Cook, don’t just watch
You are part of the experience from the beginning — preparing, cooking, tasting and learning techniques you can use again at home.
SOUTHERN ITALIAN COOKING EXPERIENCES · ADELAIDE
Southern Italian cooking experiences
More than a cooking class!
Cook with the seasons. Learn the traditions behind the food. Taste as you go. Then slow down over a generous shared long lunch, where an array of dishes, seasonal sides and something sweet come together around the table.
Small groups up to 12
Hands-on cooking
Seasonal produce
Shared long lunch
Thoughtful pairings
THE BACK 2 BASICS DIFFERENCE
Cook. Taste. Learn. Then stay for lunch.
Our experiences bring together the things that make a Southern Italian table memorable: good produce, practical cooking, stories worth keeping and the pleasure of sharing it all properly.
Cook with the seasons
What is fresh, local and abundant helps shape the table, just as it has in Southern Italian kitchens for generations.
Taste the story
Olive oil, ingredients, local wine and the traditions behind the dishes are woven naturally through the day.
Take your place at the table
Everything leads to the shared long lunch — an abundant spread of dishes, seasonal sides and something sweet, with matched wine, conversation and time to enjoy it all.
Seasonal food · South Australian wine · One shared table
FROM THE KITCHEN TO THE GLASS
Thoughtful wine pairings, chosen for the table
The wine is part of the experience from the beginning.
We partner with local South Australian wineries, choosing wines to complement the seasonal Southern Italian dishes we prepare and share.
Our partnership with George’s Folly Wines is a particularly important part of the Back 2 Basics Traditions table — bringing beautifully matched wines that can lift a dish, soften a flavour, reveal something unexpected and make the long-lunch experience feel complete.
From time to time, other South Australian wineries may also feature, giving each table its own character while keeping the focus where it belongs: good food, thoughtful wine and the pleasure of sharing both.
Good food. Local wine. A long lunch worth lingering over.
UPCOMING AT THE TABLE
See what’s coming to the table.
Each cooking experience has its own seasonal character. Explore the date that suits you, or join the waiting list if another table would suit better.
Cooking Experience – Spring at the Southern Italian Table
A spring day of hands-on Southern Italian cooking, seasonal produce, matched wine and a generous shared long lunch as the table fills with dishes to enjoy together.
Explore this experienceTHE FEELING PEOPLE TAKE HOME
People come for the food. They remember the feeling.
The flour on their hands. Something fresh from the garden. A flavour they had forgotten. A technique that turns out to be simpler than they imagined.
And then the moment everyone finally sits down.
That is where a Back 2 Basics Traditions cooking experience becomes more than a class. The food has been made together, stories have been exchanged, the table is full and there is nowhere else anyone needs to be.
Be a cook, not a chef.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
A generous day, from the first welcome to the final taste.
Seasonal Southern Italian cooking
The menu moves with the seasons, drawing on beautiful produce, traditional methods and the kind of food made to be passed around.
Hands-on from the beginning
You cook alongside us from the start. What you make changes with the season — from pasta to zuppa and beyond — with guidance that keeps the day relaxed and practical.
Stories behind the food
Learn the why behind techniques, ingredients and traditions, so what you make means more when you take those ideas home.
Tastings along the way
Olive oils, seasonal tastes and little discoveries are woven through the day rather than saved for a formal tasting.
Thoughtfully matched local wines
South Australian wines are chosen to sit naturally beside the food, with George’s Folly Wines a valued partner at many of our tables.
A proper shared long lunch
The cooking becomes a generous meal, with an array of dishes and sides coming together around the table before something sweet, coffee and a liqueur tasting.
A TAVOLA!
This is an Italian-style long lunch, not a tasting plate.
As the day unfolds, the table fills with an array of dishes — usually primi, main dishes, seasonal sides and dessert — before coffee and a liqueur tasting. It is a proper long lunch, and guests leave very well fed.
THE RHYTHM OF THE DAY
A sample shared table cooking experience
Every experience changes with the season, but the rhythm of the day is unmistakably Back 2 Basics Traditions.
- 01
Benvenuti
Coffee, biscotti and time to settle in around the table.
- 02
From the garden
See what is fresh, abundant and ready to become part of the day.
- 03
Hands on
What you make changes with the season — from pasta to zuppa and whatever else the day calls for. We can cater for dietary requirements when they are discussed with us before booking.
- 04
Taste and learn
Olive oil tasting, ingredients, traditions and thoughtfully matched local wines are woven through the cooking.
- 05
The shared table
The cooking becomes lunch as the table fills with an abundant spread — usually primi, main dishes, seasonal sides and dessert — with matched wines and time to linger. Come hungry; guests leave well fed.
- 06
A final taste
Coffee and a Back 2 Basics Traditions liqueur tasting to finish.
REAL TABLES · REAL COOKING · REAL MOMENTS
Moments from our cooking experiences
Hands busy, glasses poured, food passed around and plenty of conversation in between.
PRIVATE & GROUP EXPERIENCES
Your own Southern Italian table
Planning something for friends, family, a social club or a small group? Private cooking experiences bring the same hands-on cooking, seasonal food and shared-table hospitality to a group of your own.
Enquire about a private experienceGOOD TO KNOW
Questions before you join us?
Enough detail to feel prepared, without taking the pleasure out of discovering the day as it unfolds.
Do I need to know how to cook?
Not at all. The experiences are welcoming and hands-on, whatever your level of confidence in the kitchen.
Is every cooking experience the same?
No. The seasons help shape what we cook and taste, so dishes and activities vary throughout the year.
How many guests attend?
Scheduled cooking experiences are intentionally kept small, with a maximum of 12 guests.
What about dietary requirements or allergies?
We can cater for many dietary requirements. Please contact Back 2 Basics Traditions before booking so dietary requirements or allergies can be discussed and confirmed before you purchase your place.
Can I arrange a private experience?
Yes. Private cooking and food experiences can be arranged for small groups and special gatherings. Contact us to discuss what you have in mind.
AROUND OUR TABLE
What our guests say
Four different voices, one familiar theme: generous food, warm hospitality and a day worth remembering.
“A wonderful day of hands on Italian cooking… Food, music and wine and great friends — what a blessing! The wine pairing from George’s Folly was the best.”
“The day was fantastic; practical, informative & fun. One of the best experiences I’ve had in a long time. To share a leisurely lunch with great company was special. The George’s Folly Wines were an excellent pairing.”
“One of the best experiences ever! The day was filled with joy, love and good food, not to mention all the beautiful people to share the day with. Left feeling confident to do the meals at home.”
“If you enjoy cooking, good food and great company, you can’t go wrong with this course. It’s great, traditional home cooking from scratch at its best, with friendly hosts and good quality ingredients, followed by a lovely leisurely lunch and wine and liqueur tasting — what’s not to love?!”
THE NEXT TABLE
There is always another table being planned.
See what is coming next — or join the waiting list and be among the first to know when a new cooking experience opens.