Overview
The Nutrition in Culinary Practice course is a part-time, 10 week professional cookery course, offering a combination of nutritional theory and cooking tuition with an accredited qualification. The course provides the opportunity to master the fundamental principles of nutrition that can change the way you approach food forever and gain a repertoire of interesting recipes and culinary techniques that can improve the wellbeing of those that you cook for.
This course runs one day a week. Developed in partnership with Jennifer Irvine, founder of Pure Package and delivered by Rita Arora Pharmacist and Nutritional Therapist, each session is guided by a nutritional expert, offering a comprehensive understanding of the nutritional make up and effects of various foods. To put this learning into practice, our Leiths teachers will also lead you through practical cooking sessions full of healthy dishes whilst never compromising on flavour. Our industry-leading tutors and nutritionists are highly skilled and experienced in their field and are there to guide you in developing your passion of nutritious food through their grounded, professional approach. If you’ve ever dreamt of launching a bespoke catering service, working as a private chef, becoming a health and fitness professional, running a health food business or simply providing your family with nutritious food, it’s important to learn the principles of nutrition and how to apply this knowledge effectively in the kitchen. This course will show you how.
Suitability
Nutrition in Culinary Practice is suitable for confident home-cooks or food professionals who want to gain accredited, practical training in nutrition.
As this is an intermediate level course, we do recommend that home-cooks have a one-to-one chat with our teaching staff to discuss your cooking level and ensure you are a right fit for the course before enrolling. You can book a 15-minute chat with our teaching staff.
Course Content
Course Structure
This 10 week course runs part-time, one day a week from 10am-4pm.
Your time will be spent mainly in the kitchens with practical learning under the guidance of the Leiths expert teachers, and the theory element will take place in the dining room of Kitchen 4.
Skills & Recipes
Skills covered:
- Essential knowledge and techniques to create healthy dishes and menus
- Experiment with new ingredients to diversify your meal planning
- Develop an impressive repertoire of delicious nutritional recipes
- Build an understanding of alternative ingredients and techniques to adapt classic recipes to suit dietary requirements
- Alternative, healthier cooking methods, including fermentation and raw foods
- An introduction to sous vide cooking, Thermomixers and dehydrators
- Calculations to determine individual’s nutrient requirements
- Use of apps to calculate macronutrients as part of your recommended requirements
Nutritional Theory Topics:
- Carbohydrates and how they affect blood sugar levels
- Essential fats and oils and how to use the ‘better’ oils for the healthiest results
- Proteins and essential proteins including vegan options and how to get the best flavour using the healthiest cooking methods
- Vitamins, minerals, herbs and spices and how to maximise their impact on your cooking
- Allergies, food intolerances and gut health
- Portion control – how to know how much of each food group to serve
- Cooking for individuals at different life stages
- Cooking for individuals with eating disorders
- Raw food
- Fermenting and its benefits
- Food presentation skills and simple but effective food photography
- Client skills, how to deal with clients practically and in relation to their likes and dislikes
Example recipes:
- Poached salmon with a yuzu and Mikan sauce with pak choi
- Oriental mushroom and Kabocha miso soup
- Sweet and sour dhal with brown rice and coconut chutney
- Smoked mackerel and beetroot salad with horseradish dressing
- Aubergine chocolate brownies
- Buckwheat brittle
Assessment and Coursework
Leiths teachers will assess your progress throughout the course and you will be required to complete a theory and practical assessment at the end of the course to be eligible for the certificate.
You will do some course work at home, putting together a five-day menu plan. If you can allow an equal amount of time for this as the time you spend in class, you will get the most out of this rewarding course.
Career Support & Leiths List
Leiths has an unrivalled reputation in the food industry for producing highly-skilled graduates that go on to be the next leaders of the food world.
The past decade has seen an explosion in the varied career opportunities available within food, from private cheffing and hospitality, to recipe developing, media and food start-ups and entrepreneurship. Whatever your aspirations, the Leiths’ professional courses equip you with the lifetime skills, resources, network and solutions needed to kickstart your career.
Leiths List:
Our professional students all benefit from our bespoke careers and recruitment agency Leiths List, drawing on Leiths network of alumni and industry connections to provide work experience, job placements and advice from some of the UK’s leading food businesses. Students have access to this support from the point that they begin their course well into their professional careers.
Booking & Fees
Book a One-To-One Chat:
We recommend for this course that you book in a 15-minute chat with our teaching staff to explore your learning requirements and cooking level before enrolling in this course. This is carried out remotely via video call. To request a one-to-one chat, fill in the form here with your details and we will get in touch to organise.
Alternatively, you can contact our Registrar with any questions by phone at 020 8749 6400 or email at Registrar@leiths.com.
Book and secure your place:
To book, click ‘Book now’ at the top of the page and select your preferred date. To secure your place, you will need to pay a deposit of £400 upon booking and complete our enrolment form. This form will be sent over to you by email along with further information after booking by our Registrar. By signing this form, you agree to our course booking terms and conditions. To read our terms and conditions, click here.
Payments for professional courses must be made by either bank transfer, cheque or a debit/credit card payment. We do not accept American Express.
Places are offered on a first come, first served basis.
Remaining fees:
Once the deposit is paid, all remaining professional course fees will be due six weeks before the course starts. We’ll send you an invoice, along with instructions for ordering equipment, books and uniform closer to the time. View our full price list here.
For more information on finance and payment plans, please contact our Registrar at registrar@leiths.com or call directly at 020 8749 6400.
Practicalities
Uniform and Equipment
Any cooking equipment required will be provided for you. Further information can be found in the student handbook or contact the Registrar.
What to bring:
- Closed toed, flat soled shoes
- Long, loose trousers and a long sleeved top
- A notebook and pencil
Allergies and Intolerances
We are happy to make adjustments where possible.
Please read our full policy on allergies and dietary restrictions here.
