Cooking Class in Paris

Bonjour! Greetings from Paris! I am here in Paris for business a total of 7 days, 6 nights: 4 days of meetings, and 2 weekend days.  I couldn't believe that the last time I was in Paris was 2 years ago, back in 2009.  I usually come to Paris 2x a year for business, once in June and once in October.  This past June, I opted to go to Hong Kong instead and bypassed the Paris trip.  So here I am, in Paris in October!  I've been to Paris 3x before this trip, so I've been to the most of the famous sites - Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, and the many museums. I even took a trip out to Versailles. This time around, I was looking for something else to do while in Paris, so my coworker suggested a French cooking class called Cook'n with Class.  She has done it before and highly recommended it. In fact, this class is the #1 on the list of "things to do" on Trip Advisor.  So I asked another colleague of mine to take the class with me and that's how we spent our Friday night!

We met the instructor at the Jules Joffrin station in Montmarte at 5pm.  There were a total of 6 of us (which is the maximum number of students per class): my coworker and I,  a family that comprised of a mother, daughter, and a son-in-law from Toronto, and a guy from Vancouver.  From the station, the instructor asked us about our food likes and dislikes so she can tailor the menu somewhat.  After that, she took us to the market!

First stop: Cheese Boutique

2nd stop: Meat Market

4th stop: Seafood market

Last stop: Bakery shop to buy fresh  baked bread

After buying the ingredients, we are ready to head back to the Cooking school's classroom.  Here are some of the tricks I learned (sorry, it may sound basic to you, but they were a-ha moments for me!)

• When doing a 3 course menu, always start with the dessert.  Most desserts will require time to cool, so best to do it in advance.
• Cut off mushroom stems before washing.  Mushrooms are like sponges so cutting off the stems help reduce the amt of dirt the mushroom might absorb
• Double cook your mushrooms - once to remove excess water (which can be reused) and once to add flavor
• Blanche vegetables in salt water to maintain its vibrant green color
• Peel vegetables (i.e. carrots) towards you, and not away from you so you can see what you're doing! 
• Double cook your meats (sear it on a stove top to get the color and put it in the oven to actually cook it). 

We made a total of 3 dishes. They are all very delicious, even better than some of the restaurants we've been to. I loved all of the dishes!  The meal is fancy French cuisine, yet the taste brings you comfort like home-cooked dishes.  I think what makes it good is that all the ingredients are super fresh and in-season (which is really important). French people like to buy everything fresh - i.e. a bakery where the bread was made, the butcher shops where they can see the meats being prepared, etc.  They don't really have "supermarkets" here like we do in the States where the food is packaged and frozen with tons of perspectives. No wonder most French people are skinny!       

Our meal: 

Appetizer: Fresh sea scallops over Chanterelle and White mushrooms

Entree: Veal with Vegetable medley and meat sauce

Cheese Platter - a sampling from the 5 families of cheeses

Dessert: Creme Brulee with fresh peaches

The class is not cheap but worth it!!  Well, considering that you get a 3-course meal with cheese & wine + the cooking experience, it's not too bad at all. I would highly recommend this course to anyone going to Paris and wanting to do something more than just visiting museums all day!