Spice up your life
Get ready to impress at your next dinner party with savvy skills picked up in one of the varied global cuisine cooking classes on offer in our region.
One of the best parts about travelling abroad is feasting on the exotic and wonderful cuisines you rarely get to enjoy in everyday life. But what if you didn’t need to go to the other side of the world to sample authentic ethnic food?
There are lots of diverse food options to be enjoyed right here in our very own backyard – and better still, they can be dished up by you with skills learnt at a local ethnic cooking class.
Whether you want to learn the best techniques for hand rolling home-made pasta, flavouring a curry, or seasoning a tabouleh, these cooking classes will turn you into an accomplished home cook in no time.
Come with us as we embark on a global culinary journey around some of the region’s best ethnic cooking classes.
Our Italian Table
Forget about a return ticket to Rome – immerse yourself in a truly authentic Italian cooking experience with Our Italian Table in the Hunter Valley. Located on Nicita Estate at the end of Mistletoe Lane in Pokolbin, you’d be forgiven for thinking you have landed in Tuscany when you arrive at the gorgeous yellow villa perched on a seventy-acre vineyard.
Owner Jen Nicita has been in the food industry her whole life, and Our Italian Table is a passion project born from the idea of coming together to share a meal around one big table. This experience is so much more than a cooking class, rather it is a full day immersion where you can truly slow down and experience the joy and love that comes from making your own food.
Beginning with a three-hour pasta class, you’ll work as one cohesive team in the kitchen to learn the art of traditional hand rolled pasta while enjoying chatter and laughter with your fellow cooks. You’ll also learn the art of hand making dough, focaccia, sauces and dessert, all using local produce where possible.
The experience is all-inclusive and welcomes people from all walks of life including friends, couples, singles and families.
When it’s time to eat, take a seat at the long table under the pergola with 360-degree views of the surrounding Brokenback and Barrington Ranges to enjoy your hard-earned meal. It’s BYO, so you can even bring along that bottle of wine you picked up from one of the many surrounding Hunter Valley vineyards. Finish the day with coffee, biscotti, and friends old and new.
Visit ouritaliantable.com.au for more information
My Fathers Table
Be transported to the bustling bazaars of the Middle East with flavours cooked up at My Fathers Table – a cooking class where you will lovingly prepare, cook, and eat fresh and healthy Lebanese and Middle Eastern food.
Owner and head cook Rita Dixon grew up in the kitchen surrounded by her mother, aunts, and a large extended family. So understandably, for her the kitchen is the heart of the home. Rita learnt from her family by watching and listening, hearing about balance, seasoning and flavours. But it was her father who really ignited her passion for cooking.
It was a combination of this passion, and encouragement from friends who were keen for her to share recipes and food from her heritage, that brought My Fathers Table to life.
In a purpose-built classroom attached to Rita’s home in Hamilton North, a cooking class at My Father’s Table will see you cook authentic and traditional family recipes including tasty delights such as sausages and chorizo, tabouleh, barbecued meat, baklava and more.
Using fresh, seasonal, and local produce, you’ll be guided by Rita who shares her knowledge and know-how from her cultural background. Not only will you learn the skills to cook amazing food, but you will also learn that food is the language of love.
Classes can be catered to individuals and groups of up to ten, and you can even purchase a gift certificate for a loved one.
Find out more at myfatherstable.net
Find more cooking classes in our Summer Edition of Hunter & Coastal Lifestyle Magazine or subscribe here.
Story by Rebekah Prendergast, photography courtesy of featured businesses.
