Pasta Bolognese, Old School

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Don't know about you, but I've always thought Italy was a bit of a scam as far as food is concerned, in a roundabout sort of way. You go there, you eat, you get exited - ecstatic even, you scribble the names of your new favorite dishes on any and every scrap of paper, you bring the scraps home, you go to your local Italian restaurant, order and then.. you realize it's really not the same. At all.

While I can't offer a real solution to this, I might be able to point you to somebody who can, at least when it comes to pasta dishes and the Cucina bolognese in general. This is not one person but rather a group of individuals who run a small tourist-friendly cooking school called "La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese" (Bologna's Old School).

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The school (located at Via Innocenzo Malvasia, 49 - about half an hour walk from the center of the city or you can take any of the following buses: 13, 19, 35, 36, 39, 86, 91, 92, 93 to Via Saffi) offers several courses for tourists.

The simplest one would be a one-day course priced at only 70€ which includes three hours of instruction followed by a group cooking exercise after which you'll enjoy an appetizer, several pasta dishes (tortellini, tortelloni, tagliatelle), a dessert and a coffee.

For people who demand slightly higher skill levels than you can possibly acquire in one day, a three-day course (given on Monday, Tuesday from 10 am to 2pm and Thursday from 3pm to 7pm) will give a more thorough overview of fresh pasta cooking. This course costs 180€.

Finally, for those who insist on nothing but the most complete pasta indoctrination, there's a five-day course covering more types of pasta than you've probably ever heard of, states-side. The five-day course is priced at 240€. This includes full board and an Italian cook's uniform. You didn't think you'd be making pasta without one, did you?

La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese
www.lavecchiascuola.com
Via Malvasia, 49
Bologna 40133 Italy
(+39) 051-6491576

P.S. The prices and hours are believed to be accurate as of August 2008, but may change. Please check with the school in advance.