Parma - Lesson with Chef Micaela

We liked that it was just us for the cooking class. It was also interesting and enjoyable to be taught in Micaela's own home. We enjoyed eating our creations with Micaela. It felt like having a meal with friends. Micaela made the lesson special because she was so welcoming and interesting to talk to. The meal we cooked was delicious and a recipe that we can realistically recreate at home regularly. Sam L,, United Kingdom

Chef Micaela in Parma is a delightful woman; articulate, energetic, and positive. It was fun shopping with her and discovering the shopping areas of Parma, a previously unknown city for us. Her menu was not terribly innovative or interesting: we already knew how to make gnocchi, saltimboca a la Romana, and tiramisu. All delicious dishes, but not new to us. If we had known the menu ahead of time, we would have asked to change the gnocchi and tirimisu to something new to us. It was fun having her open her home and kitchen to us and her stories of her nonna's cooking and cooking lessons were appropriate to the cooking class. Patricia, CA

The cooking experiences I had were out of this world. Chef Micaela was wonderful. Our first stop with Micaela was at the Parmesan Reggiano factory. The pride the people have that are involved with the cheese making is unbelievable. Everything is done by hand, no machines. After the tour, we went to Micaela's home and made... pasta and sauces and Tiramsu. Once again the food was fabulous and Micaela made us feel very much at home. I would love to go back some day and spend more time with her. This trip was educaational as well as enjoyable. The International Kitchen's staff did a great job. Sue C., IN

I THINK MICAELA WAS WHAT WE LIKED MOST. SHE WAS WARM AND FRIENDLY. WE HAD A LOT OF TIME TO CONVERSE WITH MICAELA WHILE WE COOKED AND HER ENGLISH WAS PERFECT. SHE WAS ACCOMODATING...WILLING TO DO ANYTHING WE WANTED TO DO. GOING TO THE MARKETS AND FOOD SHOPS AND GOING TO SEE HOW THEY MAKE PARMAGIANO REGGIANO CHEESE. [Note from TIK: Clients did custom trip including tours of a parmigiano reggiano factory.] NOT SURE HOW YOU COULD HAVE MADE IT BETTER. NOTHING ELSE. TO SUMMARIZE...YOU AND MICAELA WERE GREAT. WE HAD A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE. Chuck W., FL

The class with Chef Micaela was one of the highlights of our trip. The city of Parma is beautiful, and somewhat less "touristy" than many we saw, and only added to our pleasure in the class itself. Chef Micaela was knowledgable, friendly, and fun. She was able to help with suggesting what we might find or use as substitutes in the states for some of the ingredients we used in the class. I look forward to preparing several of the menu items we cooked with her at a luncheon here in a few weeks. Susan and Bob S., AZ

We enjoyed visiting the market with Micaela. As she cooked in her home, it was interesting to see an Italian apartment and what a home kitchen was like. Good food and good company. Christine M., CT

[Note: these clients did 3 different one-day classes: in Assisi, in Siena, and in Parma.] I especially loved that Letizia in Assisi emailed us prior to the class & gave us a choice of menus. She also spent alot of time with us in a gourmet store teaching us about the local products. Elisabetta's class [in Siena] was wonderful becuase we were with her family. And thank God for Micaela because Parma was not a very friendly town & she was a breath of fresh air. Karen L., Hackettstown, NJ