Why you want to learn to cook without recipes

Your chef and cooking teacher Edie Dourleijn explains: “When I was learning to cook, I often felt frustrated by cookbook authors and other recipe writers telling me that “when you know how to cook, you don’t need recipes anymore“. Only for them to give me more recipes. I vowed to do that differently. That’s why I alwayes focus a lot on why and how in my cooking classes.”

“During the pandemic, my virtual group cooking classes got an extra element, as not all students had access to the same ingredients that I was using. Sometimes because they couldn’t get their hands on it, or because of dietary preferences. They really appreciated learning about alternatives, and that sparked the idea for these Learn to cook without recipes classes.”

“It’s my firm belief that learning to cook has everything to do with figuring out what works best for you. There are so many ways to cook that one ingredient; and which way you choose can depend on your time and tools available, preferred taste and texture, mood, and even the weather. My goal is to empower my students to loosen up a bit when following recipes.”

“I looked around and no one really offers these type of cooking classes. In almost all other cooking classes you will only be following recipes together. In my classes, we will be focusing on 1 subject only. We will discuss the techniques, do experiments, test the differences, all to help you understand and become free of other people’s recipe. Or – at least – to help you understand how you can use them as an inspiration only.”

“Yes, there are classes that we won’t be cooking a (full) meal, but I think you get so much more out of these type of classes. You will gain confidence to make dishes how you like them, and I think that’s what learning to cook is all about.”

You can hop on and hop off for the classes you are interested in, or join chef Edie every Monday evening.

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