Het AEG Cooking Theater @Taste of Amsterdam

The cooking workshop was a really fun way to start the Taste if Amsterdam! As a group of four we were all responsible for creating a piece of the meal and then put it all together and then got to enjoy it!
How else can you be a «presenter» at the Taste without being in the food business.
Very fun experience!

Very interesting experience! In a matter of minutes, our team of four whipped up a quick meal following the simple instructions posted at our cooking station. Half of our team made lamb with samphire on the stove top and the other half made steamed shrimp and fennel.
The head chef (our instructor) quickly gave some brief instructions and then let us get to while he walked around monitoring and advising.
It was a very hands on workshop. I had expected someone to demonstrate what we were to do or how we were to do it. Instead it was more like we just followed the recipe on our own. But it was helpful to have an expert eye watching over us to give feedback.
The experience was fun and the time passed quickly. In the end, we created a lovely, simple meal that was paired with nice wine. Fun to do with friends!

It was like being in the Masterchef kitchen, and the final product certainly looked like a Masterchef worthy dish!
It was definitely different from other cooking classes where the chef demonstrates what is supposed to be done. He gave very basic (and sadly, not very clear instructions sometimes). There was a recipe on the counter, but sadly all in Dutch and though I can read some Dutch, I certainly can’t cook and read in another language. Thankfully, because we were in a group it was simple to ask a neighbor what was next.
This kind of collaboration is ultimately what puts food on the table. Teams of 4 worked on different tasks to put together the final dish. It is a fun learning experience, but not recommended for people who have never cooked before (or don’t have basic knife skills).
The portions are small for demonstrative purposes, and finished off with a small cup of wine.
One thing I didn’t like was that there was no where to discard things like the apple core so I had to leave them on my cutting board which I don’t usually like since I prefer to keep a clean workspace.

Cooking workshops are fun! Together with a team you cook a fantastic dish in a fraction of the time you would normally need.
In a teams of 4 each, under the guidance of the AEG masterchef we cut and steamed and roasted and arranged. It went like a clockwork. The workshop was supposed to take 45 minutes but I think all teams were done in less than 30 minutes. The result were amazingly looking delicious dishes.
Of course we outdid all the other teams like they all outdid us. Every team was the best and all participants were very pleased with what they had cooked.

I love food, I love cooking, and I loooove trying new things: this cooking worshop was made for me! :)
And it was really nice and fun. Very well organized! At first we wondered how on earth we were to make a meal worthy of a restaurant in just 45 minutes… the secret was that we were not to make the entire thing just be ourselves, but to work in groups! brilliant!
4 people, 4 tasks: (1) taking care of the fennel and the shrimps which were cooked in the steam oven, (2) cut the apple in a fine brunoise and arrange it prettily on the plate, (3) prepare the herb oil for the meat (chopped basil and… some other herb??), and (4) stir-​fry the seaweed with chopped garlic and shallot, and grill the lamb (that was me!!! :D)
the result once assembled: apple-​fennel-​seaweed salad with shrimps, and grilled lamb with herb oil.
the tasting: delicious!
Like I said, it was fun, and we had a very nice meal in the end with a glass of wine. And we know know a nice recipe that we should be able to reproduce easily! I only regret that we didn’t really learn anything regarding cooking techniques.

I had my first cooking class! Ever! And it was fun! :)
At the Taste of Amsterdam you can follow a cooking class at the AEG Cooking Theater and create something that you would otherwise only see in restaurant.
I was amazed by the beautiful deliciousness that I saw on the plate in the end. Did we really create this??? Yes, we did! We made lamb with pesto sauce and a salad of sea cress, apple and onion, topped with two shrimps. Perfect!
In teams of four we created the dishes. We all had different tasks, like cutting veggies, or baking the meat. It was fun teamwork, it was not too difficult but still a challenge to make the dish as good as possible. In the end we had a very satisfied team, especially when we tasted the food. Delish! A great recipe as well. I think I actually remember it quite well! Guess what I’m going to make at home ;)
Thanks to the lovely chefs to guide us through this cooking process and help us creating this great meal. Thanks to Taste of Amsterdam for having us and to Flip for organizing! I had a great time!