Cooking classes

The Prue Leith culinary institute isn’t renowned for its excellence for nothing. Through the cooking classes attended by some of the now finest chefs in the culinary world, the art of preparing food, combined with stylish presentation thereof is taught in a unique way.

The college situated in Lyttleton, Centurion, offers students the opportunity of a life time. They get the chance to attend cooking classes, work in one of the top 20 restaurants in the country and learn the intricacies of catering at client selected venues.

The 18 month diploma course presented at the college, its restaurant the Odd Plate, and its catering kitchen, prepares students for a highly competitive, but also vibrant career in culinary arts and hospitality. Cooking classes form a large part of the course, while other skills are also taught. Some of the skills and modules are listed below.

  • Management of the kitchen
  • How to work and take care of knives
  • Importance of good hygiene and how it applies to the kitchen and food
  • Basic preparation techniques before cooking starts and what to do afterwards
  • Understanding cooking and kitchen terms
  • How to prepare and cost a menu for different occasions
  • Preparation and cooking of vegetables, eggs, soups and starch
  • Preparing and cooking sauces, stews and do sauté work
  • Preparing, cooking and serving of roasts, braising and broiling of meats
  • Preparation, cooking and serving of fish
  • Starch and powder mixing
  • French baking
  • Sweets and pastry preparation
  • Salad preparation and management of the salad table
  • Cold foods preparation
  • African cooking
  • International cuisine and gourmet cooking
  • Vegetarian food preparation
  • Budgeting and financial management
  • Herbs, herbal gardens and their use
  • Art of catering
  • Customer care
  • Restaurant work
  • Restaurant management
  • South African and International wines
  • Creating a winning CV
  • Preparing for the interview.

Students get the opportunity to develop their skills at the Odd Plate restaurant where they not only work in each of the kitchen divisions, but also get a chance to work as waiter, an opportunity to be the head waiter and as bartender. Everything they learn in the cooking classes are practiced and perfected. Apart from the practical experience in the restaurant, they are also exposed the world of catering where they learn all the finer details and participate in hosting events.

Since practical experience is part of the focus, students are placed at some of the best lodges, restaurants, and hotels in South Africa and the world, where they get the chance to apply everything they have learnt through the cooking classes, while they learn under well-known and acclaimed masters in the culinary world. A compulsory part of the course is the attendance of the Cape Wine Academy Certificate Course to provide them with a well rounded culinary education.

Apart from the normal topics such as food sanitation, basic preparation techniques, and kitchen management normally found through cooking classes at other institutes, the Prue Leith students get extensive training in patisserie, rotisserie, wine tasting and selection, financial management and customer care. Since most people don’t attend an 18 month diploma in the culinary arts at one of the most exclusive schools in the world, for their own amusement, the preparation of a culinary specific CV is also taught.

Many of the students leave with a diploma to start their own business in catering or open a restaurant. The practical experience gained at lodges, the catering kitchen, the onsite restaurant together with the lectures and theory taught, are especially useful in these instances.

Obtaining a good position in the culinary world without experience is rather difficult, but since Prue Leith students also undergo an internship program, they are armed with both the qualification and experience necessary to get into the top culinary institutions in the world.

Add to all of the above the name of the college and students with good grades are almost certainly guaranteed of top positions at some of the best restaurants, hotels, resorts and lodges in the world. Contact Prue Leith to enroll for the next diploma course with its many and comprehensive cooking classes and get a head start in the culinary world with the prestigious diploma from Prue Leith College of Food and Wine.