Authentic Basque Cooking Class in San Sebastian with Local Chef
Description
Join the best cooking classes in San Sebastián and discover authentic Basque cuisine with a professional local chef. This hands-on culinary experience is perfect for food lovers looking for a top-rated food activity in Spain. Learn to cook classic dishes step by step, including traditional Gilda pintxos, Spanish tortilla (potato omelette), and famous Basque burnt cheesecake. Master essential techniques and hear the stories behind the region’s world-renowned food culture. After cooking, sit down to enjoy your meal paired with Basque cider and two glasses of wine. Before you leave, take home the recipes for what you've made and a souvenir apron, so you can recreate these authentic Basque dishes in your own kitchen.
Tour Options
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
- We accommodate gluten-free (non celiac), non-alcoholic, and no meat/no pork.
- This event will happen in the Gros Neighborhood, accessible by bus, train and car. We will have a closed space where you can leave your belongings. The whole experience will be standing up.
- This tour covers a full meal.
- This tour is in English.
- This tour is not suitable for children.
- This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.
Reviews(103)
This was fabulous! Hands on, fun, educational, delicious. We cherish the experience and met new friends, yet also learned more about Basque culture.
This cooking class with Chef Carlos was one of the best food experiences we’ve had traveling. The setup is perfect—you meet near the church, walk to a restaurant that closes just for the class, and cook in an actual commercial kitchen. It feels real, not touristy. We made gildas, tortilla español, stuffed peppers with cod béchamel, idiazabal cheese pintxo, txistorra pintxo(sausage on a slice of bread), and this incredible Basque cheesecake (with tastings of local cider and txakoli and wine). Our group was small (six of us total), so Carlos actually had time to work with each person. He clearly teaches other chefs, but he doesn’t talk down to beginners. He answered every question and explained why things work, not just the steps. And he was also casual, relaxed and personable so it was a fun experience for everyone. We also got printed recipes for everything, so we weren’t frantically writing notes. We’ve already made two of the dishes at home and they turned out great. This was a great class and we highly recommend it.
Great time with Martin. He explained things very well and took the time to teach cooking techniques, along with the history of the food. We all enjoyed it immensely!
Chef Mattin was delightful, friendly, and fun. Loved the Gilda pinxto, albeit just sticking olives and anchovies on a toothpick. The kitchen was not well ventilated and coupled with the warm humid weather felt a bit stuffy. Food was okay, but could have been enhanced with a few more ingredients for flavor. Basic and easy. Would prefer something more interesting.
My wife and I have been to many Viator experiences and they have all been great except for this one which we attended with two friends. The cooking class did not provide the experience that we expected based on the description on the website. Here is a list of the many items that we found unsatisfactory: - Only 4 courses were provided and not the 5 that were advertised. The one omitted was the main protein. - The class was conducted in a basement kitchen that provided no ventilation and became very hot as we started cooking. - Many flies were noticeable around the food and main cooking/prep table. - The work space and cooking area was very small and uncomfortable.
This was a great event. In large part due to the chef Alberto who was a pleasure to be with, really enjoyable, friendly, and funny. His recipes were both delicious and easy to follow. Highly recommend Alberto and this experience.
The only nice thing we can say is Carlos was a good leader for the class. For the cost (+/- $165 each), the menu and location was unacceptable. The class was held in a dirty kitchen filled with flies. The menu consisted of 1 pintxos (an anchovy and pepper on a toothpick), a basque omelet of eggs and potatoes, a bland tortilla with sausage and a tasteless basque cheesecake. This was described as a basque dinner and we could not believe we paid that much money for scrambled eggs! The wine wasn't even opened until the end of class and the purchased bread wasn't even offered to the attendees. This is the ONLY bad experience I've had with Viator and would strongly suggest reworking this entire experience. So disappointing!
We had a fantastic time at this cooking class in San Sebastián! We learned how to make several Basque favorites, including Gildas, txistorra, tortilla, and Basque cheesecake. Everything we made was delicious, and the class was both fun and informative. The atmosphere was relaxed and engaging, and we had a great time cooking, eating, and learning about Basque cuisine. The experience also included plenty of local drinks, including cider, txakoli, and Rioja wine.
Our chef, Mattin was wonderful despite the circumstances of the kitchen we cooked in. Our class took place in the basement kitchen of a coffee shop, not a cooking school. For the amount we paid ~135 euro we “cooked” tortilla (without onions because it took too long????), assembled a Gilda pinxto, a traditional bread/sausage snack and basque cheesecake. The drinks were plentiful.
Great chef, lots of fun and enjoyed thoroughly
