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Rosa's CookBook
Drawing on the city’s rich food traditions, Rosa Jackson gathers over 100 recipes by season. Gliding through open air markets, tiny bakeries, and generations-old restaurants, she conjures a region and its cuisine as only a local can. Pull up a seat at the Niçoise table, a unique and captivating side of French food.
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Join our cooking classes, street food tours, wine tastings and pastry classes
Nice has a unique Mediterranean cooking style, influenced by Provence and nearby Italy. Our hands-on cooking classes, street food tours, and pastry classes delve into the rich culture and history of Nice, one of the most beautiful cities in France and the world. Food writer and longtime cooking teacher Rosa Jackson and her friendly team of English-speaking local experts will introduce you to the best food and wine that the city has to offer.
Classes take place at the Les Petits Farcis cooking studio at 12 rue Saint Joseph in the Old Town of Nice, a five-minute walk from the Cours Saleya market. The kitchen is fully air-conditioned, with space for up to eight students in a hands-on class.
Cours Saleya market tour, cooking class & lunch
Mastering French Macarons
Choux Pastry Masterclass
Choux pastry is the base for such iconic French pastries as eclairs, religieuses, cream puffs and croquembouche, and can also be used for savory preparations.
In this class, we share our techniques for making perfectly puffed-up choux pastries every time. You will learn to make two different fillings, mascarpone cream and crème pâtissière (pastry cream).
You will practice piping, filling and baking the choux pastry under the chef's expert guidance. Students are provided with an emailed PDF recipe booklet of the recipes prepared in class, along with a box of their creations.
Class is held in our cooking studio at 12 rue St-Joseph, Vieux Nice. If you don't see your preferred date, or would like to book within 48 hours of a class, please contact us to book. Private classes are available on request.
Libération market tour, cooking class & lunch
Just north of the main Nice train station, the city’s biggest food market takes place six days a week. Known affectionately to locals as “la Libé”, this up-and-coming part of Nice is reminiscent of Paris with its 19th-century style buildings and broad boulevards that offer a view of the mountains beyond the city. Food-lovers from all over town come here for the vast selection of produce, much of it sold directly by the farmers. This is also where you will find the biggest variety of fish and seafood in Nice, along with several excellent butchers. Both Rosa and Viktorija live in this area and have developed a strong attachment to the neighborhood and its market.
Our tour will begin at 9am in front of the Gare du Sud, a former train station that now houses a modern food hall. From here, we will visit the farmers’ stalls to find the freshest local produce and select meat or fish for our meal.
Around 10.30am, we will take the tram to the Petits Farcis cooking studio, where everyone will play a role in preparing the meal. Tucked away in rue St-Joseph, one of the most charming streets in the Old Town, this light-bathed studio has a large granite-topped island with built-in gas burners and a separate dining table that seats ten.
No need to worry if you are a beginning cook, the atmosphere is relaxed! A couple of hours later we will sit down to an authentic Niçois meal and toast our efforts with a glass of rosé (or, if you prefer, an intriguing local red or white wine). By 3pm we will have finished our meal and you will be free to explore Nice's Old Town or perhaps head to the beach!This program is limited to seven participants to facilitate the use of public transport from Libération to the Old Town and to allow for maximum spontaneity in our menu choices. A minimum of two people is required for a cooking class to take place; if the class does not reach the minimum, you will be refunded your deposit.
If you don't see your preferred date here or need any assistance with the booking process, please contact us to book your class. Classes may be booked nine months ahead.
Private Rosé Wine Tasting with Niçoise Nibbles
The crisp rosés of southern France, in all shades of pink, have conquered even the most skeptical wine lovers. But how do you taste rosé wine and judge its qualities? Join sommelier and cookbook author Viktorija Todorovska at the beautiful Petits Farcis studio in the heart of Nice Old Town to discover the rosés of Provence and the French Riviera and learn to identify your preferred style. She will introduce you to the art of tasting any wine and tell you the story of rosé and the region, illustrating her points by uncorking bottles from her favorite producers.
Viktorija will also provide you with a list of rosés available outside France so that you can continue to build your knowledge at home.
Because rosé wine is an integral part of "la merenda", Nice’s street food tradition, a selection of local nibbles will be served during this tasting. You will also learn how to pair rosé with foods from the Mediterranean and other parts of the world.
This tasting is available for at least two people, at a minimum cost of 450 euros.
Fish Camp
Do you love eating seafood, but lack confidence when it comes to preparing it? You are not alone! Join us for a four-day workshop to hone your fish preparation skills in a fun and friendly environment.
Our guest teacher, Annie Seabourne, is the daughter of a fisherman and runs the cooking school My Fish Kitchen in Cornwall, England. She is passionate about her subject and loves to prepare fish in a minimalist style, to highlight their distinct flavors. Co-teacher Rosa will bring her love of the local produce to these classes, pairing seasonal vegetables — also prepared simply — with our carefully selected catch each day.Each day will begin with a visit to the fish market, where you will learn to recognize signs of optimal freshness and choose the best of the day’s catch. We will also visit the fishing port of Cros de Cagnes (weather permitting), where you will see fishermen bring in their catch on small boats, just as they have for hundreds of years.
In Rosa's Old Town kitchen, you will learn to scale, fillet and clean different types of Mediterranean fish, and practice a variety of preparation methods that will give you plenty of options when cooking fish at home. Each day, we will work with at least three varieties of fish and seafood, which might include sardines, mackerel, sea bream, John Dory, scallops, squid, cuttlefish, sole, amberjack, and others, depending on availability. Class schedule Wednesday: 5 to 7pm Join Rosa and Annie at the Les Petits Farcis cooking studio in Nice Old Town for a welcome drink with seafood-based nibbles. We will introduce the course and get to know each other before our first day of cooking. Thursday: 9am to 3pm Our day will begin at Libération market in Nice, where we will select our fish and vegetables for the day based on what looks freshest and most appealing. We will then take the tram to Rosa's Old Town kitchen, where you will learn techniques for cleaning and filleting fish, and how to prepare them simply to bring out their unique flavors. Rosa will prepare a variety of simple salads and vegetable dishes to accompany the fish. Friday: 11am to 2pm and 5 to 9pm In the morning, will take the train to the nearby fishing port of Cros de Cagnes (10 minutes west of Nice), where you will see the fishermen bring in their catch and select our fish for the day. You will have an opportunity to meet a local fisherman and ask questions about fishing in the French Mediterranean. A light picnic lunch will be provided. Starting at 5pm, we will prepare our meal based on what we found at the fishing port, as well as vegetables selected by Rosa at Libération market.- Please keep in mind that fishing is dependent on favorable weather conditions. Should fishing be impossible on the day of our outing, we will try to move this outing to another day or replace it with a different activity.
- Three days of teaching by two culinary experts
- All the ingredients
- Wine and nibbles on Day 1
- Wine with each meal
- Tram tickets
- Return train ticket from Nice Ville to Cros de Cagnes
- Picnic lunch in Cros de Cagnes
- Notebook and pen to record what you have learned
- A Les Petits Farcis apron to take home
- Accommodation
- Transport to and from Nice
- Transport should you choose to come to Cros de Cagnes from another departure point or at a different time.
Rosa Jackson
Born in Canada, Rosa Jackson moved to France in 1995 to pursue her passion for cooking. During her ten years in Paris, she edited several editions of the Time Out Paris restaurant guide and founded her own food tour company, Edible Paris http://www.edible-paris.com.
She moved to Nice in 2004 and launched Les Petits Farcis in her home kitchen. In 2015, she moved her classes into a dedicated space in the Old Town where she now works with a small team of cooking and pastry teachers who share her passion for the local cuisine. Her cookbook Niçoise was released by the American
publisher W.W. Norton in spring 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
Availability and bookings
Our events calendar shows the dates that we’re available to hold classes, and our booking system shows classes that are currently open for booking. We charge a 50 percent deposit to hold your spot(s). Any class that does not reach the minimum (2 for cooking classes, 3 for the pastry classes and street food tours, and 4 for the Wine and Cheese Masterclass) will be cancelled and your deposit will be refunded.
Private Nice Street Food Tour
You can contact us to check availability for a Private Nice Street Food tour from the page itself and, once you’ve confirmed your date, reserve your place on it by paying your deposit.
The cooking classes are held in Rosa’s cooking studio at 12 rue St-Joseph, which is in the Old Town about a five-minute walk from the Cours Saleya market. Open since September 2015, the studio has been designed especially for the cooking classes, with room for up to eight students around the granite-topped island and a table that seats ten. It’s in one of the most charming streets of the Old Town, at the foot of the Château Hill.
All of our programs are held in English, so there is no need to worry about feeling lost!