A culinary education

Long before cooking shows became popular on television, there were cooking schools and cooking classes. For generations, people would learn to cook by spending time in the kitchens of chefs, learning techniques, recipes and how to cook and serve. They knew something then that still rings true: you do not learn to be great simply by watching, you become great by doing.
While Food Network and Cooking Channel, and even Travel and Discovery channels, have played an important role in unearthing the wonders of cooking in the kitchen, nothing beats rolling up your sleeves and getting into it yourself. In fact, it is believed that many people love to watch others cook while eating takeout food. While doing so might be entertaining, if you actually want to be motivated to cook, you will have to go back to basics. In other words, enter the modern cooking class.
For decades, I have wanted to host my own cooking classes, using food as the anchor to create community and share the joy of preparation. I am so excited as plans are already on the way to turn this dream into a reality. Food is such a social experience and the best way to enjoy cooking is to prepare it as well.
What could be greater than a bunch of friends, family members or co-workers learning something about each other, cracking jokes and laughing and discovering new things together? This is what makes investing in cooking classes a worthwhile indulgence to create social bonding with those you have to live, work or share your life with. A good cooking coach will assign tasks based on skills and will challenge each person to do better. You will learn how to prep food but, more significantly, you will also learn how to be with each other and how to work together to achieve a single, unified goal from which everyone can hope to benefit. You will learn that no task is too small. Every role has significance and you are all accountable to each other and to the team.
Cooking classes get you motivated to cook, which is a practical outcome, but if you attend with persons whom you interact with on a regular basis, they also have the potential to transform those relationships. Whether it is tackling a new cuisine, or a fundamentals course, or a baking course, grab your family, your friends or co-workers and invest in learning together in the kitchen. The investment will pay off in the long run when everyone wants to volunteer to bring dishes for a potluck or to host dinner parties.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com