When you're on holiday in Kaş or Kalkan, Turkish cuisine isn't only something to taste — learning how it's made is a completely different experience.
In the Cooking Classes I host, my aim isn't to run a classic cookery course. I come to the villa where my guests are staying, we set up the kitchen together, we cook the dishes side by side, and in the end we share everything we've prepared at the same table.
Sometimes I roll out mantı with a family, sometimes I prepare mezes with a group of friends. There are classes where children join in too, and days when we prepare completely gluten-free or vegetarian menus.
Every Cooking Class turns out a little different.
Because I shape the menu and the day around the guests who are coming.
1. First, we get to know each other
Everything starts with the first message that reaches me.
We talk about how many of you there will be, whether you're staying in Kaş or Kalkan, and how you imagine the Cooking Class.
Have you cooked Turkish dishes before? Is there a particular dish you'd especially like to learn? Are you drawn to mezes, or would you like to try dishes that take a little more handwork, like mantı, dolma or börek?
Another thing that matters to me is dietary preferences and allergies.
There can be guests who are vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free. Just as I've once run a completely gluten-free Cooking Class, I've also had guests for whom I prepared a menu in line with Jain dietary rules.
That's why, instead of applying one fixed menu to everyone, I prefer to put together a Turkish Cooking Class menu that suits the group as closely as possible.
2. We decide on the Cooking Class menu
When putting the menu together, what matters to me isn't only that a beautiful table comes out at the end.
The making process has to be enjoyable too.
So I choose dishes we can prepare together, ones that let me show different techniques and introduce Turkish cuisine a little more closely.
Depending on the season and the group's wishes, our table might include, for example, mezes, olive-oil dishes, dolma, sarma, börek, mantı, salads or a traditional dessert.
Sometimes the star of the menu is a pastry, and sometimes we prepare several different mezes at once.
But we know together, in advance, what will come to the table.
3. Shopping and preparation
Once the menu is clear, it's the ingredients' turn.
I try to choose the vegetables, fresh herbs, spices and other things we need as fresh and in season as possible.
This is actually one of the things I love about living in and around Kaş.
It's so much easier to teach Turkish cuisine in a place where the tomatoes, peppers, herbs and olive oil are genuinely delicious.
On the day of the Cooking Class, I come to your villa with the ingredients we need.
I set up the space we'll work in, lay out the ingredients, and get the kitchen into a state where we can all work comfortably.
Then we put on our aprons and begin.
4. Now the kitchen is yours
In my Cooking Classes, I don't want you to sit on the edge of the kitchen and watch me.
Here, everyone is part of the work. :)
One of us chops the vegetables, another rolls out the dough. Together we prepare the filling, roll sarma, close mantı, or adjust the spices of the mezes.
Sometimes we talk about the little details that matter more than what's written in a recipe.
How do you tell when a dough has the right consistency?
Why shouldn't the filling of a dolma be packed too tightly?
Which dishes is sumac used in?
Why does the taste of the olive oil matter so much in a meze?
These aren't things that can be explained in a few lines on a recipe sheet.
When we're in the kitchen together, it's so much easier to show them.
5. We also get to know Turkish cuisine through its stories
For me, food isn't just the coming together of ingredients.
Behind many dishes in Turkish cuisine there's a habit, a regional difference or a small method passed down from the family.
That's why, while cooking, I don't just say “now we add this.”
I also talk about the ingredients we use, how the same dish can change in different regions, and how I make it in my own kitchen.
My guests, in turn, talk about the dishes from their own countries.
When that happens, after a while the Cooking Class stops being a lesson.
It turns into a few hours of chatting in the kitchen, tasting, sometimes getting things wrong, trying again and laughing a lot.
I think that's exactly the lovely part.
6. Can children join in too?
Absolutely.
In the family Cooking Classes I run in Kaş and Kalkan, I love it when children are part of the process too.
Of course, we choose tasks they can manage according to their age.
Kneading dough, preparing small pieces, trying to close mantı or arranging their own plates is something children especially enjoy.
So a Cooking Class can also be one of the lovely activities a family can do together on holiday.
And on top of that, eating the food they made themselves at the end is a story of its own. :)
7. In the end, we all sit down at the table together
When the dishes we've prepared over a few hours slowly start to arrive at the table, we come to my favourite part of the day.
We set the table.
And we all taste together the food we chopped, kneaded, rolled and cooked together just a little while ago.
At this point, the Cooking Class no longer feels like it's over.
It turns more into a long dinner prepared with friends.
I think this is the loveliest part of learning a dish:
Sharing it in the end.
8. And what about the kitchen?
Don't worry. :)
After the Cooking Class is over, I also take care of tidying the kitchen and putting the space we used back in order.
After all, you didn't come to Kaş or Kalkan to wash dishes.
What's left for you is to enjoy the table and the evening.
A Turkish Cooking Class in your private villa in Kaş and Kalkan
I hold the Cooking Classes in villas in Kaş, Kalkan and the surrounding area.
So there's no need for you to go anywhere else.
I come to the villa where you're staying with the ingredients, and for that day we turn your kitchen into a little Cooking Class space.
For families, couples, groups of friends and groups who want to spend a special day with a different kind of experience, I can plan the menu individually.
You don't need to be a professional cook to learn Turkish cuisine.
You may even have never cooked before.
What matters is a little curiosity and spending a lovely time together.
Because for me, a Cooking Class in Kaş and Kalkan isn't only about learning the recipes of a few Turkish dishes.
It's getting to know the ingredients that come from the market, touching the dough, smelling the spices, preparing them together and finally sitting down at the same table.
When you go back home after your holiday, you might forget some of the measurements in the recipes.
But you'll remember that table.
If you're staying in Kaş or Kalkan and would like to arrange a private Turkish Cooking Class in your villa, you can get in touch with me.
Just let me know how many of you there are, the area where you'll be staying, the date, and any dishes you'd especially like to learn.
We can create the menu together.
See also: Private Turkish Cooking Class in Kaş & Kalkan · Gluten-Free Cooking Class in Kaş & Kalkan · Family Cooking Workshop in Kaş