Cooking lessons

A friend and I, on a french language immersion trip, signed up for this cours de cuisine with Gina for last week. This cooking class with Gina was the highlight of my trip to Avignon. Gina is very friendly, bilingual, and after taking us shopping at the market Les Halles, had us over to her apartment in Avignon’s old town for preparing our planned meal of stuffed peppers and a delicious tapenade. She involved us in the process as much as each of us wanted. My friend was more interested in the intimacy of the cultural experience, and I was a mix of the experience and the cooking. The final part, dining on the fruits of our labor on Gina’s rooftop terrace, is the stuff you’ve only only seen in movies. Up to now, that is. Merci Madam, c’était vraiment un bon moment!!

Shopping in Les Halles Working with the chef to prepare lunch & learning about typical Provençal food traditions Sharing lunch on Gigi’s rooftop terrace with the 2 others in my group. We all had a great time.

This day was everything it promised to be. A wonderful cultural, food and personable experience. Gina is authentic ! A great cook , teacher and host. Lunch atop her rooftop garden in the shadows of the palace of the popes was nothing short of memorable in every good way.

Overview: The experience was very positive and we had a lovely 4-5 hour day with Gina. We met at the market and worked together to pick a menu - nothing was set. We decided to make a whole Sea Bass with Tomato Tartar, Sautéed Peppers, and cooked Peaches for dessert, as the vegetables and the peaches were in season and looked great. Back at Gina’s house we spent as much time talking about her life as a restaurant owner / chef in Paris and her recent life in Southern France as we did cooking. While we did help with cutting the vegetables and other miscellaneous prep, Gina did 90% of the cooking for all three of us, as the kitchen is small and not enough room for everyone to cook their own meal. However, Gina is a lifelong chef, and taught us much about Mediterranean cooking and how to create amazing flavors with simple and fresh ingredients. The day concluded with a three course meal on her roof top terrace, which has beautiful views of the Palais de Papes. For us, it was a perfect culinary experience in Avignon.

We enjoyed sitting on the terrace and tasting the food we had created with Gina’s guidance. It was a nice small group experience.