Relaxation, distance from everyday worries, nutritional tips… As more and more people take or treat themselves to cooking lessons, we wanted to test this concept by spending an hour at the Atelier des chefs.
“I had never eaten such good green beans”. Such were my thoughts joyously during the tasting of the starter and main course that I had prepared in just an hour with the help of chef Wilfried Gresser, who has been passing on his know-how for 6 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DgY_7BLXcs
It must be said that the teaching could not have been more pleasant and dynamic, relaxing me considerably despite a number of worries darkening my mood for the day. “Even if we have few regular customers, there has been a real enthusiasm for cooking classes in recent years, in particular because they allow you to experience an activity that is different from the daily grind and because they open your mind. The motivations are also of a pecuniary nature, since cooking avoids consuming too much of ready-made meals, thus making it possible to make significant savings in times of inflation”explains my teacher before starting his performance. “The idea of my classes is not necessarily to reproduce dishes exactly at home, but rather to teach people the good and bad culinary reflexes so that they can apply them or banish them from their homes”, continues this chemistry enthusiast.
Cut an onion without crying
Accompanied by another student, I would indeed have learned very useful things on a daily basis, such as finely cutting chives to preserve their aromas or cutting an onion without crying. “Olive oil should not be used for cooking, as it can be toxic. Better to use peanut oil or grapeseed oil”, will also decide our leader, thus answering one of my biggest questions of the moment. “As they are too salty, it is also better not to use stock cubes sold in supermarkets and prefer preparations in sachets”, he adds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBYd-0tggQA
On the other hand, it was impossible to reproduce at home the technique for making mascarpone dumplings with two large spoons, despite numerous attempts supposed to impress my husband. I will not stay in contact with my co-cook either, with whom I will nevertheless have had a pleasant, fluid, rich and cordial exchange.
“I am a child psychiatrist at the hospital, and taking this type of cooking class allows me to cut with my work which is very intense and very cerebral”, 27-year-old Alice will tell me during our tasting. “I like this kind of time, because I prefer to do things rather than buy things for myself. I also like this activity because it allows me to learn new techniques and little tricks, with a real social exchange” , explains the young intern, who had already taken advantage of the same concept two years earlier with her mother and sister. “I also took a lot of cooking classes abroad when I was younger with my parents, it allowed us to discover the culture of the country we were visiting”, recalls the beautiful young woman with a slight injury to her finger as a result of mishandling a knife at the start of our shared experience.
Like many customers of the Atelier des chefs, Alice was offered her cooking class at Christmas by her father via a gift card. “This is a trend that is growing more and more. We also have a lot of companies that take advantage of this time of learning and exchange to do team building at lunchtime”, testifies the manager Marie Compas, in office for two years. “We receive all types of profiles, our audience is very varied”, she specifies.
Patience, listening and concentration
Its welcome is pleasant, as is the entrance to the premises, the kitchen and the tasting area. Many professional products and utensils are also sold on site. Count 45 euros to make and eat the “gourmet menu”, consisting of a spinach velouté with mascarpone cream, a salmon steak braised in red wine and green beans cooked like a risotto. Also note that you can choose different types of lessons and different learning locations, spread over Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Aix-en-Provence and Lille.
“The workshops introducing you to the preparation of Japanese dishes are the most successful. We can accommodate up to 20 people per session, and reservations are made online on our website. We are open every day except Monday, prices vary according to the services”. says Marie Compas. “No need to have special skills, everyone can register, even children accompanied by their parents”, she assures.
Cutting the different foods at the start of the lesson still requires a little patience, and the realization of the recipe good listening skills and concentration. Very rich in butter and mascarpone, the dishes I made were in my humble opinion not really healthy either (but really delicious).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhp6x0kQjoA