Cookery Courses in Dublin, Ireland

Dublin Cookery School, Blackrock:
Lynda Booth's Dublin Cookery School in Blackrock, South County Dublin is Dublin's top venue for cookery courses. With the most experienced and professional team in the city, you know that you will be in good hands. We offer a wide choice of cooking classes ranging from single evenings, one day, one week and one month certificate courses to our flagship 12 week certificate course. An attractive option is the all day Saturday course: great recipes, new skills and a relaxed lunch in our dining room over a glass of wine. Choose from Italian, Fish, Thai, Sauces, Baking, Man in the Kitchen and many more. Our "Cooking for Friends" intensive one week courses are sure to be popular with those wanting to upgrade their cooking skills. We will run Growing Gourmets courses for teens.

Cooking for Friends Courses | 1 Week | Hands On |
This is the course in most demand. Everyone wants to be able to invite their friends over for great food. What better way to learn than watch a chef demonstrate some key techniques and then be guided through each stage in the hands-on kitchen. This course has an autumn theme with plenty of exposure to seasonal ingredients. Look forward to entertaining your friends effortlessly. 

Growing Gourmets | 4 Days | Hands On | 
These courses really do change skill levels and attitudes to cooking. There is a constant movement between the demo and the hands-on area so that cooking time can be maximized with a clear sense of what they need to achieve.  The format is lively and fun but the recipes and ingredients constantly challenge our gourmets to push out their boundaries and gain real satisfaction from newly learned skills.  No better age to learn a love of cooking.  Come home to supper on the table! (Ages 10 - 16)

Friday Night Supper Club | Evening | Hands On
It's Friday night and time for a change of scene - not to mention some delicious food, convivial company and a well-deserved glass of wine.  Why not join us for a whistle-stop tour of one of the world's great food cities? Each stop in our culinary escapes series sees us look to a different city for inspiration for supper. Because we know you've all had a long week, we'll arm you with a glass of wine before guiding you through some of our favourite classic recipes from this week's destination.  Then, once your appetite is well and truly piqued, we'll move to the hands-on area to recreate the dishes before adjourning to our dining room for our own private dinner party. Whether you want to come with a bunch of pals or travel solo, this is a lively and social evening out - and you never know who you might meet on your travels.

Cafe Cooking | 1 Day & 3 Days | Hands On |
Satisfying soups, inventive salads, rustic terrines, earthy pates, nourishing tagines, savoury tarts, inspired quiches, rustic breads, pastries and traditional baking – this course is about fresh, tasty food, much of which can be prepared in advance. Whether you’ve always wanted to run your own café or simply yearn for the skills to whip up satisfying food for friends, this is the course for you.

Focus on Fish | 1 Day | Hands On |
Fish can be the quickest supper to put on the table or the most impressive dinner party fare. So many of us want to cook fish but can feel intimidated by the wide selection of fish and shellfish on offer. This is an opportunity to gain confidence with close hands-on advice. Wonderful fresh ideas for those with a passion for fish.

BBQ | 1 Day | Hands On |
The BBQ is the most social way to share food with friends and is seldom used with imagination. This course is brimming with ideas offering a wide range of interesting marinades for all sorts of fish and meat from the smallest prawn right through to a butterflied leg of lamb. We will bring you through all the techniques of preparing and cooking on your barbecue and then we will go outdoors where you will assist in the preparation of the food. After preparing salads, salsas and other side dishes, we will all sit down in the dining room to sample all the wonderful fare over a few glasses of wine. Get inspired for the summer.

Baking | 1 Day | Hands On | 
There is something very satisfying about spending some time baking. As you would expect at DCS, there are wonderful recipes, putting a flourish on even simple ideas. The clear, precise instructions make many of the ideas very straightforward but there is challenge, too, as we move to ways of working with yeast and pastry. Savoury tarts and quiches with homemade bread form the basis of a great lunch. In the afternoon expect to be back at the stove so that you can go home with cake, biscuits and muffins and a determination to get baking at every opportunity.

Man in the Kitchen | 1 Day | Hands On |
Men are welcome on all courses but this 'men only' course has its own distinct atmosphere. It has to be hands-on, there has to be plenty of opportunity for questions and the results must be wildly impressive. Dishes have been selected so that a wide range of techniques can be mastered effortlessly. Bring an apron and expect to get stuck in from an early point. Look forward to a stunning lunch with a glass of wine and clear recipes to take home. It's a winning combination.

The Italian Kitchen | 1 Day | Hands On |
At its best, Italian cooking is essentially good home-cooking, focusing on seasonal ingredients and this course has always been one of our most popular with its deep gutsy flavours. The day will celebrate this style as we prepare dishes which will range from starters and pasta dishes through to main dishes, and of course, dessert! This promises to be a very enjoyable day, leaving you inspired with everything you need to know to recreate the perfect Italian meal at home. Buon Appetito!

Modern Vegetarian | Evening | Hands On |
This popular course attracts vegetarians and non-vegetarians in equal numbers, eager for creative ideas and balanced eating.  We often start with a single vegetable and then cheeses, oils, spices, herbs, grains, nuts are used to enhance its starring role in extraordinary ways.  We have selected from our favourite vegetarian dishes so that you can perfect particular techniques that can then be used with other vegetables.  A great course for all cooks who want to stretch their culinary imagination and for vegetarians proud to strut their stuff in any company.

Knife Skills | 1 Evening | Hands On |
This is an opportunity to focus on knife skills, one of the essential building blocks for any cook or chef. Techniques become easy to master, after you have watched them carefully. You will soon be chopping, dicing, slicing and filleting with confidence. There will be plenty of individual attention to ensure smooth progress. 

Thai Stir-fries, Curries & Salads | 1 Day | Hands On |
Thai stir-fries are utterly different to other ways of using a wok. Heat control is more variable as you develop different pastes that will form the foundation of a great dish. Using ingredients readily available from an Asian market, we will be showing many key techniques so that you will be confident about what to add and when, and the depth of taste you are aiming for. The reward for all this extra wok-work? When you get it right, Thai stir-fries yield the most incredible complexity of flavour that builds in layers through the dish. We guarantee that it will become one of your staple suppers. And because a Thai meal is never complete with just one dish, we’ll also look at Thai salads and relishes. If you love freshness of flavour, and want to expand your repertoire of versatile dressings, the relatively unexplored world of Thai salads will prove very rewarding.

One Pot Wonders | 1 Day | Hands On |
Expect great ideas for suppers and dinners, radically different but all sharing the benefit of very little to wash up! A one pot ­dish can be the source of a meal for many friends and family, and one quick and easy recipe can become the inspiration for many variations. This fun and accessible day class is just the inspiration you’ll need to get you fired up for an autumn full of seasonally specific dishes.

Canapes & Tapas Ideas of Christmas | 1 Evening | Demonstration |
This is not a Spanish tapas course but tapas seems the best word, conjuring up informal social snacks staving off hunger rather than being a full meal in themselves. Drawing ideas from different countries, these are creative snacks. Put a few of them together and you have a meal, your very own tasting menu. In addition, we move away from the tired canapés that are churned out and come up with innovative and really tasty ways to get any party off to a flying start.  Sit back and relax with a glass of wine in hand, enjoy lots of tastings and watch the ideas come thick and fast.

Cooking for Christmas | 1 Day | Hands On |
A traditional Christmas dinner is perhaps what you yearn for or perhaps what is demanded of you.  Either way it is something for which you want to be well prepared.  The DCS team will lead the way, demonstrating their approach to the meal and giving you the opportunity to cook the tricky bits under instruction.  Clear recipes, tips, timeframes and cooking in advance ensure you will set to the task with a clear plan and a light heart.

Elegant Edible Gifts | 1 Evening | Hands On |
What could be better this season, rather than traipse the streets looking for expensive presents that nobody wants, give something that will be hand-made, personal and hugely welcome.  You can package them individually or make a hamper that will be truly remembered.  The team will present a host of ideas for outstanding biscuits, chocolates, relishes and marinades.  You will leave with half a dozen great presents and ideas for many more.

A Taste of Japan | 1 Evening | Demonstration |
Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of Japanese cooking with one of our favourite visiting tutors. Japanese Seiya Nakano counts among his accomplishments the honour of having Gordon Ramsay travel to meet him in Galway to learn a thing or two about turning the best Atlantic bounty into the finest of sushi. But while this course will touch on contemporary sushi, it also sees Seiya return to some of his best-loved dishes from his own home sod: from soups to dumplings and classic Japanese marinades such as teriyaki.

Guest Chef Atul Kochhar | 1 Day | Hands On |
For anyone with an interest in spices, this course with Atul Kochhar promises to be an extraordinary event.  Atul will always be known as the first chef to be awarded a Michelin star for Indian food.  He achieved this both at Tamarind and then last year at his own restaurant, Benares.  He is now commonly featured on TV programmes such as 'Saturday Kitchen' and has written two cookbooks.  This is an opportunity to learn the art of Indian cooking and of mixing spices from the master himself, as well as seeing some of the secrets behind his great food.  If you want to sample what may be in store, try out his acclaimed restaurant, Ananda, in Dundrum.

Cooking for Life 2012 | 1 Month | Hands On |
This is an intensive full-time cookery course for those wanting to take their cooking to an entirely new level. To date, the course has attracted a wide range of people, from those who love food but have little prior experience in the kitchen through to keen cooks who want to embark on a career in the food industry.

12 Week Certificate Course 2012 | 12 Weeks | Hands On |
The 12 week certificate course runs twice a year, in January and September. This is an intensive full-time twelve weeks course leading to a certificate on completion. It will be of interest both to those who are considering working in the food industry professionally in a variety of roles as well as those who want to become confident cooks with a wide repertoire. The experience and professionalism of the DCS team, the calibre of the 'celebrity chefs' (well known and many of whom are Michelin-starred), the breadth of techniques covered on the course together with the stunning cooking facilities - are all features of Dublin Cookery School's course that set it clearly apart. Internships will be available to students who show real promise. The format is an exciting mix of cooking with support at hand and culinary challenges, including running a restaurant. 

For further information on our cooking classes in Dublin, please email us via our Contact Us page.