evening cookery classes - how does this sound to you?

competitionscafe

Definately hands on - you have to 'do it to learn it' and just watching someone for 2 hours every week can be a little dull (even with a glass of wine). Don't be too ambitous though - I did a course a French cookery & wine evening class at a local school which was brilliant - but it was also suppossed to be in French (so basically 3 classes in one!)

The language bit was dropped in the first week because standards varied from no French spoken (me and a few others) to fairly fluent (only 1 person, apart from the teacher). It's hard to follow a recipe in French when you don't speak the language and even now that I have had a few (seperate) language lessons it's still hard!!

I think it was around £44 for a 8 or 10 week course, demo at the beginning and then you cooked the dish while the teacher went round and checked how you were doing, gave tips and advice, etc. Then 10 minutes at the end when she talked about what wine went best with the dish we had made and we all had a glass of the recommended wine (had to chip in 50p or something each week to pay for this). We then took our steaming hot dishes home to eat (would have been nice to have them with the wine and make it a bit of a social thing but the school needed to close and lock up quite promptly). It was structured so that each week focused on a region of France with a 'typical' dish from that region, but the class was given a choice of dishes and asked for a preference....

A skills based one is a good idea as most classes here seem focused on a particular cuisine (Italian, French, Thai) although I think there are a few 'cooking for beginners' classes in Edinburgh too. These are the options for this term:

Cookery:Baking - Indulgence ALL LEVELS
Cookery:Baking-DomesticGoddess BEGINNERS
Cookery:Contemporary BEGINNERS
Cookery:Entertaining BEGINNERS
Cookery:For Fun ALL LEVELS
Cookery:From Around The World BEGINNERS
Cookery:Indian BEGINNERS
Cookery:International ALL LEVELS
Cookery:Italian BEGINNERS
Cookery:Vegetarian BEGINNERS

catkins

I think hands on would probably be the best way. I think personally I would like to watch a demonstration one week and cook the dish/meal the next week.

I did domestic science at school and actually have an O level in it but in all honesty I used to hate cooking. It was only once I got married that I took an interest in it. Now I cook almost everything from scratch as I much prefer the taste and like to know what is in my food. I love cooking now.

Most of my friends use convenience foods but then moan about how much there shopping bill is. I have actually given a couple of them some ideas about meals, although at the end of the day if someone does not like cooking they are not going to spend hours in the kitchen are they?

Also think it is a good idea for young people to learn to cook as I believe a lot of schools do not teach this any more.


P.S. Lovely cat is he/she yours? If so what is his/her name?

apprentice_tycoon

yet more good ideas - it really helps to see other peoples perspectives on a quandry - a sincere thank you, If my class gets accepted I'll come back to let you know but it will probably be a September start though!


catkins - no he isn't my cat, someone sent me his picture knowing that we like cats, I'm told that most gingers are male and he has a boys face (he reminds me of Benny in Topcat), the smile is photoshopped but still lovely. We had 4 until last week, sadly my tabby girl died on Wednesday.

EagerLearner

I did a cookery class a few years ago in Chiang Mai, Thailand and loved it - have been looking around in Brighton for any sort of cookery class really and very surprised there are none that can be done in evenings or weekends. I love cooking and would def try out new things so highly recommend you going for it, whichever option you choose x

r.mac_2

competitionscafe wrote:

Definately hands on - you have to 'do it to learn it' and just watching someone for 2 hours every week can be a little dull (even with a glass of wine). Don't be too ambitous though - I did a course a French cookery & wine evening class at a local school which was brilliant - but it was also suppossed to be in French (so basically 3 classes in one!)

The language bit was dropped in the first week because standards varied from no French spoken (me and a few others) to fairly fluent (only 1 person, apart from the teacher). It's hard to follow a recipe in French when you don't speak the language and even now that I have had a few (seperate) language lessons it's still hard!!

I think it was around £44 for a 8 or 10 week course, demo at the beginning and then you cooked the dish while the teacher went round and checked how you were doing, gave tips and advice, etc. Then 10 minutes at the end when she talked about what wine went best with the dish we had made and we all had a glass of the recommended wine (had to chip in 50p or something each week to pay for this). We then took our steaming hot dishes home to eat (would have been nice to have them with the wine and make it a bit of a social thing but the school needed to close and lock up quite promptly). It was structured so that each week focused on a region of France with a 'typical' dish from that region, but the class was given a choice of dishes and asked for a preference....

A skills based one is a good idea as most classes here seem focused on a particular cuisine (Italian, French, Thai) although I think there are a few 'cooking for beginners' classes in Edinburgh too. These are the options for this term:

Cookery:Baking - Indulgence ALL LEVELS
Cookery:Baking-DomesticGoddess BEGINNERS
Cookery:Contemporary BEGINNERS
Cookery:Entertaining BEGINNERS
Cookery:For Fun ALL LEVELS
Cookery:From Around The World BEGINNERS
Cookery:Indian BEGINNERS
Cookery:International ALL LEVELS
Cookery:Italian BEGINNERS
Cookery:Vegetarian BEGINNERS

You knew this question was coming..............:D

Where in edinburgh ???? :rotfl:

Thanks!

debtworrier

My sis used to cook, but since she married and had kids she's completely lost confidence in her cooking skills. How about a re-start course called "It doesn't have to be perfect!" ?

MATH

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

I'm told that most gingers are male and he has a boys face (he reminds me of Benny in Topcat), the smile is photoshopped but still lovely. We had 4 until last week, sadly my tabby girl died on Wednesday.

Off topic (so shoot me;) ) hugs for losing your cat AT. Most gingers are male and most torties are female - funny that innit:D

eryn_kathleen

I took a Chinese & Thai Vegetarian cooking course in Edinburgh (at Leith Academy) and it was really great.

I would definitely recommend as an instructor that you come up with a comprehensive list of substitutions before starting the class. Most of the time was spent discussing what to use instead of mushrooms, or plain flour, or almonds, or whatever someone didn't like each week. It was a pain for the teacher and the students!

lolly5648

I am currently doing a cookery course at The Institute in London. They do daytime, evening and some Saturdays. I am doing a vegetarian Indian course. We watch a demo and have a tasting one week and then cook it the next week. It is excellent.

See http://www.hgsi.ac.uk/pls/hot_sys/aff_hc_search.browse_search_do?x=59233923605&y=0&a=130904&search_what=O&search_study_mode=A21&search_qual=&search_location=&search_category=NF.&search_action=&loc2=N&college_id=7765&area=course

for various suggestions of courses