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Cooking courses in English by Emmanuelle Cuchet in Paris

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Emmanuelle Cuchet offers cooking courses by inviting you into her own apartment near Republique in central Paris. Her lessons are usually in English.


If you want to contact Emmanuelle: Cours de cuisine d’Emmanuelle Cuchet

We met up with Emmanuelle in a cafe not far from the market at Oberkampf. We quickly got to know each other around a hot drink, and were soon ready to go and buy all our ingredients.

Emmanuelle gave us a whole load of tips about how to choose fresh fish, winter vegetables, the importance of getting fruit and veg from small producers…. She is passionate about food and enjoys everything about it. We spent some time walking through the market talking about food and drooling over the cheese stand or the organic vegetables.

Shopping over. We bought shallots for our little caramelised shallot tarts, sea bream fillets for our baked fish in greased paper, parsnips, mushrooms, pumpkin and spring onion.

Back to Emmanuelle’s apartment where she treated us to coffee, tea and a succulent fruit cake that everyone enjoyed. Now we are ready !

Emmanuelle gave everyone something different to do, as we had to prepare a full meal for five people that we would share later. Some peeled vegetables while others got the caramel ready for the « crème renversée » dessert.

We didn’t take our work too seriously, but it was a relaxed morning together and we laughed a lot!

The dishes started to take shape and we were eager to eat them. Emmanuelle gave us some tips about how to get the caramel right, how to make some decorations for the dessert, how to cook the shallots quicker.

Time flies by when you are with her… The small tarts were ready, the « crème renversée » dessert was cooling, our fish « papillotes » were in the oven and the winter vegetables were nearly ready. We laid the table to stave off our hunger just a little longer, as everything smelled really good.

It was great to taste the fruit of our labour… The little tarts were divine, the fish had kept all the flavour of the lemon, spring onions and thyme.

The « crème renversée » came out of its mould without no problem and we had a very pleasant meal accompanied by a very good bottle of white wine from Emmanuelle’s cellar. So… when’s the next class????

The classes take place every Tuesday and Friday, but Emmanuelle Cuchet can also do special lessons – if requested – on specific subjects such as puff pastry… She’s becoming more and more successful, so it may soon be difficult to book a place…

Price for a 4-hour lesson (including lunch) : 70 euros per person

If you want to contact Emmanuelle: Cours de cuisine d’Emmanuelle Cuchet

Thank you very much to Jerome d’Almeida our photographer:

If you want to see more pictures: Galerie photos

1 comment for this entry:

  • Corinne Moncelli
    février 14th, 2007 on 13 h 22 min

    I’m not a good cook, and cooking doesn’t interest me especially, but I accepted to go along with the idea and met up with the other at the market on rue Oberkampf. Our hostess told us all about vegetables that have gone out of fashion, a few tips for choosing fresh fish, and how it is always better to buy from small vegetable producers rather from the wholesalers at Rungis (huge professional fruit and veg market for grocers, just outside Paris). An hour later our shopping baskets were full and we were off to Emmanuelle’s apartment. First, we warmed ourselves up with tea or hot coffee (it was really cold on the market), accompanied by a delicious slice of cake, but it was soon time to get to work! One person peeled vegetables while another prepared the caramel, and another watched our hostess. Through the organised chaos, little by little, the fine tartlets, fish filets and crème caramel were starting to take shape! A few hours later we were all sat at the table, pleased with ourselves, starving hungry. We had prepared a whole meal whilst also little tricks about how to get special flavours, cook faster, better organise oneself, and correct mistakes. I enjoyed eating and learning whilst still being relaxed. It was nice to be in someone’s home, as other cookery courses don’t give you a glimpse of the person’s character. It’s a simple act of generosity, and I would recommend it for those who like their food but don’t think they are gifted for cooking.

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