Cultural Cooking Classes in Sydney You Need to Know About

Take a trip around the world from the comfort of your local culinary school at cultural cooking classes in Sydney! Guided by a passionate chef, get a taste for different cuisines and learn how to cook them from your own home kitchen. Whether you dream of dishing up overflowing bowls of rustic Italian pasta or want to serve your mates sushi and sashimi like a Japanese master, these authentic cooking classes in Sydney have got you covered. 

Australia is the second-most multicultural country in the world and there’s no doubt that our diversity is a major benefit of living here. Not only do we get to enjoy a range of cultures, languages and religions but we also get to enjoy a pretty impressive variety of cuisines, including everything from classic Italian and traditional Chinese to Japanese-French fusion and modern Middle Eastern. 

While dining at authentic eateries is one way to enjoy cultural food, if you really want to immerse yourself in a particular cuisine, there’s no better way than to learn the skills yourself from a chef backed by generations of knowledge and wisdom. 

Grab a friend and double the fun with cooking classes that can accommodate every occasion, from hands-on team building activities to fun birthday party ideas. You’ll be surprised at all the useful little tidbits you and your group will take away from these cooking experiences. 

Ready to explore the world in 2024? Don your apron and learn how to cook with the best cooking classes in Sydney! 

Play with classic flavours at Italian cooking classes

Quite possibly the world’s favourite cuisine, Italian cooking has a focus on simple flavours and fresh produce, with many of the most popular dishes made using just a few, high-quality ingredients. While the most famous dishes are usually made on a wheat base (pizza or pasta), a tomato-based sauce and a healthy helping of cheese, there are endless variations available and the simple formula can always be tweaked to create fresh and exciting dishes as well as the classics. 

The best part is, you don’t need to leave Sydney to take authentic Italian cooking classes, they’re available in plenty of Sydney suburbs and run by friendly and passionate Italian chefs.

Due to the simple nature of most Italian recipes, the main specialist skill aspiring Italian home chefs need to conquer is learning how to make fresh pasta and pizza dough from scratch. While this can be daunting to the uninitiated, once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s actually surprisingly quick and easy and is sure to impress your guests every time!

Learn how to make pasta and gnocchi dishes with Sydney Cooking School in Neutral Bay or if you prefer pizza over pasta, head to a two-hour pizza making class at Salt Meats Cheese in Circular Quay. You’ll learn how to cook pizza from scratch including making and rolling the dough, topping it and baking it to perfection. If you’re looking for cooking lessons that are a bit more indulgent, the bottomless drinks package that you can include with your experience really make this class a winner.

Discover the art of pasta making, the traditional Italian way, with this pasta making class in Croydon! Guided by Italian-born chef, Christian Colognesi, you’ll learn how to make the perfect pasta dough from scratch before transforming it into different types of pasta including fettuccine, pappardelle, fusilii, ravioli and tortellini. Top off your delicious and authentic Italian pasta with a meat-based or vegetarian sauce and enjoy your meal! Brava! 

Keep your meals fresh and healthy with Japanese cooking classes

Increasingly favoured for its health benefits as well as delicate flavours, Japanese cuisine is traditionally based on rice, miso soup and seasonal ingredients including seafood and pickled vegetables. While cuisine varies greatly by region, Japanese favourites that are commonly eaten in Australia include tempura (seafood or vegetables fried in batter) noodle dishes (like ramen) and of course, sushi and sashimi. 

If you’re interested in expanding your cooking repertoire with an emphasis on fresh, healthy food, Japanese foods like miso, Japanese salad (goma-ae) and teriyaki are a great starting point. Our two and a half hour Japanese cooking class for beginners led by celebrity chef Yoshiko Takeuchi covers all these dishes and more, teaching students about Japanese seasonings, how to balance a meal and basic knife skills.

If you’re interested in making your sushi habit more affordable, learn how to roll sushi at home in a four-hour class led by friendly Japanese chef Hideo Dekura from Culinary Studio Dekura. Born in Japan, Hideo learned classic Japanese cooking methods from his parents before heading to Europe to study classical French cuisine. In his class, you’ll discover a little about the history of Japanese cuisine before learning how to select the best ingredients and prepare the perfect sushi rolls and sashimi slices.

Looking for team building cooking experiences to try out with your workmates? Check out eleven cooking team building activities here.

Get the grill going at BBQ cooking classes

While we Aussies like to claim the humble barbie as our very own, this cooking method is in fact found in cuisines across the globe. Barbecuing is simply a form of cooking that involves applying dry heat to food (usually by using a grill of some kind) and the options are endless, with this technique being adopted everywhere from Asia and North and South America to Sweden and Germany. If you love the distinctive flavour of barbecuing but want to expand your repertoire beyond the classic Aussie steaks and snags, there are plenty of opportunities at BBQ classes in Sydney to learn about grilling completely different cuisines right on your doorstep.

When die-hard foodies think of barbecue, they conjure up images of smoked meats from America’s deep south and dishes like Memphis style pulled pork, Texas brisket and baby back ribs. You can learn about American barbequing and smoked meats in a three-hour class led by international chef Ben Farley from BBQ School. If it’s South American barbecue classics like Brazilian churrasco that strike your fancy, opt for a three-hour South American barbecue masterclass taught by South American food lover Nico. 

To mix things up even more, whip up a seafood BBQ with Sydney Seafood School in Pyrmont and learn how to cook a grilled salmon with tangy lime mayo, moreish BBQ prawns in a herb marinade and a refreshing Thai squid salad!

Indulge your sweet tooth at French cooking classes

French cuisine is synonymous with class, refinement and a certain je ne sais quoi that sets it just a cut above the rest. France is famous for its expertly executed jus, perfectly cooked meats and deliciously delicate desserts, as well as its exceptional ingredients from world-class cheese to critically acclaimed cured meats.

But while French haute cuisine is notoriously difficult to recreate at home, there are some French favourites that home chefs can conquer with a bit of expert coaching. Food lovers will go to great lengths to buy a perfect French pastry, but have you ever considered learning to make them yourself? 

If you’ve got half a day to spare, head to a five and a half hour French croissant baking class in Maroubra hosted at the famous Patisserie Le Marais and led by a Paris-trained French pastry chef with over 25 years of experience. You won’t just learn how to make a classic croissant, you’ll also conquer chocolate and almond croissants and delicious danishes too!