One of the most fun activities to do out on the town might have you staying home. Cooking classes at local hotels and culinary schools offer a fresh alternative to dim, stuffy dining rooms by taking you behind the scenes where the magic is made.
There's a menu of options available to would-be chefs from one-day classes in DIY pizza, to month-long courses in the basics of Italian cuisine. And more often than not, the courses are taught by some of the best chefs in Taiwan.
"The thing I enjoy about our culinary classes is that I'm teaching people who aren't professionals," says Jean-Marc Cauquil, the chef at The Sherwood Taipei and instructor of classes held there twice each month. "So there's a great deal I can teach them."
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
Students at the Sherwood are quickly made to look like professionals, though, and given a chef's smock, apron and hat. "So, I also give them a red neck scarf," Cauquil says looking smart in his own.
Classes at The Sherwood and its sister hotel, Le Petit Sherwood, started about three years ago as an activity for hotel guests but quickly found a following among locals, who make up the majority of the classes, according to Cauquil. "About 90 percent of the people who come are ladies," he says.
Another option outside of hotels was originally geared toward more serious students. Taiwanese law requires that anyone wanting to open a restaurant must first pass a culinary quiz and, of course, for every test that must be taken, there is a bushiban to help you pass. Y Tower Culinary School is one of the more popular of these kitchen cram schools and offers weekend courses in a cornucopia of cuisines. You can even get certified to open your own restaurant.
Given the popularity of local night market munchies, it's no surprise there's also a market for learning to be your own roadside restauranteur. Taiwanese oyster omelets, Japanese desserts and sushi and sashimi preparation are just a few of the classes available. Note that there is no test-taking necessary before going into business at your local night market.
Prices for one-day classes at either of the Sherwood Hotels or Y Tower range from NT$900 to NT$2,500, depending on what you make. Materials fees may apply with some of the courses offered at Y Tower and a 10 percent service charge is applied to each of the Sherwood's courses. And best of all, you take home whatever you've made along with printed instructions for recreating it in your own kitchen.
Y Tower's classes are taught only in Chinese, but courses at the Sherwood hotels offer translation
services.
For your information:
WHAT'S COOKIN'
Y Tower Culinary School:
For class times, locations and prices, call (02)2311 2338. Participants must sign up three days prior to the start of class.
Call The Sherwood at (02) 2718 1188 X 3004 to find out class times and prices and to reserve a place. Classes limited to 30 persons.
For information on prices and class times at Le Petit Sherwood,
call (02) 2754 1166.
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