Course number 1 – Each guest also gets a booklet with all the recipes for the evening’s dishes. That way you can take notes as you go along. They’ll also email the recipes to you after.
I’m going to kick this off with a disclaimer: I am a totally useless cook. In fact, the less time I spend in a kitchen, the safer for everyone around me. So if I could manage this cooking class, anybody can. 😉
While surfing the web for a fun cooking class option as a birthday gift for a friend, I stumbled upon Ginger & Lime. I loved the sound of their relaxed, informal & interactive vibe and their “A Fusion of Eastern Flavours” cooking class immediately caught my attention.
As someone who doesn’t cook (and also gift shopping for someone pretty much in the same boat as me), I was also drawn to the fact that they allow their guests to get as involved as they want. Each guest does not have their own station, instead you cook collectively as a group by helping each other prepare various elements of the different dishes on the menu. This of course doesn’t mean that someone who does love to cook won’t learn anything new. You definitely will. It just means there’s a little less pressure for those who aren’t that comfortable in the kitchen.
The class I selected, as mentioned above, was “A Fusion of Eastern Flavours” and this was what was on the menu:
- Salmon Squares with wasabi mayo, pink roe and seaweed
- Spicy Tuna and Black Rice Poke Bowls
- Hot quick stir fried sesame Beef with broccoli
- Black bean & Edamame Bean salad
- Fragrant Thai Green Fish Curry with Rice
- Asian pork belly served on a bed of gingery sweet potato mash
- Lime Yoghurt Mousse
Sounds amazing, right?? And it was… That said, if this doesn’t tickle your fancy, not to worry, because they host different classes with different themes every week. That way you can pick one that’s best suited to you OR you can just keep trying different classes to become the Masterchef you’ve always known you can be.
They can accommodate a max of about 20 guests and they host these interactive cooking evening in the kitchen of their beautiful home in Fresnaye.
On the right: Chef Almo taking us through the flow of activities for the evening…
Getting involved…
This was the Spicy Tuna and Black Rice Poke Bowls… turned out so good
As you can see, things definitely are very social…
This was the Asian pork belly served on a bed of gingery sweet potato mash… we couldn’t take too much of the credit for this one as Chef Almo & his team had done most of the heavy lifting, but he did share lots of tips for cooking the perfect pork belly.
This was dessert: Lime Yoghurt Mousse & the perfect way to wrap up the evening…
This really was a fun night out AND I think I may even have picked up some culinary skills in the process. I think the Ginger & Lime cooking classes are great for couples, besties, small groups or even birthday celebrations. It’s definitely more fun than just going to a restaurant for dinner.
Have a look at their course schedule over here to see what’s still on the cards for the rest of this year. There’s a couple of really cool evenings coming up, like: Curries with John VZ, Seafood made Simple, Asian Fusion, Middle- Eastern/ Moroccan Fusion, French Cuisine, Italian/ Mediterranean, Easy Entertaining & Fab Festive Food.
The cooking classes cost R695 pp and start at 18:30. You’re in for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours of cooking adventures, and the following is included in the price:
- All food and ingredients for the evening
- Basic wines
- Waters
- Recipes
- Gratuity
All you need to bring is anything else you may want to drink (they don’t charge corkage) and for the dress code they recommend that you dress smartly but also comfortably, like you’re going to a friend’s house for dinner.
You can book either via their website or by contacting them on 083 660 1146 (Katy) or 083 251 6282 (Denise).
And then you’ll find them over here:
2B Avenue Disandt (Note: NOT 2A)
Corner of Kloof Road and Avenue Disandt
Happy cooking everyone!
xxx