Calendar of cooking classes

Experience the tastes, smells and sounds of Sri Lankan cooking. You will learn how to make a chicken curry dish, dhal with spinach and brinjal moju (eggplant) alongside Sri Lankan special yellow rice. Afterwards, you will sit down and enjoy a Sri Lankan feast.

Organised by Balwyn Community Centre.

oin Jane, dietician from CoHealth, to learn new tips and tricks for cooking healthy and delicious meals, even without all the bells and whistles of a full kitchen. This is a social, no cost session where all experience levels are welcome. Go and cook your lunch, and then eat it too.

On Fridays, 10th May and 14th June, each 9am-midday.

Learn how to prepare simple meals with other blokes under Shawn’s guidance. Enjoy a shared meal and conversation to finish the session.

Organised by Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre.

Join them to pickle excess rescued food over a cuppa.

Organised by Greenhills Neighbourhood House.

Just turn up.

What you will learn: ways to create and look after your own sourdough starter culture; the flour to use for the best nutrition and results; ways to knead sticky high hydration dough for a more authentic sourdough loaf; the equipment needed to produce a sourdough tin loaf at home; and ways to bake sourdough bread using a bread tin in a home oven.

What you will get: comprehensive workshop notes; sourdough starter culture; and a discount on a professional quality bread tin.

Join Rick Lavender of The Life We Want as he demonstrates this age old process and introduces you to the equipment and skills required to get started baking at home.

Participants will be limited to 8 to maintain an informal interactive format.

Learn how to make feta, halloumi, labneh and ricotta cheeses. You will taste test the ricotta and halloumi once it’s freshly made. A light lunch of spanakopita and baked camembert will be provided. You will take home three cheeses as well as some cheese mould to make your own at home.

Take along an apron, a glass jar and 3 or 4 containers to take your cheese home.

Organised by Kinglake Ranges Neighbourhood House.

This is a fermenting ‘101’ class, where you will learn about salt, different preserving techniques, two of the most popular cabbage recipes (kraut and kimchi), a drink (kvass) and all about SCOBYs, with a focus on milk kefir. At the end, you will sit down for a chat and a bite to eat, including fermented foods and drinks to taste.

You will take home everything you make during the class: kimchi, sauerkraut, milk kefir butter, milk kefir with SCOBY, whey soda and kvass.

Maria Ciavarella, from My Green Garden, will discuss the theory of preserving and curing green and black olives. You will then break into groups to do some cooking. You will take home a jar of olives. Please take a plastic cutting board, a small paring knife, a re-usable water bottle and a mug.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Sri Lankan cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: fried pea cakes with chutney; chicken curry; dhal lentil vegetarian curry; coconut sambol; and flavoured rice.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Indian cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: chicken tikka masala; naan, mint raita; and palak paneer (cottage cheese and spinach curry).

Make four easy summer drinks. You will go home with 3 large jars full of kombucha, mead, beet kvass and water kefir with the SCOBY to be nurtured and ferment at home in your own kitchen, plus a bottle of second fermenting water kefir that will be ready the next day.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

Depending on the month, the menu will include dishes from Japan, Korea, Vietnam or India.

Learn how to make milk kefir. Take home your own kefir making kit and grains.

Organised by Strathdon House.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Japanese cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu in odd numbered months: sushi rolls; miso soup; tempura (mixed fried vegetables, prawn and soba noodles); and seaweed salad).

The menu in even numbered months: fish with citrus soy sauce; ramen (noodles); seafood stock; fried chicken; and fried and marinated eggplant.

Discover the goodness of fermented soda, brimming with probiotics, compared to traditional sugary options. Learn about the basics of fermented drinks. Make three soda flavours.

Presenter: The Fermented Mumma.

Join them to pickle excess rescued food over a cuppa.

Organised by Greenhills Neighbourhood House.

Just turn up.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about some bush foods, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: smoked kangaroo tenderloin or lamb racks; murray cod or barramundi steamed in banana leaf; damper ‘flatbread’ with mountain pepper; and bush pesto and goat’s cheese dip.

Learn to craft your own pizza dough from scratch. Taste a variety of topping combinations. Eat together at the end with complimentary drinks. Take home some dough balls.

Learn how to make sourdough bread. You will make a pizza base to enjoy together and you will make a bread dough ready to bake the following day at home. You will also be given a starter so that you can continue to make bread at home. Take an apron, tea towel, sealable container and jar with a screw top lid.

Tutor: John. Organised by Living & learning Nillumbik.

Learn how to make sourdough bread with Michael and Therese Slee, including both sourdough culture care and the processes of sourdough fermentation and baking. You will go home with some freshly baked bread plus some sourdough culture (starter).

Presenter: Tony Chiodo. Organised by Brunswick Neighbourhood House.

Be guided through various recipes that showcase the different ways that you can cook with bean curd at home. Then take home the dishes that you created (take your own container).

Organised by Strathdon House.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Spanish cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: ham and cheese croquettes or salt cod croquettes; rice with seafood and chicken; capsicum sauce; and ham and manchego toast.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Mexican cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: tacos de guisado (stewed beef); tortillas; salsa rojo + salsa verde (roasted tomato and tomatillo sauces); ceviche con tostadas (lightly cured seasonal fish); and sopa de tortilla (tortilla soup).

What you will learn:

• Experimenting with bread.
• The bread baking process with each step explained.
• How to replicate the process at home.

What you will get:

• 1 kilo of organic flour to take home.
• Pizza for lunch, which you make, eat and take home.
• An embroidered apron made from 100% Fairtrade cotton.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Italian cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: eggplant and ricotta cooked with tomato sauce; fresh egg pasta; stewed beef chuck; and veal or pork cutlet with rocket salad.

Italian food. See Rosa’s website for the menus.

This class is for those who adore coconut in all its forms or love a rich curry sauce. On the menu: Thai grabong fritters using a red curry paste and coconut milk with grated pumpkin, sweet potato and snake beans; a curry paste of your choice (red, yellow or green) made from scratch in a traditional mortar and pestle; you will then use your paste to create a chicken or vegetarian curry using coconut cream and toasted organic coconut flakes; fluffy Thai coconut rice; and chewy coconut pancakes (kanom krok), which is a double layered pancake with a crispy bottom and creamy centre topped with spring onion, corn or pandan flavour.

The ticket includes a Vietnamese iced coffee, coconut water, a local beer or wine, a shared banquet and a curry paste to take home.

Presenter: Kelly Meredith from Under The Pickle Tree.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Greek cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: handmade pita bread; stuffed eggplant with lamb and cheese; lamb and chicken souvlaki; tzatziki; and zucchini fritters with feta.

oin Jane, dietician from CoHealth, to learn new tips and tricks for cooking healthy and delicious meals, even without all the bells and whistles of a full kitchen. This is a social, no cost session where all experience levels are welcome. Go and cook your lunch, and then eat it too.

The Fermented Mumma will discuss ingredient selection, starter care, and the processes of sourdough fermentation and baking. At the end, you will take your fermenting dough home to bake in the morning.

Join them to pickle excess rescued food over a cuppa.

Organised by Greenhills Neighbourhood House.

Just turn up.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Thai cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: fish sauce dressing; green or red curry paste; fried corn fritters; green papaya salad; and green curry chicken or red curry duck.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Mexican cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: tacos de guisado (stewed beef); tortillas; salsa rojo + salsa verde (roasted tomato and tomatillo sauces); ceviche con tostadas (lightly cured seasonal fish); and sopa de tortilla (tortilla soup).

You will: make a variety of different breads, gaining the skills and confidence to make your own at home; enjoy some of your own handmade pizza for lunch; and take home some leaven to get you started baking bread at home.

Presenter: Ken Hercott.

What you will learn: the process behind producing curd; how to make hand-stretched fresh mozzarella; and how to shape mozzarella into bocconcini and trecce.

What you will get: guided cheese tasting with a glass of wine; and freshly made mozzarella to take home.

Organised by That’s Amore Cheese.

You will make Indian butter chicken and basmati rice. You will enjoy some taste testing and should have some extra to take home too. Take an apron, knife, chopping board and a container to take home leftovers.

Presenter: Oddie. Organised by Arrabri Community House.

Learn how to cook sustainably with minimal waste and using an induction cooktop.

Presenter: Alice Zaslavsky. Organised by Strathdon House.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Learn about Chinese cuisine, watch some cooking demonstrations, then enjoy eating the food with a complementary drink.

The menu: sichaun wontons; chilli and sesame oil sauce; sichaun eggplant; tofu with chilli bean paste; braised pork belly; and chilli oil.