9 Best Cooking Classes in London
With so many world class eateries to experience, it comes as no surprise that many visitors to London catch the cookery bug themselves. Fortunately, there are plenty of establishments around the capital that offer top quality cookery classes and courses. From mastering the basics and learning how to carve a joint to preparing advanced dishes from around the globe there is something available for every budding chef. Here are nine of the best:
L’Atelier des Chefs
For sheer choice the short courses offered by L’Atelier des Chefs are hard to beat. Simply select your chosen duration (from half an hour to four hours) and your area of interest and see what’s available. You can focus on learning how to prepare savoury foods such as pasta dishes or bread-making or how to make sweet treats like macaroons. Alternatively, you can opt for a particular cuisine, from traditional Italian or French to more exotic Thai or Moroccan cooking. There is even a course all about hoe to pair cheese with wine. L’Atelier des Chefs cookery courses cater for all levels of experience and even put on kids’ cooking classes, for 7 to 14 year-olds, in the holidays.
Books for Cooks
Books for Cooks is a unique establishment in Notting Hill which combines a recipe book shop with a cafe and cookery school. Whenever an interesting new cookery book appears on the shelves, the owners of Books for Cooks try out the recipes for themselves in the adjoining cafe and put on afternoon courses to teach others how to make them too. The students also get to sample their efforts afterwards of course. Courses run from three to five in the afternoon and take place in the demonstration kitchen upstairs. If you prefer to browse the recipe books and take your ideas home with you, Books for Cooks provide a comfy couch for just that purpose. Many of the ingredients are sourced from the nearby Portobello Market.
Recipease
Jamie Oliver’s Recipease promises a cookery experience with a difference. You browse the dishes on the website, find something that appeals and make a booking (most courses are around the £35 to £40 mark). Then you come down to one of the two Recipease cafes in Notting Hill or Clapham (you are often allowed to bring a friend), and the professionally-trained kitchen staff will teach you how to prepare your chosen dish. As you will be operating in a fully functioning cafe, you will experience an authentic kitchen atmosphere (albeit a friendly, laid-back kitchen). Some of the lessons listed include Pasta Master, Stuffed Sea Bass, Indian Street Food and how to make a fragrant Thai Curry. There are also a number of kids’ cookery classes.
Leiths
Recommended by the Guardian and Independent broadsheets, Leiths School of Food and Wine, situated on Wendell Road, West London, offers a range of classes for serious students and hobbyists alike. Depending on your preference you can book everything from an evening class to a three week course on topics such as entertaining, chef skills, fish dishes, wine appreciation, cheese tasting and carving. If you are a culinary novice and you’re looking to get up to speed quickly, Leith’s run a comprehensive one week ‘Key Cooking Skills’ course for £800. On the other hand, experienced chefs can work towards a professional chefs’ accreditation with diplomas, certificates and WSET awards available. Although Leith’s is a non-residential school they will supply details of nearby accommodation on request.
Ginger Pig
The Ginger Pig offers small, comprehensive butchery classes that take students through the very basics of meat preparation, including how to select and buy a cut of meat. Courses focus on providing in-depth knowledge and will concentrate on a specific meat or skill rather than try to teach too much at once. Example courses include pig, lamb or beef butchery and sausage-making. Classes are limited in number to enable the course butcher to spend adequate time with everyone. Run from their shops in Marylebone and Shepherd’s Bush, each course lasts three and a half hours and costs under £150, including a two-course meal, wine and the meat you prepared earlier. The Ginger Pig also offers group and corporate bookings.
La Cucina Caldesi
If you’ve always wanted to be able to serve up some top notch Italian Cuisine, then there is only one place to go: La Cucina Caldesi Cookery School in well-heeled Marylebone Lane. All levels of competence are catered for and the courses cover various different regions of Italy. Tuition is provided either by the in-house staff or by visiting celebrity chefs or food writers and other culinary experts. Some examples of what you can learn include how to make the perfect pizza from scratch, how to cook quick Italian street food (from Panzarotti to Rustici) and what goes into a Tuscan dish. There is also the Italian Mama’s Cookery Club for children. La Cucina Caldesi runs evening, day and weekend classes as well as some week long courses.
Divertimenti
Within sight of the famous towers of Harrods is Brompton Road’s Divertimenti South Kensington Cookery School. Boasting state-of-the-art facilities and a huge list of highly acclaimed chefs and food writers on their books, Divertimenti runs a mixture of local gastrotours and traditional and contemporary culinary classes suitable for both beginners and more experienced cooks. There is something unique on offer most days of the week and alongside classes on cheese-making, food preservation, knife skills, Italian regional dishes and sushi you will find lessons devoted to cooking tasty food for people with special dietary needs, for example those on gluten-free diets. At just over £100 for two to three hours of tuition, the Divertimenti classes are not the cheapest, but they are of superb quality.
Billingsgate Seafood School
Situated above the fish market, there is no better place to source ingredients for a master class in how to select, prepare and cook all sorts of fish. You will leave the course having gained a deeper insight into the fishing industry and, if you opt for the ‘Catch of the Day’ class, you will get to take your catch home with you.
Le Cordon Bleu
For the crème de la crème of cookery education, there is no place finer than the world renowned Le Cordon Bleu. Whether your passion is in gourmet cooking, patisserie or wine and spirits, you can take your first steps on a career path by enrolling on a course at the London campus. These are in-depth, fully accredited programmes of study, although day classes are also available.