Alicante Paella Cooking Class, Tapas, Drinks & Central Market

About this tour

Start at Alicante's central market to pick produce with your guide, then cook paella from scratch under a local chef's direction. You'll learn authentic techniques while handling seafood, meat or vegetarian ingredients, then sit down to eat what you've made alongside tapas and regional wines or sangría. The whole experience—market to table—takes three and a half hours and works for complete beginners through confident cooks.

Highlights

• Browse and buy ingredients at the working central market
• Cook paella hands-on with a chef born and trained locally
• Taste paired wines, sangría and Spanish craft beers
• Eat your own paella with traditional tapas plates
• Choose meat, seafood or vegetarian protein
• Take home the recipe card for later cooking
• Mix solo or group—designed for both equally

What to expect

You'll walk through the central market first, guided by someone fluent in English or Spanish, gathering fresh vegetables, proteins and stock for the paella base. Back in the kitchen space, the local chef demonstrates technique then hands you a pan and lets you build the dish—stirring, timing the rice, layering flavours. While it rests, you'll try tapas and pour drinks. Finally, you'll plate up your paella and eat it while swapping stories with other participants. No prior skill needed; the chef meets you where you are.

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