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Kitchen Quarantine: virtual masterclasses to make your belly sing
For some, the kitchen is a source of comfort and a place to hone culinary skills and experiment with food. For others, it’s a space for socialising after a busy day, or for a cheeky wine or two after an ever-bigger week. As families and households settle into the new self-isolated norm, the kitchen offers opportunity to connect with one another over a shared love of food and there’s possibly no greater satisfaction in life than the sense of fulfilment we feel from serving up a well-cooked meal to the ones we love, or devouring a devilish dessert.
Whatever reason brings you to the kitchen, make the most of your time spent there by learning a new recipe. Hosted by some of the world’s most celebrated chefs and restaurants, we’ve rounded up a selection of our favourite virtual cooking classes guaranteed to make you a MasterChef in no time.
Whatever reason brings you to the kitchen, make the most of your time spent there by learning a new recipe
Baked Dukkah Crusted Camembert. Source: @maggie_beer
Source: @sagrarestaurant
Baked Dukkah Crusted Camembert. Source: @maggie_beer
Source: @sagrarestaurant
Like some, when faced with strict social distancing laws, Sagra sought alternative methods to continue to serve the community in an effort to keep the hospitality industry and their suppliers in business. At first it was free takeaway meals for those in need, until the Sydney restaurant upped the ante with their online cooking classes. Hosted via Zoom, classes see anywhere from 15-30 strangers come together for two hours to cook a three-course meal, with optional paired wines. For Sydneysiders, $60 includes all ingredients to be picked at their Darlinghurst location, alternatively $40 will get you the Zoom link alone.
Anyone who is familiar with Jamie Oliver will know one of his key cooking philosophies is working smarter not harder to create failsafe, family meals that don’t break the budget. Hosted by The Good Foundation, an organisation founded on the promotion of good health and nutrition, the course takes place over five days (either broken down into a week or a month) via a live interactive video chat. Each session focuses on a new recipe, and threads in basic knife skills and techniques to make cooking simpler and more efficient.
Kitchen Quarantine with Massimo Bottura
Italian cooking with a side of positive reinforcement? Don’t mind if we do. Massimo Bottura – the Michelin-starred chef behind Italy’s famed Osteria Francescana – is bringing daily cooking inspo by way of chocolate chip cookies, almond gelato and leftovers-turned-ragu (seriously). His world-class recipes are further enriched by Massimo’s Italian know-how and infectious excitement over food. Bonus points if you can speak or understand Italian. Otherwise, the only word you’ll need to know is Buonissimo!
Cook, food author, restauranteur and co-host of The Great Australian Bake off, Maggie Beer is providing virtual cooking lessons via her Instagram page. Dubbed #cookwithmaggie, each week Beer invites us into her ‘Barossa kitchen’ where she puts on quite the culinary show. Favourites sure to make your mouth water include a baked dukkah crusted camembert, mussels with tomato and basil sugo and a beer bread with honey and quark, her response to the nationwide shortage of yeast. Plus, there’s something just so wholesome about Maggie that keeps us coming back week after week.
