Do you love spending time in the kitchen and concocting delicious recipes? Would you like to learn the basics of gelato making or cake decorating? How would you like to surprise your family with an authentic pizza that you made on your own?
If you are a mom who loves to whip up recipes for her loved ones, you can improve your cooking skills by taking up artisanal courses.
Stirring Moments
Some moms love to cook. It doesn’t matter if they are a working mom, stay-at-home-mom, or a mom who doesn’t fit any of society’s stereotypes. As long as they have the time, ingredients, and means to create flavorful dishes, they would surely relish their kitchen time.
For these moms, cooking is not just a chore. It is an inherent desire to feed their family tasty meals. Perhaps it stems from their nurturing nature, or it could be a love for food that they have inherited from their parents. Whatever the reason may be, their fascination with cooking all boils down to serving mouthwatering dishes for their loved ones to enjoy.
If you are one of these women or you want to explore your talents in cooking, you can try joining artisanal classes. Look for a reputable culinary institute with a wide selection of courses for both amateur and professional cooks.
You don’t need to be a chef or someone pursuing a career in the culinary field to enjoy these programs. Some students enroll because they want to elevate their careers in the hospitality industry or start a food catering business. Others join simply because they love to cook. Who knows? Maybe at the end of the course, you would be driven enough to become a mompreneur and start your own gelato shop or pizza parlor.
While other moms are taking leadership and management courses, online computer classes, or learning new skills in different areas, you can undoubtedly take artisanal courses that pique your interest.
Here are some of the culinary artisanal programs that you can explore:
1. Artisan Bread Making
Don’t you just love the smell of freshly baked bread? If you and your family are bread lovers, you can develop your skills in baking scrumptious bread by enrolling in an artisan bread making course.
Look for a reputed culinary institute that offers an in-depth understanding of artisan bread production. From doughnuts to grissini, ciabatta to croissants, and traditional soft rolls to wholemeal seeded loaves, there is a wide variety of bread types that you can bake using theoretical and practical knowledge.
Taking this course will introduce you to proper bread-making techniques such as fermentation, mixing, shaping, scoring, proofing, and baking. You will also learn how to decipher the importance of dough temperature and accurate calculation in achieving the desired consistency.
2. Artisan Chocolate Program
Chocolate lovers in your family will surely lend you all their support when you join an artisan chocolate program.
Be a certified chocolatier by understanding the art and science of chocolate making. In this course, you will learn about the rich history of chocolate and its many different kinds. You will also get to know how to perfect the craft of tempering chocolate, concocting a range of fillings and flavorings, and discovering exotic and traditional blends.
It will surely be a delectable journey as you go through the basic concepts and progress to hands-on exercises such as making your molds, creating shapes, and using colors or prints in your creations.
3. Artisanal Gelato Program
Do you want a cool course to improve your culinary repertoire? Then join an artisanal gelato program. Whether you have zero knowledge about the craft of making gelato or you are interested in putting up your gelateria, this course will teach you how to make a refreshing treat.
Theoretical knowledge and practical applications will help you become well-versed in artisan gelato making. You will gain a deeper appreciation for gelato from learning about base diversification and production and mastering complex compositions. This course will teach you what gelato is, the raw materials involved, and the equipment and machines needed, as well as help you gain an understanding of the production cycle.
You will surely appreciate what you’ll learn in this course, like making sorbets, yogurt gelato, and even gelato cakes.
4. Artisan Pizza Making Course
Renowned culinary institutes would have a selection of artisanal pizza-making courses. It can range from courses designed for professional cooks working in commercial pizza outlets or pizzerias to programs for chefs and business owners wanting to understand the intricacies of artisan Italian pizza making.
There is also a course designed for serious enthusiasts and home cooks. Moms who would love to impress their family or simply bite into the mouthwatering goodness of an authentic pizza Napoletana will learn about basic techniques, raw ingredients, and solving common pizza-making problems.
5. Artisan Sugarcraft Course
Do you love baking cakes? If you would like to expand your knowledge in cake decorating, try enrolling in an artisan sugarcraft course.
There are comprehensive modular courses on different cake decorating techniques offered by good culinary institutes. You can attend a class on using sugar paste in covering cakes with fondant. Another program focuses on how to create delicate sugar flowers as decoration for your cakes. For seasoned cake makers, an advanced class in royal icing and piping will surely add flair to your cake designs.
Besides the basic concepts of using sugar icing and other raw materials for creating sugarcraft cake decorations, you will also have hands-on practice on coloring and painting, wiring, packaging, dowelling, handling, assembly, and other related skills. If you plan to pursue a cake business, these courses will teach you how to price your cakes and professionally take orders.
Cooking with Love
They say that cooking is an expression of love. Mothers who take the time to enroll in artisanal courses from an esteemed culinary institute just show how dedicated they are in their role at home and the community. Their efforts are a clear manifestation of their sincere desire to provide healthy and delectable meals for their loved ones.
If you count yourself among these wonder moms, give yourself a tap on the shoulder. You’re doing a great job by taking a step in developing your gift for baking and cooking. A certificate in these artisanal courses will surely equip you for filling your kitchen (and your tummies) with lots of love.
AUTHOR BIO
Shanaaz Raja is the Course Director at International Centre for Culinary Arts – ICCA Dubai.