Learning to Cook in the Big Apple
Food is a huge part of a people’s culture. If you want to get to know a culture, the best way to do it is to partake in the food. People put so much of themselves into their cooking, and those who have dedicated themselves into the culinary arts are always passionate about the way they cook and in living out the traditions that surround their style of cooking.
New York City is one of the best places to go on a culinary adventure. The city’s cuisine is famous all over the world not only for its vibrancy, but also for its diversity. The diversity is best explained by the fact that New York City is your proverbial melting pot of all races, and each race that is represented in New York City brings to the table its own style and its own taste when it comes to cooking.
There are many ways to experience the food of a people, especially the people of New York City. One great way to go on your culinary adventure when going to New York City is to participate in cooking classes. Here are just some of the many establishments offering cooking classes in New York City.
De Gustibus Cooking School at Macy’s
The name of De Gustibus Cooking School comes from the Latin phrase de gustibus non est disputandum, which means, “of taste there is no dispute.” This Latin phrase also serves as the culinary school’s motto. True enough, there is no dispute when it comes to the cooking classes offered at De Gustibus. The range of courses is a wide array of short-term classes on different cooking styles and traditions in the United States, not to mention those of other countries and regions.
So, if you want to learn how to cook, say, the way Jewish people do it, you can find a class in De Gustibus Cooking School. The same goes if you want to learn Asian cuisine, Mediterranean cooking and many, many more. You can also learn all about food and wine pairings, hosting parties, meat carving and other skills related to the culinary arts in De Gustibus Cooking School.
One great feature of the De Gustibus Cooking School is that they invite celebrity chefs like Mario Batali, Terrence Brennan and Jean-Francois Bruel to do cooking demonstrations for their students. It is always a mesmerizing treat to watch the masters at work.
The Institute of Culinary Education
The Institute of Culinary Education claims itself to have the largest hands-on cooking, pastry making, baking and wine tasting program in the entire United States. True enough, they have 1,700 culinary courses on offer, and some 23,000 students attend these classes every year. They have classes on the different styles and traditions of cooking from all over the world, not just in New York.
The beauty of the program that the Institute of Culinary Education has is that their classes are divided according to levels of the student’s competency on the given course. Cooking, baking, pastry making and all about wines are not the only things that you can learn in the Institute of Culinary Education. The school also has classes on family dining, historic fine dining, carving, beer brewing, coffee brewing, cocktails, and others. You can even enroll in a course on a foreign language there.
The Institute of Culinary Education also invites celebrity chefs to make demonstrations in their cooking classes. Culinary walking tours are also available.
The Academy of Cake Art
If you do not really care much about cooking and would rather learn how to make cakes and decorate them in a very unique and stylish way, you can sign up for a class in the Academy of Cake Art. This school is run by Scott Clark Woolley, author of Cakes by Design. He himself also teaches in this school.
Cooking Courses are short in the Academy of Cake Art, and the seats are limited. Woolley only accepts six students per class, and so early registration is a must for those who truly want to learn the fine art of decorating cakes. Woolley, however, offers private, one-on-one classes for those who want it.
For more information on how to make the most of your culinary adventure in New York City and where to learn how to cook the NYC way, visit the New York City for Visitors Guide in About.com, as well as the New York Magazine.