cooking classes? Tuscany or Sorrento perhaps?

There are 3 places in Florence that I know of. www.cordonbleu-it.com, www.accidentaltourist.com and www.divinacocina.com in Florence. My wife and I took a 6-hour class from Scuola di Arte Culinaria Cordon Bleu (www.cordonbleu.it.com). We really enjoyed it. I believe that Judy at Divina Cocina is an American Ex-pat living in Florence.

You might also try Perugia in Umbria. There are a couple that we looked at when we were researching our cooking class.

I took a five-day class from the International Cooking School in Bologna and had a terrific time. Three days were spent in the kitchen (9am-2pm or so, then we ate what we had been cooking) and two days were touring (parmeggiano reggiano coop, villa where they made balsamic vinegar - the behind the scenes stuff was particularly interesting). They also offer shorter courses, mostly in Tuscany and northern Italy, and would recommend them highly. Another company, Classic Journeys, also had a variety of 5-day courses in Tuscany and the Amalfi coast that also came well recommended. Both have their class listings on line.

If three or five days is more time or money than you'd want to invest, I'd still look into a one day course - there are a lot out there, particularly Rome and Tuscany, though I don't have any other recommendations for you (just search cooking class Italy and you should be busy for a while - culinary tourism is big now). Food is a such an intrinsic part of Italy I think it would be well worth a course, regardless of a one day or weeklong class.

I don't usually cook at home. So my cooking
'skills' is like a beginner's. Can I still join the class? Would they expect I have certain knowledge about cooking?

Here is one near Sorrento. Have not attended myself so cannot give an opinion but somewhere like Tripadvisor may have some reviews.

http://www.mamicamilla.com/

Dionne: can't speak for all classes, but mine had all skill levels, and the instructor did a good job accomodating less experienced cooks.