Why Cooking Classes in Melbourne Are Good for Your Health and Your Bank Account

Transform your kitchen with meals that are both good for your health (and your bank account) with the best cooking classes in Melbourne! These classes are an easy way to find your feet in the kitchen and get you on the road to building healthier habits. Say goodbye to takeaway and pre-packaged meals and hello to tasty, healthy and budget-friendly meals in 2024. Not only are cooking classes fun things to do in Melbourne, but you'll pick up kitchen tips and tricks that you can take home with you to make cooking at home less daunting! Plus you'll start to understand how cooking can be used as a form of meditation and how it can help you unwind after a busy day. With professional chefs and expert cooks on hand to teach you, you can ask any burning questions and build your confidence in the kitchen.

To break things down for you, we take a look at Aussies' current eating and cooking habits. Without laying blame or stirring the pot too much, we wanted to give a fact-based rundown of how, where, and why Aussies are picking up the fork these days. 

So, if you’ve been curious about whether Australians even cook anymore, read on!

Where do Australians buy their meals today?

It’s an interesting time to be alive, culinarily speaking. According to research released by HelloFresh, we’re all extremely busy - about 68 per cent of us feel that there’s not enough time in the day to cook a good wholesome meal. So we’re looking for convenience, which is why it’s probably not surprising that supermarkets are now offering ready-to-eat meals.

At the same time, we love to spend our leisure time watching other people cook. In 2016, almost two million of us watched the MasterChef finale, and in 2018, our second most popular television show was My Kitchen Rules. This may inspire some of us to spend more time in the kitchen, but hey, it’s also pretty great to order in and watch professional chefs whip up gourmet meals while we pour over our take-out containers.

With online food delivery services like UberEats and Deliveroo, it’s become much easier to do just that. In 2018, Statista estimated that 3.4 million Australians have used some kind of food delivery platform, and that number is expected to rise to over four million within the next few years.

We’re also seeing an upward trend in eating out. Australian Food News reported that we’re now more likely to eat out at pubs, cafes, restaurants, and fast food locations than we were fifteen years ago. But here’s the really interesting part. We’re also more health-conscious and environmentally conscious than we were before. As QSR Media points out, Australians nowadays want to know what’s in their food and where it came from. We’re also continually looking for more sustainably responsible sourcing and packaging.

With all of these different considerations, the understandable result is that Australians get stressed out about mealtimes. After all, how are we supposed to find the time to cook great meals, pay attention to which ingredients are healthy and fight that urge to open an app and have food delivered? 

What are the benefits of cooking at home?

Clearly, there’s a problem here. We’ve got a whole lot of options, a lack of time, a desire to be healthy, an overall feeling of can’t be bothered, add and another feeling of remorse when we order in. It’s a mix that leads to stress, pressure and guilt. However, that research from HelloFresh revealed another very interesting fact: Australians want to cook more. 87 per cent said that they would like to be more adventurous in the kitchen and learn how to make healthy alternatives.

And there are plenty of reasons why we should spend a bit more time cooking our own meals. It’s healthier, cheaper, and can be amazing for mental wellness.

We recently wrote an article explaining why cooking classes are being prescribed as a new form of therapy. Here’s the gist:

• Cooking encourages a meditative state. By introducing mindfulness and allowing yourself to relax and be present in the kitchen, you’ll find the simple act of chopping veggies or stirring a pot of noodles will calm you down.

• You can switch off your thinking brain for a while to make way for your other senses - smell and taste will gladly step up and take your attention away from a long day of work or your other responsibilities.

• Cooking forces you to put down the phone and disconnect for a little while.

• You can be more health-conscious when you cook your meals yourself because you have more control over the ingredients you use.

Cooking classes in Melbourne have a few of their own benefits too. There’s the advantage of learning from your local culinary school so that cooking becomes fun and accessible. You get the chance to cook with ingredients that you might never have tried before. And when you take different cooking courses in Melbourne, you get to meet a community of other food-lovers wanting to try more home cooking.

Cooking at home can be more sustainable

Learning how to cook at home is the sustainable option that many Australians are looking for. Whether you buy your ingredients at a farmer’s market to cut down on transport and packaging, or you order a recipe box service, you can feel better about your environmental impact. That’s because, when you’re in control of your ingredients, you also pay more attention to things like the seasonality and locality of your food. Whereas a restaurant may have a certain item on their menu year-round, having to import that product to keep up with demand, when you cook at home, you can eat foods with a minimal carbon footprint.

Cook with in-season ingredients from local sources and you’re good to go! Not only will you feel better about your environmental impact, but you’ll be eating the freshest, tastiest ingredients.

So, what cooking classes in Melbourne are there to do?

Melbourne is a melting pot of world cuisines and the cooking classes in and around the city are no different. Learn the art of Japanese cooking at OTAO kitchen, cook in a Greek family home at The Hellenic Odyssey or roll, knead and shape gnocchi at 48H Pizza e Gnocchi Bar. No matter what you're already capable of cooking in the kitchen, there is always a new cuisine or a new dish to learn. If you're a total newbie in the kitchen, you'll be spoilt with options! Cooking classes are truly one of the best things to do in Melbourne and offer a unique way to tap into the city's eclectic food scene.

Another big plus of cooking classes is that they can be adapted to any special occasion. Looking for fun team building activities to connect your team? Try out a nf!dumpling cooking class in Abbotsford. Searching for classy hens party ideas? Transport yourself and your ladies to an Italian village for a day with this pasta making masterclass in Moonee Ponds. The possibilities are endless with these unique experiences!

What does the future look like?

Despite the trend towards at-home delivery, Australians aren’t opposed to learning how to cook at home. In fact, many of us have been inspired to get back in the kitchen, not just because it’s good for our health and our bank accounts, but because it’s fun! If you’re ready to dust off that old apron and get back in the kitchen, the perfect way to start is by taking some cooking classes in Melbourne.

References:

1) hellofresh.com.au

2) news.com.au

3) smh.com.au

4) statista.com

5) ausfoodnews.com.au

6) qsrmedia.com.au