Little Kitchen - Big Ideas
Eating is a funny one. On the one hand we eat because we enjoy it. On the other, we eat so that we don't die. So really, cooking is surviving in style. Or at least my style of cooking is. In order to broaden my horizons and that of my partner in crime Matt, we went to cookery school to try out the ‘Kitchen Classics’ course run by a new business called Little Kitchen based in Brislington and run by knowledgeable hosts Madeline and Claire. We also had a chance to ask Claire a few questions about the business while we tried not to make too much of a mess.
What convinced you to start the Little Kitchen?
We both feel passionately about food, healthy eating and cooking from scratch. Madeleine has a teaching background, teaching food at secondary school and I used to run a street food business The Food Warren, we only met around a year ago but shared a lot of interests and decided to start up a business.
We really just want people to feel comfortable, not intimidated by our Cookery School and inspired to cook more.
Our sessions are good if you want to learn a new skill, build a bit of confidence, learn specific dishes, but also the courses are sociable friendly groups, and maybe just something different to do on an evening. (Little Kitchen recently ran Tapas and Dating!)
Bristol has a great food culture, there are loads of amazing places to eat out and people are interested in good food. I previously lived in London, and I think Bristol is close on trend with the London scene. Brislington has been a good area to set up, people are friendly and welcoming and the area is increasing in specialist businesses, such as The Fabric Shop and Home Brew Centre.
A lot of cookery schools can be intimidating and very expensive, we want this to be affordable so it's attainable for all different kinds of people. We have Curry Clubs running as one off evening courses from next week, as well as our ‘Kitchen Classics’ (the course we attended) which is starting again in Jan with new classic dishes. There is also a DIY dining course in Jan for the more competent cook wanting to further cookery skills and build up a recipe repertoire.
On the night we attended we left with a very respectable chilli accompanied with salsa and a sour cream. For more info on other courses (including the scotch egg masterclass - say whaaaa!) , check out the Little Kitchen website.
