Two Pastas, Then Gelato, With an Appetiser in Between

Three hours in the Naplesbay laboratory on Via delle Zite, five minutes on foot from Stazione Duomo, inside the part of the old centre that carries the UNESCO listing.

The class covers both halves of an Italian meal that almost never get taught together. First the pasta: you make the dough by hand and take it in two directions, ribbons cut by knife and ravioli filled and sealed one at a time, with classic sauces to finish them. Halfway through, an appetiser arrives, which is both a break and a way of keeping the class from turning into two hours of standing.

Then gelato, and the chef makes the point that it is not ice cream translated. It carries less butterfat, is churned slower so it holds less air, and is served several degrees warmer, which is why the flavour arrives immediately instead of behind a wall of cold.

You eat everything you made, with one drink, alcoholic or not. Apron, hat, tools and a diploma to take away. Up to thirty travellers, taught in English, Italian, French or Spanish.