If you’re keen on brushing up on your culinary skills or searching for a new experience to dip your fork and knife into, then a cooking course would be perfect for your next foodie adventure!
Grab a buddy, or roll solo as you whip up a storm in the kitchen and dive into authentic food journeys to discover a whole new world of tastes and flavours, right here in the Mother City.
Also read: Upper Union’s summer menu embraces the vibrant flavours of the season
Here are five cooking courses to check out:
The Bo-Kaap Cooking Tour Experience
The Bo-Kaap Cooking Tour will take you on an immersive voyage into good food and rich culture with a combined walking tour, hands-on cooking workshop and a two-course lunch.
Your journey begins at a local grocer and then continues to the local spice merchants to teach you how to shop for spices. After a brief stroll through the cobbled streets and a little dose of history, you’ll find yourself in Zanie’s kitchen in her home on Rose Street.
In the cooking class, guests will discover the secrets of mixing masala, making dhaltjies (chilli bites), preparing and folding samoosas, making and frying rotis and learning the traditional way to cook a Cape Malay chicken curry from scratch while being entertained with local recipes and fascinating stories.
And the cherry on top: Guests will also receive a recipe booklet, together with a bag of Zainie’s special masala mix to get you started with cooking your own curry at home.
- Location: 46 Rose St, Bo-Kaap (starting point is at Rose Corner Cafe at 100 Wale Street, opposite the Bo-Kaap Museum)
- Cost: R1330 per person (November) and R1460 per person (December)
- Times: Monday to Thursday 10:30am | Saturdays 10am
- Duration: 3.5 hours
- Website: bokaapcookingtour.co.za
Stir-Crazy Cooking
Boost your creativity in the kitchen with a cooking experience that’ll fire up your tastebuds. Among a wide selection of cooking courses to choose from, dive into the A Compass of Indian Cuisine for those who love some heat, Pastas and Sauces for that Italian vibe, or Simply Sushi where you’ll learn the basics of sushi-making – each one unique and hot on the list of courses to try out.
Doors open 15 minutes before cooking class time so get there early to secure your ideal spot in the kitchen. Stir Crazy also has full bar facilities at the venue if you need some liquid courage to calm any first-time-cooking nerves or to add the final touches to your expertly made dishes afterwards.
- Cost: Most courses cost R825 with a few that are cheaper and more expensive
- Location: 14 W Quay Road, V&A Waterfront
- Website: stircrazycooking.co.za
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Food Jams
In their Signature Package, Food Jams provides you with all the necessary tools, ingredients, and guidance you need to make a mean dish – we guarantee you’ll be pleasantly impressed by the dishes you create. Add in friends, fun, music and a sumptuous harvest table, and you have yourself an experience to remember!
Or opt for their Competitive Package that creates an idyllic atmosphere for connecting people through food using recipes that you’ll really have fun making, and a ticking clock to unleash your inner Masterchef.
Each team is provided with recipes and a mystery box challenge to really bring out a sizzling sense of competitiveness – after all, there’s nothing quite like a desire to win that evokes a sense of camaraderie in the kitchen.
- Location: Unit B10, 1st Floor Salt Orchard Precinct, 45 Yew St, Cape Town, 7925
- Cost: R600 to R750 per person (Signature Package) | R750 to R850 per person (Competitive Package)
- Duration: 3.5 hours
- Website: foodjams.co.za
Pahari Restaurant’s authentic African cuisine cooking class
In a private room adjacent to Pahari African Restaurant in the heart of Salt River lies an authentic African culinary experience not to be missed.
After whetting your appetite with a variety of African drinks and starter snacks upon arrival, you’ll be transported into the world of traditional African cuisine, rich in history and flavour as you learn how to cook the restaurant’s best-selling dishes: Sadza (mealie pap), meaty beef bones mixed with green veggies, chicken stew with peanut butter, chakalaka and sugar beans.
As is typically done in traditional African homes, once the cooking is complete, you’ll go on to enjoy the meal together. All the while, listening to the host explaining the history of African cuisine, its ingredients and how the recipes have evolved and been passed down through generations.
You’ll also receive an easy-to-follow recipe to recreate the cooking experience in your own kitchen.
- Location: Pahari African Restaurant, 121 Cecil Road, Salt River
- Cost: From R900 per person (maximum 10 per group)
- Duration: 2.5 hours
- Website: pahari.co.za
Ginger & Lime
Learn how to prepare simple, delicious food from around the world, with like-minded people who share a passion for food and cooking. Cooking courses like Curries From Around the World, Asian Fusion and Tantalising Thai among a few more culinary courses around the culinary globe will have your tastebuds tingling as it jet sets to diverse flavours.
Each course covers six to eight dishes from a selection of options in the relevant category.
- Location: 2B Avenue Disandt, Fresnaye
- Duration: Approximately 3.5 hours
- Website: gingerandlime.co.za
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Picture: @stircrazycookingschool / Instagram