Cooking classes in England
 

we went to Paris last summer and we are considering going to England or Paris this summer. we haven't made up our minds yet. Does anyone know of cooking classes offered in England? There was some one day classes offered in Paris. Thanks.

What a great sense of humor you have! Cooking classes in Britain!!! Talk about an oxymoron. If there ever was a country that could use such instruction, I would set up a scholarship program. Boiled Brussels sprouts, Marmite, Mutton in 100 forms, and various other indestible lumps, served under a gooey gravy. Cold toast, cold fried eggs, great orange marmalade, great tea. Scones with Cornish clotted cream, raspberry jam, trifle. The mysteries of Yorkshire pudding. Bacon, limp and greasy and cold. Marvelous loaves of bread. There's good and there's bad.

I'm trying really hard to ignore that last posting. You chaps can be really hurtful, really you can! <BR> <BR>Actually there are a few holiday cooking places in the Uk. The best known one is in Ireland; but there is one in Devon (I think- could be Dorset- certainly West Country) and quite a few of the cookery schools in London do single day courses. <BR> <BR>I have some details at home which I'll post this evening <BR> <BR>Just going off to boil some bacon, now. <BR> <BR>

There are alot of things to love about the U.K. but I have never heard any ravings about the food there. Sorry, it's just not what they are known for!!! <BR>I'm sure there are good restaurants there however.

Someone beat me to it! Drat! <BR>There are excellent restaurants in London and I'd look there for affiliated cooking schools. BUT if I had a choice of attending a cooking school in England or France well...sorry. France it would be. <BR> <BR>In any country there is bad food and I'm sure "badness" is relative to your preferences-of-origin. What England does to vegetables on average is a "crime"! I'm "used" to greasy spoon output, and although I avoid it as best I can, there are times when McDonald's fries with plenty of "red lead" and a chocolate shake are the cat's meeeow :)

Give me healthy vegetables any day than disgusting cardboard flavoured fatty fried McDonalds. I think your comment ties in very well to the comments below about why airline seats don't seem to be big enough. <BR>

So maybe I can be the first ever to rave about English food? I've been back from my vacation for about three weeks now and am really going through fish-n-chips withdrawal (I know it's unhealthy, but i love 'em, especially with lots of salt and vinegar). I've also had some really enjoyable pub meals (and a few not so good) over the past in Britain several years. Of course, I grew up in southern Indiana where fresh 'possum and okra are considered delicacies! <BR> <BR>Sorry, Carol, I know this doesn't answer your question, but this seemed like a fun way to avoid work for a few more minutes. I hope you have success in finding a cooking class.

Jo - as I said to each her or his own. My McDonald's "abberation" is very infrequent, but sometimes that combination of salt, sweet and tangy does the trick. <BR> <BR>But let me put it this way. I have never met [outside gourmet $$$ restaurants] an English vegetable that hasn't been boiled past a) recognition and b) nutritional value. <BR>

Not really meaning to carry on an argument here, but I feel I must defend what I hold dear. One of my favourite things is a Sunday roast in my local London pub. Yes - there are some pretty bad pubs meals around, but when you get to know where to go, then the food is unbeatable. The vegetables are still very recognisable, tasty and even recommendable... and in fact come steamed on request. All for the grand price of £3.95. Maybe its just a case of knowing where you're going (i.e. not the tourist areas) and knowing what you're ordering (realising that mushy peas resembles nothing at all like peas!) I guess I am a person that feels that someone has no right to criticise any aspect of any country until they have lived there for a good amount of time. <BR>

What counts as a "good amount of time"? I lived in England for a year and, while I did occasionally find a non-gray vegetable, believe that to be the exception rather than the rule. I don' think anyone is arguing that all food in France is good or all in England bad. But the law of averages would, it seems to me, send a would-be student to France. I think the English do much better with things that come out of an oven than things that come off the stove. <BR>As a side note, I find it odd to see a battle over the cuisines of Britain and the US. We both have plenty to be ashamed about, and more than a few bright spots. While Sheila's boiling that bacon, I'll go deep-fry something.

Isn't the head of La Varenne in France a British woman, Ann Whalen (I think that's her name)? There's also a Cordon Bleu Cooking School in London (can't remember where). <BR>I personally like British food, having grown up in New England from good Yankee stock...nothing like a New England boiled dinner to warm the cockles of your heart....

Willan.

Do a web search for "Shaws Guide to Nonvocational Cooking Classes". Lists loads of classes all over the world, UK likely included. If you can't find it, e-mail me directly and I will hyperlink the site to you. <BR>Ellen

carol <BR> <BR>I bet you're glad you started this. <BR> <BR>OK. From a cooking mag published here:- <BR>Heathcotes School Manchester [email protected] <BR> <BR>The Manor, Widmerpool 01949 81371 <BR> <BR>Sonia Stevenson <BR> <BR>http://drum.gduncan.com <BR> <BR>Cookery at the Grange, Frome, Somerset <BR>01373 836579 <BR> <BR>What's Cooking, New Forest -01425 611688 <BR> <BR>Hope you get something

Whoops--most of my message disappeared, leaving only a snotty little correction. Sorry, Elvira--the key point is that you're absolutely right. <BR>(Hey, weren't you working on some sort of proof that a traveller's weight gain is due to shifts in gravity and isn't her fault? I could use that--very tired of the treadmill)

Martha, didn't take it as offense, just figured the boss walked in (ok, that's MY guilt/fear coming through). And, yes, it is my theory that gravity is stronger at low altitudes and makes you 'weigh' more. Consequently, I think the Tibetan monks would make a fortune with a weight-loss spa...before you eat a leaf or run around the track, bingo... you drop 25 pounds.

I remember being so pleasantly surprised at our first meal in the UK several years ago. It was in a little neighborhood pub in Windsor, and the daily specials written on the blackboard looked so inviting that we ordered them all! (There were 3 of us, and about 3 choices for each course, if I remember correctly). We thoroughly enjoyed each dish, and have had many more good and filling meals throughout the country. Another pleasant surprise has been the variety of vegetarian offerings in the pubs - some very interesting combinations that I've never seen elsewhere. <BR>Sorry, no advice on cooking schools though! <BR>

I may go to Mexico this summer.Can anyone recommend a Time-Management seminar.

I'm going to Tibet...can anyone reccommend a disco that serves great armadillo?

I've been going to England since my first trip abroad in 1957 and have found the food there VASTLY IMPROVED in the interim. My sister (whose US company sent her there 30 yeas ago) attributes it to the influence of the Common Market. In any event, she went to a gourmet cooking class several years back and the results were fantastically delicious. (Still are.) I edited a New Orleans cook book (written by a native) at one point and always thought of myself as a great cook--but she now puts me in the shade. I don't think Al is hanging out in the right places. Joan