The main goal is to learn how to cook (or to enrich your savoir-faire in learning about new products, and other styles of cooking). The goal is not to cook such and such a recipe (these days it is very easy to find tons of recipes on-line), but to learn different modes of preparation, of cooking, to learn how to make sauces, etc.

We could learn, for example, many ways to cook fish: “court-bouillon”, in the oven, in “papillote”, grilled, in the pan, fried, or marinated. Or many different ways to cook meat: “ragout”, roasted, grilled, “à la broche”, “à la poêle”, “à la casserole”. How can we know if the meat or the fish is cooked the right amount? Should the oven be hot, or medium? The chef will not be satisfied to just give you a recipe; he will teach you different methods of cooking, and how to cook in function of the types of dishes you will prepare. He’ll teach you also how to cook meat, fish, and poultry.

We will learn how to reduce a sauce, to make it smooth, or to give it a light, mousse-like quality. We’ll learn how to make all different kinds of sauces.

You will also learn about the great variety of desserts. They can be grouped into large categories and depending on which type of cake you make (tarte, biscuit, etc.), you can easily do one that is closely related (for example, if you know how to make a plum tarte, you already know how to make an apricot tarte). But how do you make a tarte with a firm crust, or keep the fruits golden before they become too liquid? The chef will teach you!

We’ll learn how to coordinate the main dishes and the garnitures, how to choose dishes that go well together, and finally, how to select wines based on the meal.