If you want to take something home from Rio besides sunburn, a cooking class is one of the best ways to do it. This small-group, hands-on class takes place in an air-conditioned studio in Ipanema, up the escalators from Rua Visconde de Piraja 281, and lasts about three and a half hours. According to the booking page, you prepare nine recipes: cassava sticks, pao de queijo, picanha steak, seafood moqueca, buttered cassava, toasted farofa with banana, garlic white rice with a vinaigrette, brigadeiro-style fudge and a lime caipirinha. Unlimited caipirinhas, soft drinks and water are included, along with photos and a recipe ebook sent the next day, and hotel pickup and drop-off are part of the package. An optional market tour can be added beforehand, though some reviewers say the market visit felt more like a supermarket than a farmers' market. Wine is sold separately and a traditional liqueur tasting is offered as an extra. The booking page states a maximum of ten people for the class in one place and thirty in another, and reviewers report groups of eight to ten, so it tends to be intimate. The experience carries a rating of 4.9 from more than eleven hundred reviews, which is exceptional for a city with so many food options.
What you actually learn
The dishes are chosen to cover the carioca table, from the snacks served in every boteco to the staples of a Sunday lunch. Picanha, the prized cut of beef, and moqueca, the coconut-and-dende fish stew, are the stars, and farofa with banana shows how toasted cassava flour becomes a side dish that goes with everything.
Expect to chop, stir and taste alongside a guide who explains the ingredients, and to end the session at a shared table. It works well as an early-trip activity because it gives you a vocabulary for every menu afterwards.
Practical points
Tell the organiser about allergies or intolerances in advance, since the booking page says they can be accommodated, and ask for mocktails at the start if you want non-alcoholic drinks. The studio is wheelchair and stroller accessible. The booking page does not suit people with heart problems or other serious medical conditions.
Free cancellation is listed up to twenty-four hours before the experience. If you only want the cooking, skip the market upgrade; if you want to see ingredients such as tropical fruit, take it, and ask what the market is likely to be on your date.
Who it suits
Couples, groups of friends, families with older children and solo travellers who like a social, practical evening. It is also a good rainy-day plan. Because unlimited caipirinhas are included, avoid scheduling a hike or an early flight the next morning. Pair it with a food tour in Saude on another day to see both the home-style and the street side of Rio's cooking.
What to expect
The experience
A small-group, hands-on cooking class in an air-conditioned Ipanema studio, with nine recipes, unlimited caipirinhas and soft drinks, hotel pickup and a recipe ebook sent afterwards. An optional market tour can be added.
Best time
Any day the class runs; it makes a good rainy-day or early-trip activity. Avoid scheduling a hike the next morning.
How long
About three and a half hours.
Tips
Declare allergies in advance, ask for mocktails if you do not drink alcohol, decide whether you want the optional market tour and do not plan anything strenuous afterwards.
Quick picks
- Best for
- Learning to cook Brazilian classics in a friendly small group, with drinks.
- Families
- Suitable for older children, and the class is stroller accessible; the caipirinhas are for adults.
- Couples
- A shared, social evening that ends with a good meal.
- Pair with
- The Saude food tour, an Ipanema sunset or a stroll around the Ipanema Hippie Fair on Sunday.
- Time needed
- An evening or a morning.
Good questions
What will I cook?+
The booking page names nine recipes: cassava sticks, pao de queijo, picanha steak, seafood moqueca, buttered cassava, toasted farofa with banana, garlic white rice with a vinaigrette, brigadeiro-style fudge and a lime caipirinha.
Is the market tour included?+
No. It is an optional extra, and some reviewers say the market visit felt like a supermarket rather than a farmers' market.
Where is the class?+
In an air-conditioned studio in Ipanema, up the escalators from Rua Visconde de Piraja 281, with hotel pickup and drop-off included.
Can it handle allergies and non-drinkers?+
Allergies and intolerances can be accommodated if you tell the organiser in advance, and non-alcoholic mocktails are available if you ask the instructor at the start.
How big is the group, and can I cancel?+
Reviewers report groups of eight to ten. Free cancellation is listed up to twenty-four hours before the experience.
