"The best cooking tips ever"

I love to cook. More to the point, I love to eat (and let’s face it, cooking often leads to eating).  I love the careful preparation that goes into cooking, the ceremony of sitting down to a nice meal, the smells and sights and most of all, the fact that meal-times usually involve people you care about.

Some days (and there is no pattern here), I’m an AWESOME cook. My meals look, smell and taste incredible and I’m smug!  BUT more often that not, I serve up meals that are (as my husband once pointed out…and only once), ‘pedestrian’. Which is gracious-speak for ‘only just edible’.

I’m not sure why I’m so hit & miss, though one thing I have nailed down is that I’m NOT good at sweets – of any kind. I think it’s because I have some kind of aversion to measuring. And as you know, most baking requires precision – where as I have very little patience and like to throw stuff in willy nilly… (Which I guess explains my hit-and-miss meal results)!

I also love going to cooking master classes. Again, mainly because at the end of them, you get to eat – usually a variety of taste sensations prepared by some fabulous chef. And you have the added bonus of being able to learn, and hopefully re-create these extravaganzas at home.

Just over a year ago, my husband forked out quite a lot of money as a birthday gift for me, to do a Greek cooking course with a high-profile chef. It was for 2 hours, for 4 consecutive weeks and I was excited! Off I went, salivating over the list of dishes we’d be whipping up.

Turns out there were 9 others in the group with me… a Greek Nona and her 8 daughter-in-laws (yes, 8)… who WILL learn to cook for her sons!  I have to say, they were annoying. They talked over the chef non-stop, and basically didn’t want to be there. At one particularly memorable moment, the Nona leaned over, slapped the chef on his arm, and said ‘that’s NOT how you make Dolmades’.

What’s more, I wasn’t able to hear or see much, and only got to taste the dregs of each masterpiece created. Sadly, I wasn’t seeing any Greek feasts being whipped up in my house as a result of these classes.

After the 3rd week, the Nona told me that they couldn’t make it to the last class, and so they had cancelled it.  I found myself talking to the chef (in a slightly high-pitched, winey voice) about the miserable time I was having and how I had arranged a baby-sitter for the last class so I could go, and by the way – did he realize how hard that was for a Mother of 3….!

The lovely chef told me not to worry – that class for me was still on, so I got to spend a few hours with him & his team in their busy kitchen, learning lots. And let me tell you, I have had quite a few successful Greek feasts in my house, and always get lots of homage which is – let’s face it – AWESOME.

But this got me thinking; Chefs take a lot for granted.  After spending years in a training facility or doing apprentices under the watchful eye of seasoned head-chefs, they absorb a LOT of information and heaps of handy little tips & tricks. No wonder their meals rock!

So I decided it would be awesome if I could film these top chefs whipping up masterpieces from their restaurants in a masterclass format, and put them on line for people to watch – free of charge, as if you were there. Of course, nothing can replace a live masterclass but let’s face it – we can’t always afford the time or money to go.  So just over 12 months ago, with the help of some amazing chefs, very long hours and my brilliant little team, we launched www.chefmasterclasses.com.

The most awesome part about having this website (besides the delicious food on set of course), are the great tips I learn from the chefs along the way.  And given that it is the season to be jolly, I thought it would be a good idea to get some clues about how to carve a roast turkey..

How To Carve A Turkey from Chef Masterclasses on Vimeo.

Nerida Conway is a true entrepreneur and the creator of (most recently!) ChefMasterclasses.com, an online hub where Australia’s top chefs share their signature recipes in video masterclasses.

Do you have some great tips that you can share?