Take a Hands-on Creole Cooking Class in New Orleans
One of the best ways to immerse yourself in the culture of a new place is through the food. But rather than just planning to dine at a few restaurants in town and call it good, I recommend learning to cook the foods. In New Orleans, I took a hands-on Creole cooking class and learned how to make a delicious lunch with accompanying dessert.
If you’re making plans to explore New Orleans, I highly recommend taking a Creole cooking class from Chef Dee at the Southern Food and Beverage Musuem. Here’s a rundown of how to prepare for and what to expect at your hands-on experience.
Booking Your Hands-on Creole Cooking Class in New Orleans
As soon as you know you’ll be heading to New Orleans, I recommend checking out their offerings for the hands-on cooking classes. The Creole cooking class is currently offered on Mondays and Fridays. There’s also a Cajun cooking class offered on Thursdays. These classes run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and includes a sit down lunch to enjoy the foods you created.
During the summer, they also offer a Summer Kids Culinary Camp that runs Monday-Friday from 9-3 p.m. It’s a great way to engage kids in the art of southern cooking.
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The booking process is pretty simple: Find the class that works for you and follow the prompts to register. The cost is $115 per person, or $85 for those who are members of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum. There is not different between adult and kids prices for the hands-on cooking classes.
It’s okay to book your kids for the hands-on cooking classes, but be mindful of their interests so it works for them and the others who are booked for the class. I know a couple of my kids would enjoy the class, but there are others who just aren’t interested in cooking.
Getting to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum for the Class
The classes are hosted at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, roughly 1.5 miles from downtown New Orleans. Usually, I would take an UBER, but I wanted to explore a little more of New Orleans and made the 30-minute walk.
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The classes start at 11 a.m., but that’s also the time the museum opens. Luckily, they opened the doors about 15 minutes early for those of us who were arriving for the class. I was glad to be taking the cooking class with my colleague and her husband. While waiting, we grabbed a seat at the bar and chatted about the work we had in store for this business trip in New Orleans.
When time came for the class, we made our way to the kitchen to set our stuff down. Then we washed our hands and got ready to dive into our hands-on Creole cooking class with Chef Dee.
NOTE: You don’t have to worry too much about trying to capture photos of your experience in the class. The sous chef will be taking some photos during the class and will share them with everyone afterward. That allows you to focus on cooking and learning, and less on trying to capture the moment in photos to share on your social channels.
Preparing and Cooking Two Creole Dishes
Chef Dee had everyone put on an apron while giving us a rundown on a few rules for the class. Since we were all preparing the food and eating it, we don’t want to do anything that would be unwise when preparing food. Then each of us stood in front of a cutting board while Chef Dee asked if there were any food allergies we needed to be aware of. After shuffling a few of the assignments around, and giving us a few more instructions, we began.
My colleague and I teamed up to deseed tomatoes. It was something I’d never done before and I looked forward to telling my daughter (future chef) about the technique. While we deseeded tomatoes, the others worked to prepare their assigned tasks – deveining the shrimp, shredding the chicken, cutting the peppers and measuring out the spices.
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Once everything was prepped, we lined everything up next to the stove and began cooking. Chef Dee instructed us to add the next ingredient when the pot was ready. We were in two groups, each one working on either the jambalaya or the okra and tomato salad. We rotated through so each person could get a chance to stir the pot and add the next ingredient.
Once everything was added, we had to let things sit and simmer. We used this pause period to venture into the Southern Food and Beverage Museum to grab a drink and learn more about the history of southern foods.
Learn About the Evolution of Southern Foods
While the food simmers, we stepped into the bar area of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Those who wanted, ordered a cocktail, beer or other beverage. As the bartender prepared the drinks, a guide gave us a brief history lesson about the cultures and foods that have shaped New Orleans.
I don’t want to spoil the lesson and make an attempt to recap what was shared. But I will say that I was full of almost all the right answers. It’s probably because of all my travels to different cultures that influenced the area.
I appreciated the insights into the different styles of Cajun and Creole cooking. Creole foods were more of the city folks, using the spices available in the city. Cajun foods were more of the rural areas out in the swamps and bayous, thus they had to flavor the foods without the spices.
Once the food in the kitchen is ready, the group heads back into the kitchen to sit down and enjoy lunch.
Enjoy Lunch, then “Flame Up” Some Dessert
When we got back to the kitchen, we grabbed a seat and the sous chef served each of us a small plate of the okra and tomato salad. We enjoyed the salad while chatting with the others in the class. We also passed around some bread and butter, then the jambalaya was served and very quickly devoured by everyone. It was delicious.
While we ate the food we’d prepared, Chef Dee shared with us her journey to where she was at today. She talked about her education, career, family and eventual passion for cooking that led her to teaching classes at SoFAB. It was refreshing to hear her story and see her passion for her work.
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To finish up the class, three of us put on our aprons and began preparing the dessert. I helped by peeling bananas and then later, dishing up the ice cream. Two others had the honor of losing their eyebrows. 😉 Just kidding… no one lost their eyebrows, though the flames were a little larger than we had anticipated. You may notice the surprise on the face of the gentleman in the photo above.
Once the sauce was finished, the desserts were plated and served up fresh. It was one of the best bananas foster dish I’d ever had. When the meal was finished, we took several group photos and photos with Chef Dee. We were given cards with the recipes for each of the dishes we’d prepared and I look forward to preparing it yet again so my family can enjoy some good southern cooking.
The Details
Address: 1504 Oretha C. Haley Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70113
Cost: The Hands-on Creole Cooking Class is $115 per person ($85 for SOFAB Museum members).
Hours: Classes are scheduled a couple of times each week. These lunch classes run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Check their website and see what cooking classes are available.
Website: https://southernfood.org/events-1
Phone: (504) 569-0405
DISCLOSURE: I received two complimentary registrations for the Taste of Louisiana, Hands-on Creole Cooking Class Lunch for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own.
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