Cooking Class in Provence

We took a wonderful one in the fall of 2018 through Provence Gourmet. The website will provide you with complete information. Gilles is the owner of this business. He is not a professionally trained chef but learned to cook from his grandmother. He teaches the classes himself, with a choice of locations. We could have had our class in Marseille or St. Remy but we picked Aix-en-Provence. It was a full day culinary immersion, starting at about 9:30 a.m. and lasting until about 4:00 p.m.

We first met up with Gilles near the tourist information center in Aix. It was a Thursday, an open market day in Aix, and I thought we'd be shopping for our food/ingredients in the open market area right in that square, but Gilles said no, that twice-a-week market is set up mainly for tourists and while it has some direct producers, it also has wholesalers. Instead, Gilles took us to the outdoor food market on a much smaller back square several blocks away. It operates seven days a week and is where local people and chefs do their food shopping. We went from stall to stall to purchase our fresh produce directly from the farmers who had grown it. We bought cheese from a goat farmer who had set aside the particular cheese she knew Gilles would want, as she sometimes sells out of it before he stops by.

Then we went to Gilles' favorite boulangerie to buy bread (what a heavenly aroma that place had!) and to a butcher's shop to buy meat. After that Gilles drove us in his large van out into the country where we tasted wine at a really lovely family-owned winery, choosing some to pair with our meal. Then, with all our purchases complete, we drove to Gilles' home in Aix, a beautiful home on 12 wooded acres with lots of herb and vegetable gardens. We picked the herbs we needed and began preparing the food under Gilles' guidance, in his beautiful outdoor kitchen. Finally we enjoyed our four course lunch together with Gilles.

It was all fabulous! Gilles will offer this experience to a group as small as two people or as large as 8 people. We were a group of four. We could have booked it as a private tour, for a higher price, but were willing to enjoy the experience with other people so we just signed up for a group experience, knowing that up to 4 others might join. When we met up with Gilles in the market, we learned that a second group of four had planned to join us but their vehicle had broken down on the way, so they had cancelled. Therefore, it ended up being a private experience for our group.

This was not inexpensive but it was worth it! The food was delicious. Gilles was warm and personable and we learned so much from him about daily life in Provence and French cooking! The entire experience was delightful: one of our favorite days of the week we spent in Provence.

This sounds amazing!! Thanks so much :)

I have not taken a cooking class in Provence, but you might want to consider this one:

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/you-can-now-learn-to-cook-at-julia-childs-provencal-home

I am a second enthusiastic vote for Gilles. We did last summer the same version as Vickie above. Starting at St Remy. You shop the market, he takes you to a family house outside in the country and you make meal together. He is delightful the house it delightful the whole experience was a highlight of the trip for our group of 6.

Actually I read Vickie too quickly. We did our from St Remy. The house in the country was his Aunts not his own. But was still wonderful. You will not be disappointed.

Thank you!

Several years ago, I took a cooking class in Uzes from La Pistou visiting the market, cooking and then lunch - and loved it. It's done with a small group (6-8?) and it was wonderful to cook together and share a fabulous meal. Highly recommend !

Note - my husband did not join the class but could join us for lunch.