Cooking Classes Are Now Being Prescribed as Therapy

Cooking classes in Melbourne are here to help you refresh and energise your mind and body! That's right, by attending cooking courses in Melbourne you can reap the benefits of what is now known as 'culinary therapy'. And it's not just some ploy to get you in the kitchen. It turns out that learning how to cook for beginners and making your own food from scratch can have amazing effects on your mental wellbeing. Cooking can be a means of expression, communication and release, similar to art therapy! During the process of cooking, you can let your worries melt away, as you invigorate all five of your senses. That's why cooking classes are one of the best things to do in Melbourne because it's not just your stomach you're satisfying but your overall wellbeing too!

Plus Melbourne cooking classes are just plain fun! There's less clean up than cooking at home, it can be a social activity you can do with friends, family or for your next date night and you'll be learning how to make delectable dishes from professional chefs. If you lack confidence in the kitchen or want to master a specific cuisine, starting your journey with a cooking class is a fantastic way to build up some knowledge before taking your cooking skills home. Who knows? You may even become the cooking favourite of your friends and family with the cooking skills you pick up in 2024! Plus you may find that with some confidence and know-how, cooking becomes a relaxing activity that lets you switch off, tune into your senses and express your creativity in a practical and social way.

What are the benefits of culinary therapy?

Culinary therapy is a fairly new area of study in psychology. Many people wonder, how can something as mundane as cooking really be part of a person’s self-care routine? After all, we’ve all seen those cooking shows with high-strung chefs right out of cooking school and they do not look so relaxed. But, take a moment to think about the last time you were in the kitchen, cooking up your favourite homemade meal. You might not have realised it, but you were taking care of your mental health in a variety of ways.

On the one hand, there may have been the simple task of peeling a potato or selecting the best spinach leaves for your salad. The washing, peeling, slicing and dicing part of making your meal probably put you in something of a meditative state. Then, there’s the grounding effect. When you cook, you rely on senses that go mostly untapped throughout the day. Suddenly, you’re shifting your focus away from your thoughts - about work, bills, responsibilities - to your other senses: smell and taste and touch. A little more salt, a little less heat, another slice of ginger, you get the point. This is also a form of meditation that has been shown to lower anxiety and encourage concentration. There’s even evidence that this kind of mindfulness can promote brain growth for improved memory, empathy, and cognitive ability.

Finally, you sit down to eat your tasty meal. Even if things didn’t go completely according to plan, you likely feel a good amount of pride and accomplishment. Much more than you would have if you had ordered food delivery. Cooking for yourself, then, is a great way to build self-esteem and competence. And, we can guess that while you were cooking, you didn’t have a phone in your hand the whole time. The chance to unplug from technology and focus on the physical world in front of you is a practice that can make us all a little less frazzled throughout the week. That's why cooking classes in Melbourne are one of the best things you can do this weekend!

How cooking classes can help you eat healthfully

As it turns out, the meditative effects of cooking are only part of the equation. You don’t have to go to culinary school to realise that the ingredients you use in your home cooking can improve your mood and physical health. When you cook at home, you have more control over the ingredients you use. By opting for fresh vegetables and a wider variety of herbs and spices, for instance, you can create a diet that will improve your mental health, says Psychology Today’s Linda Wasmer Andrews.

The key, of course, is to stay away from overly processed foods, which many home recipes do naturally. So, the more you cook for yourself, the more you can phase out ingredients that will make you feel sluggish and slow. At Melbourne cooking classes, you'll learn local tips and tricks from expert chefs on where to source the best fresh produce and hacks for including more nutritious foods in your meals while not compromising on taste. These top cooking schools in Melbourne only ever serve up the best.

What to do if you "think" you can't cook

We get it, not everyone has that inherent talent for cooking. Even those who do enjoy being in the kitchen are prone to cooking boredom and repetition. That’s where the wide variety of cooking classes in Melbourne comes in. No matter what your level of culinary skill, there are loads of cooking classes for beginners that are going to make you excited to get back into the kitchen. You can learn from talented and trained local chefs to learn new styles and cuisines from all over the world.

Try a Indian Cooking Class at Heavenly Morsel and learn how to perfect the flavour profile of popular Indian meals. While you might have been too intimidated to buy the particular spices and ingredients used in Indian dishes in the past, you’ll now be so much more comfortable whipping up meals like red curry or tandoori chicken with rice. Another popular option is a Spanish Cooking Class in St Kilda, where you can learn how to make everything from Spanish Omelettes to Paella with Saffron aioli. The wonderful thing about this class is that it’s run to mimic a typical Spanish community meal. Everyone will have the chance to take a seat and get to know each other!

If you want to master a classic and timeless dish at cooking courses in Melbourne, try a pasta making class in Moonee Ponds with Marina Totta! With just two simple ingredients, flour and eggs, you will make a soft, silky dough by hand and roll it using a pasta machine. The best part? It's totally beginner-friendly and open to anyone curious as to how to make pasta from scratch.

Learn how to make meals to spice up your date night ideas in Melbourne or find plenty of cooking classes in Melbourne to do with kids! There are different classes based on age and cooking styles so that you and the kids will never run out of fun cooking classes to try together. Introducing your children to cooking so early in life is a special gift that will pay off for the rest of their lives. And, you’ll be boosting your mental health together!

Cooking classes have social benefits too

As if the opportunity to practice mindfulness and a mood-boosting diet weren’t enough, there’s another way that cooking classes can improve your mental health: community. When you take cooking classes in Melbourne, you meet new, fun members of your community to cook and enjoy delicious meals together. The passionate instructors in these cooking courses do an excellent job of bringing people together in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere. Don’t be surprised if, after learning how to make an amazing meal together, you remain friends with some of the other students from your cooking lessons!

Add Melbourne cooking classes to your self-care routine! If it’s not obvious by now, culinary therapy is a very real, and very exciting new field that we can all benefit from. By taking the time to unplug, focus on our senses and the world around us, eat healthy nourishing food, and enjoy a meal with friends and loved ones, culinary therapy has earned its place as a part of our self-care routines. Now all you need to do is ask yourself what cooking classes in Melbourne will you try to start your culinary therapy journey?

Searching for the best cooking classes for your Melbourne Christmas party ideas? Check out our roundup of cooking workshops here.

References

1) psychologytoday.com

2) sane.org