Will 2020 be the year you stop dabbling in the kitchen and get serious about your sauces, soufflés and syllabubs? If so, allow us to direct you to the Cookery School at Little Portland Street, which has just announced term dates for this year’s Cook’s Certificate in Food and Wine courses.
Aimed at elevating home cooks to the first steps of professional cheffery, the certificate is ideal for both anyone looking to sidestep into a culinary a career and those of us who simply want to supercharge our existing skills. Incorporating 245 hours of hands-on learning, the six-week, full-time course covers not only the essential principles of cooking but every connected culinary concern, including ingredient sourcing, meal planning, menu writing, budgeting and – as you’d expect from London’s most environmentally savvy school – sustainability.
Presided over by Little Portland Street’s formidable founder Rosalind Rathouse (check out our Q&A with her here), the curriculum features regional cuisines such as Indian, Thai and Middle Eastern; includes crucial kitchen skills such as preserving, bread making, soups and sauces; and gives you a launchpad into the sugary world of the pastry chef – from managing gelatine to chocolate making. For £7,745, you’ll get the knowledge and confidence to tackle almost any culinary challenge, an opportunity to experience professional life one of London’s most acclaimed restaurant kitchens, and leave with a wodge of handy qualifications, namely:
• Level 3 Certificate from Open College Network (OCN) London
• Level 2 Award in Wines from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET)
• Level 2 Foundation Certificate in Food Safety from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH)
• Level 2 Sustainable Kitchen accreditation from OCN London
Past grads have gone on to stellar careers in food and hospitality, so if you fancy following in their footsteps – or just want a certificate to show off when you whip up Sunday lunch at home – the spring term kicks off on 2 March (with other intakes in June and September). It’s limited to 12 students a time so if you want in, chop chop.