Taking a cooking class in Paris is a great way to get closer to french culture and bring home a taste of your trip. I have taken two cooking classes at La Cuisine Paris. A wonderful cooking school with great teachers/chefs. It is located next to the Seine in the 4th arr. Right now they are offering online classes. At their location you can take classes that vary from a few hours of macaron making to a two day master class in bread making.

The first class I took was a Market Tour and Cooking Class. This class started at a local market. I met my chef/teacher here and my group was given a tour of the market. He told us what was in season and how to make sure things were ripe or fresh. 

After a walk through the market and seeing what was good that day the chef gave the group a few choices and had us decide what we would be making for lunch. 

After picking up the supplies we all went to a cheese booth at the market and learned about what cheese would go best with our choice of food.

After this we went back to the school and had coffee and a snack while the chef prepared for our class. We all cooked together. We each helped with all different parts of the meal.

When everything was cooked we sat in a dining area off the kitchen and all ate together by a window overlooking the Seine river.

The second class I took was a three hour choux pastry class. This is the pastry dough that makes eclairs, and cream puffs. The dough doesn’t have much flavor so you can also mix cheese into it and make cheese puffs. I enjoy piping and was told i was crazy but everyone was happy to let me pipe extra puffs. 

This class started off with a group made dough. We all mixed and felt the texture. We all helped pipe it onto baking sheets and add either sugar or cheese. After these were in the oven we each got to make our own dough. We had our choice of fillings, from chocolate to fruit. 

We made eclairs, puffs, swans and any other shape we wanted to try. 

At the end of this class we all took home boxes full of treats. We also took home the recipe and of course all the tips and tricks we learned.

The chefs also told us about some local restaurants and a restaurant supply store. One shop even gives a school discount. The school employees are happy to share their favorite local restaurants which they circle on a paper map for you. It’s convenient to be able to take the map with you and make notes on it. The school also sells some equipment like kitchen towels, aprons and a few spices. The classes are all small, between 5 and 9 people per class. 

I can’t wait to go back and continue to learn from these knowledgeable chefs in the future. https://lacuisineparis.com/