Should I Take a Cooking Course?

by Elizabeth Kelly

I started this article a while ago, when I took Culinary I, the basics of cooking, twelve four hour classes each devoted to a different topic. I learned a lot in that class, but I also went in knowing a lot. I wasn't able to answer the question because I wasn't sure what I learned was valuable.

With the covid-19 lockdown, I started taking courses again because the courses had moved on-line. I didn't have to travel to and from the class, which could mean getting home late a night if the classes were on a weeknight. I could cook at my own pace and in my own time. I realized after a few classes that having to complete a recipe in 4 hours, all of which were on my feet, was not a good learning environment for me. The discomfort distracted me and I missed some of the nuances essential for successful cooking.

The on-line cooking courses have a format that has at least 3 if not 4 parts. First is the recipes, with instructions; a Power-Point of the topic, more of an expansion of the written recipe, with some hints and tricks; and, my favourite, a video of the Chef making the recipe, talking about it, showing the different techniques. I used this to write out the steps of the recipe, repeating parts of the video until what I wrote flowed through the preparation process.

The most helpful part is the discussion. You go to your on-line class having read the materials and watched the video once or twice, and maybe having tried the dish. This is where the questions happen and you really learn the nuances of successful cooking. It was here that I learned how to stir crème anglaise for my baking class, a technique I used for making a bèchemel sauce for my pasta class. It was in the discussions that I learned what over-kneading was, what was happening with the flour, what over-kneading looked and felt like in the dough, and when I made my flat bread, the texture was the best I ever made.

Should I take a cooking class? I think it's worth it. Learning from a Chef is so valuable. Learning the science behind what you are doing, makes all the difference when it comes to the final outcome. I am not sure I needed to learn how temper chocolate or work in an industrial kitchen, but learning to be a tidy cook, which I think is what I really learned in Culinary I, makes life in the kitchen so much more enjoyable.