They are the number 1 most popular activity in Singapore on Tripadvisor, organizing hands-on cultural cooking classes for tourists and locals in the mornings, while in the afternoons and evenings the classes are filled with groups e.g. for teambuilding or family bonding.
|
| Lots of good press coverage; totally deserved! |
That they invited me is quite ironic, since a. I am not a morning person, b. I am a lousy cook and c. I am a very fussy eater. Having said that, I did not hesitate one second to accept their invitation, since it seemed fun and interesting.
So one thursday morning I arrived at 9.30 am at the charming shophouse at 4A Craig Road where Food Playground resides on the second floor.
Besides me there were 4 other participants: Steven Lek, from the blog Retire Do What, his wife Melinda, and two cute BFF tourists Rosie and Anne from Australia.
Our cooking instructor was Lesley, who did a great job!
Food Playground hires seniors and stay-at-home mothers out of their social mission to create meaningful employment for these groups. As I experienced that morning, that concept works fantastic!
Besides Lesley there was an auntie to help out; she did a lot!
Further there were Helen as our second cooking instructor and co-owner Daniel Tan, who made sure that pictures were taken. Very thoughtful of him to take pictures of everyone, with all our cameras, throughout the whole morning!
|
| Lesley teaching us about heritage food and local culture. On the right we catch a tiny glimpse of Daniel. |
We started the morning in the dining-class-room by introducing ourselves and by adorning our chef hats…
…trying to make them pretty enough to deserve a spot on Food Playground’s wall of fame;-).
After that, Lesley taught us about a number of local dishes, about Peranakan culture, about food in Singapore and more interesting local stuff. Truly educational and entertaining.
Then it was time for the actual hands-on cooking part, in the kitchen area.
The kitchen is fully equipped, very clean and well organized. There’s enough space for every student.
Everything works electrical, because, as we learned, open fire is not allowed on the higher floors in shophouses, only on the ground level.
The ingredients were partly prepared in advance, and they were already portioned per person.
|
| The green color of the dough for the pandan pancakes is made from scratch: cutting up pandan leafs…. |
|
| ….. putting the pandan snippets in the blender…. |
|
| Lesley blends the pandan leafs…. |
|
| …. making the green dough… |
Lesley explained each and every step of the way from each dish, demonstrated it, after which we were asked to give it a try.
|
| Making the pancakes; not too small, not too big, not too thick, not too thin…. Quite a skill to do it right! |
|
| …. putting the coconut-sugar in the pancakes…. |
|
| Lesley explains how to fold the pancakes without breaking them… |
At that point in the morning I was still struggling to think and act fully alert and awake. On top of that I don’t endure food smells very well before noon. So I was happy that I was given the freedom to not fully participate and just take pictures;-).
|
| After the demonstration of how to make the pancakes, it was time to make the noodle dish. |
|
| Ingredients to flavor the noodle dish and the peanut sauce. |
But by the time we were about to start cooking our own three courses, I was awake and totally ready for it. Bring it on!
|
| Pounding the red peppers, after cutting them really really small. |
|
| And then frying the peppers. |
|
| Making peanut sauce from scratch. |
It was fun to learn and cook together. And with the help of the other students, our teacher and the auntie that helped out, even I succeeded to create three dishes that looked, smelled and tasted goooood!
|
| Look what I made! |
I was proud of myself.
|
| Yep, cooked by me. Ok, with some help here and there;-). |
And so were my classmates:
|
| Yay, we did it! |
|
| OK, not the prettiest pandan rolls, but team Steven made a lot! |
The class ended with all of us eating the food we cooked. I don’t eat noodles, but I ate the sateh and the dessert, which I both loved.
|
| Bon appetit! |
I truly had a great morning in which I evolved from dummie to yummie!
Oh, shoot..who am I kidding;-)?
Ofcourse I am still a lousy cook and a fussy eater. And that’s ok; my talents and aspirations lie elsewhere.
Nevertheless, I sincerely enjoyed Food Playground’s Cooking Class very much and I highly recommend it to everyone who loves food, cooking and local culture.
It is really well organized, as I said before. The staff is super friendly, professional and relaxed. There is no pressure, no stress, no criticism and their are no failures or mistakes.
For more information and reservations visit their website.
Within hours after the class ended, all participants already received an email with the pictures that were taken during the morning, with a link to a FaceBook photo album of that morning and with the recipes. Great work, Daniel!
Kudoos to all the staff involved in Food Playground. Thank you for creating this wonderful experience!
The three courses were:
1. Fried Kway Teow, a noodle dish
2. Chicken Satay with peanut Sauce
3. Kueh Dadar aka pandan pancakes with coconut filling
The menu is different on various days of the week. Check out their website for more information about that.
Disclaimer: this is a sponsored post, but the expressed opinions and described experiences are all mine and 100% sincere.
What a fun experience!
Everything looks yummy. And you look so proud of yourself ; )
I’ve wanted to take a cooking class like this with my husband for a while. They offer them in Niagara. The problem is since I’m a pretty good cook Robert just likes to rely on me. It isn’t too bad though since he does do the dishes : )
bisous
Suzanne
I can imagine how that works in your kitchen;-).
Here it’s the other way around. My husband is a good cook; just very busy, so he does not often have the time for it. Which is fine; we will have to live with my simple dishes…
I am not a big fan of cooking too, but I really get inspired by watching Australian Master Chef. I think I would enjoy going to such cooking classes as well, looks like much fun.
Hey, cool to hear from someone else who is not so much into cooking! I’m not alone!
Funny that you do enjoy cooking shows on TV; I hate them;-).