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Key Cooking Skills – Part 1 (1 Week)

Master fundamental cooking skills needed for kitchen success in this weeklong, day course

Home-Cook

Elevate your skills to new heights in this home-cook course

Beginner

Best suited for people with little or no culinary experience

No Certification

No certificate of completion

£1,025.00

Overview

Key Cooking Skills is a two-part cooking course series, that takes place full-time during the day over one week, to help you learn the fundamental skills for cooking success. With no previous experience necessary, this course is designed to cover numerous skills and techniques in each recipe you cook and is a great way to boost your cooking ability in a short, concentrated period of time. By the end of the week, you’ll be equipped with a set of versatile skills to instil you with confidence and enthusiasm in the kitchen.  

Part 1 and Part 2 of Key Cooking Skills may be taken in succession to obtain a complete set of fundamental cooking skills or taken individually. For those looking to take on more challenging skills, our weeklong Intermediate or Advanced Skills series may be of interest.  

Part 1 of Key Skills focuses on all the kitchen basics like knife skills, kitchen organisation, bread, pastry, sauces and fish and meat cookery.  

 

Skills covered: 

  • Knife skills and kitchen organisation 
  • Basic sauces including flour based and composite sauces 
  • Roasting and organisation and time planning 
  • Bread 
  • Shortcrust pastry 
  • Long slow cooking 
  • Rubbing in method and baking 
  • Fish prep and cook 
  • Risotto making 
  • Whisking egg whites and folding 

 

Example recipes: 

  • Macaroni cheese with leeks and bacon 
  • Roast beef and all the trimmings 
  • Black pepper shortcrust pastry with figs and blue cheese 
  • Lamb tagine and herbed couscous 
  • Pan pizza 
  • Grilled plaice with seaweed butter 
  • Raspberry and lemon curd slice 
  • Lemon posset with macerated strawberries with pink peppercorns and frozen mascarpone shards 
  • Chocolate roulade 
  • Pea and mint soup with marinated feta 

Sample recipes may be subject to change

Course Structure

Cooking with your classmates is an integral part of your Leiths experience. You will cook some of your recipes in pairs, and some independently. Whatever the ratio, there is always more than enough food to go around, and often food to take home too. 

Each day will comprise of a mixture of practical cookery and demonstrations performed by the teacher who is running the session. The exact format will vary from class to class depending on the style of cuisine and, in the case of visiting chefs, their individual teaching style.  

Around 1pm, you will break for lunch and enjoy one of the dishes you have cooked with the rest of your class, accompanied by refreshments. In some classes, such as skills classes, where dishes may not be appropriate for lunch, a mezze lunch will be provided.   

Practicalities

What’s included:  

  • A Leiths apron 
  • Refreshments on arrival 
  • A recipe booklet 
  • All ingredients provided and weighed out for you in advance 
  • Lunch of your own making or sharing platters prepared by the school, served with wine or other refreshments 
  • We do the washing up 

 

What to bring: 

  • Flat soled shoes 
  • Long trousers and a long-sleeved top are advisable 
  • A notebook and pencil 

 

Allergies and dietary restrictions 

We are happy to make adjustments where possible. However, some classes are unsuitable for people with particular intolerances as the menu would need to be completely different. We need 10 days’ notice to be able to properly check the class and adjust the order accordingly. Please read our full policy on allergies and dietary restrictions here.