If there’s one good thing to come out of staying at home during this coronavirus pandemic, let it be improved cooking skills. With the pressure to self isolate and so many incredible cooking classes now available online, there truly is no better time to expand your cooking repertoire. Whether you prefer to learn from a professional chef, follow recipes from you favourite restaurants or learn from someone in another country, there are so many options to choose from that even we can’t decide what to do first. Here’s some of the best virtual cooking classes available right now.
Learn from professional chefs
You no longer have to be in culinary school or on Masterchef to learn from professional chefs as many of them are now taking to online platforms to bring you their best tips and tricks.
Three-Michelin-starred, Massimo Bottura has started filming nightly cooking classes on IGTV called Kitchen Quarantine. The Italian chef behind Gucci Osteria, is currently in quarantine with his family and his wholesome cooking lessons (all in English) have been a big hit among fans and amateur cooks who have so far learnt his tips for cooking Thai green curry, tortellini, warm bollito salad and more. The livestreams take place at 8 pm CET (6 am AEDT) however if you miss them you can catch some of his videos here.
Masterclass is offering home cooking tips and tricks from seven-star Michelin chef Gorden Ramsay. In his classes he takes you into his home kitchen and gives you tips on everything from kitchen setup to buying the freshest ingredients and mastering unforgettable dishes. He has classes on elevated scrambled eggs, breaking down a whole chicken, making pasta dough, salmon and shellfish minestrone and much more. Check it out here.
Cook along with Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski who teaches you to make the most of your pantry staples with his new IGTV mini-series, Quar Eye: Cooking Lessons in Quarantine.
Learn from locals in other countries
London’s popular foodie attraction, Borough Markets is now offering free online cooking classes. To continue the interactive market experience that regular customers are missing right now, a Facebook page has been created called Borough Market Community to keep people connected. Community members will have access to will be plenty of recipes, articles, videos and tips to inspire produce shopping and cooking and are also encouraging members to share their own. Meanwhile check out some of their Instagram recipe posts and live streams on IG TV which are all about making the most of cupboard essentials.
Ever fancied taking a cooking class from an authentic Italian Nonna? Well the Italian grandmother behind Airbnb’s ‘Handmade Pasta with Grandma‘ experience is making her cooking classes live so you can cook along at home instead. The new virtual experience Nonna Live, organised by Nonna Nerina and her granddaughter Chiara, costs just $50 for 2 hours of cooking, stories, laughs and pasta. Once you’re registered they will send you an ingredients list, wine pairing suggestions and any utensils you may need to cook with to help you prepare.
Withlocals LIVE is the newly developed website that offers online experiences from locals from locals around the world – many of which are cooking experiences. You can try out a Malaysian curry cooking class run by a mother and daughter; learn how to cook Korean-style BBQ with Seoul local Danyoung; or bake homemade Belgium waffles with guidance by local Patrick. Check out all the virtual experiences here.
