the ways to compose, decorate, serve and present the dishes 3. Third Level – specialized. Every week has a theme. Students learn and try the variations on the thematic dishes: the preparation, the flavouring, the presentation, the composition, the ingredients. They learn, moreover, the presentation of these dishes in the best Italian restaurants, so that they can choose some aspects of every model and build their own cooking style.
5 meetings a week
(5 cooking classes plus 2 visits to the market and restaurant), 20 hours (15 hours of cooking plus 5 hours in the market)
2 – 4 people per group
1 week
Euro
525
2 weeks
Euro
998
3 weeks
Euro
1470
4 weeks
Euro
1943
every extra week
Euro
500
Professional Courses
for Cooks and Chefs
These courses are designed for professional cooks or chefs. They’re held by the school and chefs working in prestigious high quality restaurants, with teaching experience in professional cuisine. These courses are organized in cooperation with the Association “Gli amici di Babette” (formally the school of Sorelle Simili).
5 meetings a week
(5 cooking classes plus 2 visits to the market), 20 hours (15 hours of cooking plus 5 hours in the market and restaurant)
2– 4 people per group
1 week
Euro
750
2 weeks
Euro
1425
3 weeks
Euro
2100
4 weeks
Euro
2775
every extra week
Euro
675
One-to-one
Courses
These courses are organised by topic and cooking method based on the specific needs of the student
1 meeting, 3 hours
Euro
210
3 meetings
Euro
588
5 meetings a week
(5 cooking classes plus 2 visits to the market and restaurant), 20 hours (15 hours of cooking plus 5 hours in the market)
1 week
Euro
980
2 weeks
Euro
1862
3 weeks
Euro
2744
4 weeks
Euro
3626
every extra week
Euro
675
Wine
Tasting Course
The wine course is held in a wine bar. Here an oenologist (wine expert) introduces the art of wine recognizing wine and coupling with dishes. You will be presented with the different kinds of grapes. They are used in the wine making (this process is called “uvaggio”), grape cultivation, processing and storing. Participants learn to recognize the various wine typologies (name, place of origin, year and quality) and to choose the wine comparing it to the price. High quality wine is quite expensive, but the price does not correspond always with the real value. It is possible for example, to recognize excellent wine with a good price, but also the opposite. Every course proposes three different wine typologies, two bottles of every type, for a total of six tasting.
1 meeting, 3 hours, 2-4 people
Euro
90
3 meetings
Euro
252
The cooking teachers speak also a little English. In order to communicate during the lesson it is enough to know a basic English or Italian.
A translation service is also available.
Interpreter for:
