Published on August 31, 2009 - Do you stare quizzically at your Indian spices, wondering what to do with the half of them? Love Mexican food, but your last attempt at flambéed fajitas nearly cost you your eyebrows? Let Montréal come to the rescue and spark those food-lovin’ feelings once again! Thanks to numerous workshops and courses offered by master chefs, you can discover, in the blink of an eye, the tricks, techniques and secrets of cooking that will make you the envy of your friends.
With recipes featured from the four corners of the earth, the Académie culinaire offers a world tour of tasty dishes. They’ll teach you how to make tapas, ravioli, Vietnamese rolls or kibbe nayeh—a delicious Lebanese specialty made from beef tartar and cracked wheat—faster than you can say, “What’s cooking?”
If you’re more a gourmet-on-the-go type, the Gourmet Pressé workshop offered by Ateliers & Saveurs might be right up your alley. Their chefs teach you how to whip up a succulent lunch in 30 minutes, and spare your weary taste buds another tried-and-true sandwich. The house also offers a variety of culinary theme classes according to the season, as well as their “Chef au marché” concept, where you accompany a chef to a local market to choose products for the 5-course menu you’ll be preparing.
You’ll have a hard time deciding exactly what to choose from the long list of themes offered by Europea restaurant’s Atelier. Hmmm… sexy starters for a 5 à 7, homemade sorbets, cocktails and mixology or even initiation to molecular cuisine (and no worries if you flunked high-school chemistry)!
With more than 130 courses offered a year, Mezza Luna, the cooking school of the trendy Quincaillerie Dante, offers a wide range of recipes culled from traditional Italian cookery. Elena Faita and her son Stefano will teach you their special tips, of course, but invited guests include master Montréal chefs who also divulge their kitchen secrets. Many of these courses are offered in only French (check Web sites to be sure), but we think the kitchen is the perfect spot to brush up on Molière’s language.
And to spice it all up, why not take advantage of the numerous gourmet events going on year-long in Montréal? From the MONTRÉAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival to the Mondial de la bière, the Cultural Feast or the Montréal Wine and Spirits Show, there’s always something new to savour in the city.
Académie culinaire
Ateliers et Saveurs
L'Atelier par Europea
Quincallerie Dante
MONTRÉAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival
A Cultural Feast
Mondial de la bière
Montréal Wine and Spirits Show
