Have you ever been on a cookery course?

greenbee

I wish I lived or worked nearer to you... there's nothing that interesting close to me, and it's a bit far to go for an evening glass.

Good luck, and keep us updated - and obviously feel free to ask if you need any more help or any ideas!

champys

I did a wonderful cookery course many years ago - in 1987 - in the South of France, and if I still use many of the recipes and skills I learned there, it was probably because every morning, when we gathered at 09:00 am (it was a 5-day course, taught during the morning ending in enjoying our self-produced lunch at 01:00 pm) the teacher would sit us down with a strong cup of coffee to wake us up, take us through the menu and demonstrate any new tricks and skills etc we'd be learning - all the time giving us plenty of opportunity to take notes and ask questions. The pages of the little notebook filled during the course are still invaluable, much more so than just the recipes. I learned so much. And that dog-eared little notebook still comes out regularly. So I would say that giving students the opportunity of 'doing' and 'tasting' is of course necessary, but you may consider also giving them time to record what they need to remember, so that what they have learned will not be lost in future.

annie-c

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

things are changing in LA classes - by 2010 all teachers of adults have to be qualified to at least the PTLLS stage and be committed to doing the CTLLS stage (the bit I'm doing next). My vision of the classes is just as you describe annie - with exception that all the utensils are provided unless they want to bring their own knives.

Think I just need to try to get around the issue of where I stand as I don't have my own dedicated workstation - just a desk and then a table in front. I guess the teacher during the day (it's in a school) doesn't cook, they just instruct.

you're right annie - it's all about helping each other. All the learners this week had to share 2 electric cookers as the gas hadn't been turned on - they certainly had to get to know one another - bit of a challenge for me as well! :eek:

My passion is cookery - god, I can rattle on about it for hours so I'm hoping they will learn lots of other bits as well as the dishes we cook.

Yeah, I heard something about the compulsory teaching qualification.... I hope it doesn't put too many people off teaching non-accredited community clases though. My Asian cookery class teacher was a civil servant by day and just taught one class, 10 wks a year and I doubt people like her would do a teaching course.... but her cooking skills were amazing and we didn't need anyone with 'classroom management' skills. She would never have passed exams. She was rubbish at projecting her voice, she had a habit of breaking into song while stirring the pan....:rotfl: and it was the most fun I'v ehad in ages!

whatatwit

Hi, I've not done a course, well not since O level at school many years ago. But, I would like to see the teacher doing it as well, even if it was a bit "Delia" with the majority of ingredients chopped and weighed in little glass dishes to save time.
Also, your students will no doubt be bringing in ready filleted/skinned fish, but if you could give a quick demo on how to skin a fish, or joint a chicken then I think that would be really helpful.

Burlesque_Babe

Just wanted to feed back that I had a moment of enlightenment and moved a table so it was at right angles to the cooker and so I had a cooker to my left (I'm left handed) and a table in front to demonstrate.

I showed them a bit, they went away, they came back etc and it worked. They all left, on time, smiling, with a fish pie and a pot of hand made mayonnaise and I was so proud of them all as they are all absolute beginners and all mastered a basic white sauce made with a roux with no problems at all. After the session last week (veg. stock and a tomato and courgette soup) one member of the class went out and bought a hand blender to have a go. I was really chuffed.

Thankyou all for helping me chat it all through and throw ideas around and obviously there are bits to tweak as the weeks go by, but - roll on next week!

annie-c

Well done!

I'd love to hear more as the course progresses!