Calendar of cooking classes

Wednesdays, from 8th February to 29th March, 1-3pm.

Shabina will teach you how to shop for, and use, whole, nutrient-dense ingredients to create meals that are both good for you and taste good. You will learn how to balance flavours, textures and colours. You will also learn how to read nutrition labels and how to plan meals that are tailored to your dietary needs.

They will show you how to easily incorporate this little SCOBY into your daily routine. You will make some milk kefir and then move onto flavouring, making butter, labneh, catching the whey and then making a naturally fizzy and gut-loving soda. You’ll go home with: a milk kefir SCOBY in a jar and ready to feed when you get home; a whey soda flavoured with fresh fruit of your choice to finish fermenting at home; milk kefir cultured butter; and an illustrated recipe card.

This is a hands-on cooking experience teaching you how to make dumplings from scratch. Sit and eat together at the end with a glass of sparkling wine. The ingredients for the various dumplings will include a wide range of spices, seasonings, vegetables, meats and seafood.

Linh and June will show you have to make both laksa and Hanoi spring rolls. You will also get to take home a sample of their laksa paste.

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.

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

The menu: kimchi, Korean style spicy chicken; haejanggguk (beef, cabbage and spice paste stew); and spicy dipping sauce.

This is a hands-on cooking experience teaching you how to make dumplings from scratch. Sit and eat together at the end with a glass of sparkling wine. The ingredients for the various dumplings will include a wide range of spices, seasonings, vegetables, meats and seafood.

Nadine will demonstrate the technique of sourdough bread making and baking. Take a container to take home your dough to bake at home. This class is best suited to those who have some experience with bread making, however it is not essential.

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 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.

This is a hands-on cooking experience teaching you how to make dumplings from scratch. Sit and eat together at the end with a glass of sparkling wine. The ingredients for the various dumplings will include a wide range of spices, seasonings, vegetables, meats and seafood.

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

Join Aheda in the kitchen to learn how to make Palestinian dishes. Afterwards, sit down and share what you have prepared together over dinner.

Learn about flours and how they interact with other ingredients. Learn a variety of techniques and textures to create many different types of biscuits from shortbreads, to fancy petit fours, wedged with ganache and dipped in chocolate. They will cover shelf life, storage, freezing and nutritional input. They will include gluten free, dairy free and nut free recipes. You will take home 1kg of assorted biscuits made in the class plus their recipes.

The two sessions will be on Thursday, 16th February and Thursday, 23rd February, both 6-9pm.

Lucia Silverii will teach you the time-honoured techniques of southern Italian cooking. The first session will cover pasta with zucchini and tuna and lemon biscuits. The second session will cover chicken scallopine and almond biscotti.

This is a hands-on cooking experience teaching you how to make dumplings from scratch. Sit and eat together at the end with a glass of sparkling wine. The ingredients for the various dumplings will include a wide range of spices, seasonings, vegetables, meats and seafood.

Learn how to ferment your cherry tomatoes.

M.O.B. stands for ‘mingling over bacteria’.

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

The menu: fish sauce; mango/papaya salad; rice noodles with aromatic chicken broth; fried fish with dill and turmeric; and Vietnamese spring rolls.

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.

This is a hands-on cooking experience teaching you how to make dumplings from scratch. Sit and eat together at the end with a glass of sparkling wine. The ingredients for the various dumplings will include a wide range of spices, seasonings, vegetables, meats and seafood.

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

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).

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.

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 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.

What you will learn: how to make your own vegan cheese; and how to make vegan milks, creamy spreads and dairy-free desserts.

Presenter: Nase Supplitt.

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

You will learn: how to make dough by hand; stretching techniques; how to use a pizza paddle; and pizza classico (classic style pizza in the oven) & pizze fritte (fried pizza). You will make both savoury and sweet pizzas, and you will get to cook and eat the pizzas.

This is a hands-on cooking experience with an expert cooking instructor. Prepare and cook a varied menu, utilising a wide range of techniques along the way. Finish the class by tasting all of your creations with a glass of sparkling wine or beer. Depending on the month, the menu will include street food from Thailand, Vietnam, China or Japan.

Thai salad (yum nua) is a balance of sweet, salty, tart, and spicy flavours. It is made with tender beef steak, fragrant herbs and a zingy dressing.

This is a two-session workshop, with the two sessions being on Wednesday, 22nd February and Wednesday, 1st March, both 6.30-8.30pm.

Learn how to cook a healthy North West Indian vegetarian meal from scratch using authentic ingredients.

Tutor: Taariq Hassan.

Learn how to create handmade chocolates from start to finish using your creative influences to make unique flavours and shapes. They will cover flavour combinations, ganache based flavours, nut pralines, enrobing methods and finishes. You will take home all you make in the workshop along with the recipes and an instruction booklet.

This is a hands-on cooking experience teaching you how to make dumplings from scratch. Sit and eat together at the end with a glass of sparkling wine. The ingredients for the various dumplings will include a wide range of spices, seasonings, vegetables, meats and seafood.

Make gnocchi from scratch the Italian way. Enjoy tasting the dishes with the other participants. You will take home your freshly made gnocchi. Take a container and an apron.

Arzu Yilmaz will demonstrate three dishes. This workshop will also explain the health benefits of using olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs. Don’t forget to bring containers.

Learn how to brew your own kombucha. Plus, receive your own kombucha SCOBY starter kit to create your own brew.

Make your own sake using rice, koji and water and time. This is a 3 step process and you’ll take home stage one in a 3 litre jar – with koji for step 2 – and a couple of bottles for the final bottling step. They will also cover amazake – the sweet, more immediate (overnight) drink.

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.

In a 45 minute ‘parent-free zone’, children aged 6–12 years can learn from their chocolatiers how to make their very own chocolate creations. Includes personalised badge, chef’s hat and apron, graduation certificate plus take home three chocolate creations to enjoy.

In a 45 minute ‘parent-free zone’, children aged 6–12 years can learn from their chocolatiers how to make their very own chocolate creations. Includes personalised badge, chef’s hat and apron, graduation certificate plus take home three chocolate creations to enjoy.

This is a hands-on cooking experience teaching you how to make dumplings from scratch. Sit and eat together at the end with a glass of sparkling wine. The ingredients for the various dumplings will include a wide range of spices, seasonings, vegetables, meats and seafood.

What you will learn: how to identify and harvest bush foods; how to grow and maintain bush foods in the home garden; and how to incorporate bush foods into everyday recipes.

Tour the CERES bush food gardens and gain knowledge of bush foods from further afar – tropical delights from the north, peppery spices form the south. During the workshop, you will learn how to incorporate bush foods into simple, tasty and nutritious meals, desserts and snacks. The group will make a bush food inspired lunch and afternoon tea – all food prepared on the day will be vegetarian and vegan friendly.

Presenter: Belinda Kennedy.