Kylie wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Anyone been to any cooking classes/schools? What'd you think?
>
> I'd especially like to hear of Australian experiences, with special
> reference to Perth ('cause that's where I am & could only find 2 on the
> 'net).


I attended the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, New York 20 years ago.
I've taken cooking classes since then. I taught a college semester of
cooking for students studying to become dieticians. I've also taught
small community school classes in health food cooking. (I can't help on
the Australia part of your question.)

Are you thinking of cooking classes geared towards professional cooking,
job training or vocational educational? Or is it more along the lines
of learning to make something wonderful at home? Or something else?

I've noticed that a lot of people take cooking classes as a sort of
entertainment, a way to meet people with similar interests, like a nice
dinner out except you don't need a date. There's nothing wrong with
that, but I wish I'd known before I started teaching. I went in all
serious thinking about what the students would learn and found my
classes not going well because they were more interested in chatting and
having fun and wanted me to be more entertaining when I was being serious.

--Lia