Cooking Classes in France

Have you ever thought about taking a cooking class in France? There are many great options – I’ve taken a few classes myself and am happy to share a bit about my experiences in each of them.

La Cuisine Paris │ 80 Quai de l’Hôtel de Ville, 75004 Paris, France Tél: +33 1 40 51 78 18

La Cuisine Paris offers small group classes for 8-12 people on a variety of food categories. At the school, you can learn about everything from making croissants, macarons, and pastries to curating cheese boards and finding the best produce at the market. La Cuisine Paris classes are all about the shared cooking experience – sharing the work, the ideas, and the fun – under the leadership of a skilled chef. This means specific cooking tasks are assigned to each participant – everyone works simultaneously on different aspects of a recipe and then blends their efforts into a delicious dish. This is ideal for anyone traveling with a groups of friends. In my class, four of the eight were longtime friends from college in Paris to celebrate a milestone birthday – what fun!

Our class was called “The Art of the Parisian Apéro – Entertaining with Hors d’Oeuvres.” Every month, I host a group Francophones for cocktails and conversation. I thought taking this class would be a great opportunity to learn how to make a few traditional French appetizers. Together, we made cheese puffs, stuffed mushroom caps, stuffed quail eggs, chicken liver pâté with caramelized sweet onions, and salmon spread. I never would have tried these recipes on my own, but discovered they were much easier than I had anticipated – particularly the quail eggs. When the cooking was done, we arranged platters , opened a couple bottles of wine, and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.

All in all, I had a lot of fun and cannot say enough good things about the wonderful staff.

Maison Lenôtre │ Quai Henri IV, 75004 Paris, France Tel : +33 1 86 93 04 00

Since 1957, Maison Lenôtre has perpetuated the values of its founder, Gaston Lenôtre – his passion for the profession, appreciation for a job well done, quest for excellence, and the sharing of savoir-faire. The school has upped its game since I took courses there several years. Today, Maison Lenôtre offers advanced training for professionals and a series of certificates earned in French over several weeks or months, with prerequisites for nearly every course except one. Thankfully, Maison Lenôtre offers half-day workshops for novice cooks.

The best non-certificate option is the “Basics of Cooking” class. It’s intended for adults wishing to deepen their knowledge, amateurs, and enthusiasts wishing to reorient their career, and young professionals who left the profession for a time and would like to return. Given the intensity, it’s essential that you plan an extended stay, speak the language, and are truly motivated to learn the art of French cooking and gastronomy in general.

The workshops are for small groups of 3-8 individuals on board a barge at Quai Henri IV facing the Notre-Dame Cathedral. This format is very similar to the classes I took years ago. They feature a variety of seasonal recipes, while also teaching culinary techniques with the help of an experienced chef.

My two classes focused on les confitures (preserves) and seasonal dishes. In each class, everyone was provided all the ingredients for each recipes and prepared them from start to finish at their own cooking station. I absolutely loved the experience, learned to determine the quantity of ingredients by weight instead of measure and absorbed every tip the chef had to offer – from ensuring an air-tight seal on my jar of peach chutney to properly holding a knife for chopping odd-shaped vegetables. Of course, I imaged myself in the role of Sabrina – struggling at times, but ultimately learning a lot about the art of French cuisine.

In the end, we packed up the food and took it home to family and friends. It was a long day and a lot of work, but I loved every minute.

Molly J. Wilkinson │ Versailles, France

By far, one of my best French cooking experiences took place in the home of my host family when I lived in Lille. Francine, the mother, wanted to learn English, and I wanted to learn French. So, we traded skills every weekend – heading to the market on Saturday morning, selecting the most appealing items, and then preparing a delicious meal together for the family. While learning to cook with Francine is not a feasible option for my readers, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a similar market and in-home experience.

Molly Wilkinson is a Le Cordon Bleu trained pastry chef who offers private and semi-private Market Day cooking classes in her 18th century Versailles apartment. Together, you and Molly can tour the farmer’s markets, select ingredients, and prepare a delicious meal in her beautiful apartment just outside Paris. You can meet one-on-one or organize a small group.

Molly will show you the best fruit and vegetable stands and how to choose the perfect items for each recipe. The morning market tour also includes visits to a boulangerie, butcher, and cheese shop. Each class is booked by request and begins at 9:30 AM at either the Saint Louis Cathedral or Notre Dame market in Versailles. Molly will share her tips and tricks to making the perfect, traditional four-course meal, which includes a starter, main plate, cheese course, dessert and wine. The classes are open to anyone who loves to cook and bake.

Full disclosure: I have not taken one of Molly’s classes. But, we chatted about the experiences she offers and they seem designed to emulate my experience cooking on weekends with Francine. Plus, Molly is super nice, and I’m confident you’ll enjoy spending the day with her.

Bon appétit!

Photos by: @rue.dauphine.paris @lacuisineparis @maisonlenotre @mollyjwilk