School's in for energetic cooks

by Gavin Stamp
BBC News business reporter

Students are encouraged to learn the basic techniques

Celebrity chefs are now as much a part of the British culinary landscape as eggs and bacon.

But for all the books they have sold and the ad campaigns they have fronted, how much influence have they had on our kitchen habits?

Quite a lot, if the spectacular but largely unnoticed growth in cookery schools is anything to go by.

Those wanting to brush up their skills or learn a new type of cuisine altogether are now totally spoilt for choice.

There is no trade body for cookery schools but industry professionals make a conservative estimate of at least 50 establishments in the UK.

Many of these have sprouted up over the last five years.

Flavour of the month

Demand for the best-known schools - such as Rick Stein's Padstow Seafood School in Cornwall and Nick Nairn's in Scotland - is so strong that they now run three or four courses a week all year round.

Four days tuition from Raymond Blanc at his world-famous Le Manoir Aux Quatre Saisons restaurant and residential cookery school will set you back up to £1,600 a head.

For those on a tighter budget, there are ample opportunities to learn how to cook everything under the sun, from fish and vegetarian dishes to Indian, Thai and Chinese food.

Dishes on the menu range from sushi to curries

It is a far cry from the 1950s, where the oldest schools trace their origins and when those taking cookery lessons tended to be mostly debutantes or aristocratic housewives.

So highly prized is the expertise of Britain's top cooks that it is no surprise that some believe there is more money to be made in opening a cooking school than a restaurant.

According to Chico Francesco, who offers a diverse range of cookery courses in North London, his overheads are 50% lower than they would be running a typical restaurant.

Breadwinning breadmakers

He says there are several reasons for the growth in culinary interest, including the trend to healthier eating and more experimentation.

"People are travelling more, experiencing different types of cuisine, and want to be able to recreate those experiences back home."

There is also growing dissatisfaction with restaurants, which he feels is as much to do with poor atmosphere and service than with the quality of the food.

"Eating in a restaurant is becoming too much of a process. People are not treated as individuals unless they are regular customers."

There is a real market out there for food education but I believe it will eventually reach a saturation point Chico Francesco, Hampstead Cuisine School

While signing up for a day's cooking course has become a leisure activity like any other, the need to learn basic skills or broaden one's repertoire is now just as much the preserve of men as women.

With this in mind, Hampstead Cuisine School has been offering a 'Cooking for Blokes' course for about a year and Mr Francesco says it is one of its most popular.

The six-hour course is an intensive 'workshop' in which the students get their hands dirty preparing a variety of dishes.

Basic ingredients

These range from relatively easy to prepare snacks such as soup or tabbouleh, to more intricate dishes such as sushi and dinner party options such as curries and cheesecakes.

Basic skills - such as making cheese sauces and choosing which knives and saucepans to use - are also taught.

The most eagerly-awaited part of the day comes at the end

"It is important to get the right information about the basics," says Mr Francesco.

"TV chefs have done a lot of good in raising awareness about the industry but one area in which they have often failed is by glossing over the basic techniques."

After several hours of frenetic activity, accountant Andrew Michaelides, retailer Felipe Fernandez and Mark Williamson, who works for an environmental awareness body, relax over a glass of champagne and compare notes.

The trio share a love of food and also have another significant thing in common - their wives are all excellent cooks and were keen for them to develop their culinary skills.

"I have always loved my food but I was fed up with cooking the same sort of things and I thought I would like to be a bit more adventurous," Mr Michaelides says.

Restaurant grumbles

After a while, the conversation inevitably drifts towards bad restaurant experiences, such as the familiar musak and poor value for money.

"You can go to restaurants and end up spending £40 on something not very special and you think you can do that at home," says Mr Fernandez.

But each stress they are not refugees from restaurants and primarily want to make their home cooking more enjoyable.

All seem pleased with their day's efforts, feeling it had increased their confidence and ability to cope when things do not go right to plan.

Comparing tasting notes

"We went at a nice pace," says Mr Williamson. "We could stop and ask questions. No question was too silly."

The proof of the course was in the eating, the finale to the day's action.

Apart from a curry which was too mild for most tastes, they were satisfied and perhaps a little surprised with their efforts.

Mr Francesco, who also teaches courses in Germany, believes the market is flourishing but says not all schools will prosper.

"There is a real market out there for food education but I believe it will eventually reach a saturation point," he says.

"People who established themselves early and who really deliver will be the ones that survive."