My dad worked in food sales when I was a small kid, so I was constantly surrounded by deliciousness. Not only that, but I got to go on many outings with him to meet his clients. Being inside restaurant kitchens and seeing how they operated fascinated me from the start. The entire process of prepping food, following (or innovating) recipes, and presenting the plated dish reinforced for me an appreciation of everything that needs to take place.
Sharing a meal with someone also brings its own kind of beauty. Not only are you nourishing yourselves, but you’re doing it in the company of people you care about. And regardless of how it’s done, sharing a meal always brings some kind of ceremony. Whether it’s the family sitting around the table for a regular Wednesday dinner, parents frantically throwing together sandwiches for everyone to eat on their way to baseball practice, or a holiday feast that has been months in the making, meals constantly bring us together in different ways.
Making meals is also a beautiful craft that everyone, regardless of age, should know how to do. Even the smallest of children can help with tasks like rinsing vegetables or spreading tomato sauce on pizza dough. I believe that we as parents have a responsibility to teach our children these skills. But it doesn’t always have to come from us or other family members. Sometimes, it can come from a local cooking class. The Portland Cookshop is a great place to start.
Located in Southeast Portland at 2625 SE 26th Avenue, this kitchen workshop hosts a wide variety of classes for people of all ages and abilities. Led by some of the region’s most celebrated chefs and food and beverage artisans, even the most experienced home cooks can learn a great deal from these classes.
This kitchen studio is an encouraging and welcoming place for anyone who wants to learn about cooking in a hands-on environment. Many classes are offered at Portland Cookshop. From Thai Takeout to Home Butchery, students can pick and choose which classes they want to take to hone their skills.
Classes do sell out relatively quickly, so please forgive me if, by the time you read this, they’re already full. But with Thanksgiving coming up in a couple of weeks, Portland Cookshop is offering a class on how to make Fall Risotto with Chef Marco. In this class, you’ll learn how to make a perfectly creamy risotto using peak-season produce from the farmers market. Taking a class like this with your kids would be a perfect way to help them learn a timeless dish they can make for Thanksgiving or another holiday. Last time I checked, there were three openings left.
Another class that Portland Cookshop offers is called The Teen Table. In this two-hour class, teens learn in a relaxed, hands-on cooking environment that helps them feel more comfortable in the kitchen. They’ll learn how to cook for themselves while spending time with other teens who enjoy good food.
While I advocate for people to eat whole foods and cook from scratch as often as possible, I also won’t demonize processed food. Sometimes having boxed macaroni and cheese for lunch or hitting up a Chick-fil-A scratches that itch for us. I think the problem is that, over the generations, processed food has unknowingly become our default factory setting. So, taking classes at Portland Cookshop, such as The Teen Table or other classes like Indian Takeout, helps to remedy that.
Another one of the upcoming classes that I got particularly excited about seeing is their Family Bagel Workshop. With two classes in December, each with plenty of openings, you and your family will learn how to make the dough and shape the bagels, plus how to boil and bake them. You’ll also get to sample plenty of bagels, and each person will get to eat their creations or take some home. Learning how to make bagels together as a family during the holiday season will be something you’ll remember forever. Not only that, but it’s a skill you’ll maintain, too. Imagine you and your kids knowing how to just casually bust out some homemade bagels from scratch.
There are many other classes offered at Portland Cookshop that are worth taking, such as Bistro Classics: Coq au Vin & Crème Brûlée and learning how to make Molé Poblano with Chef Fabi. There are so many great options to choose from that you can’t go wrong with whichever one you and your family decide to take. And maybe after your kids take a class, they could be in charge of making a dish for the upcoming holidays, too.
Alex is a devoted husband and father born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He is a professional artist, author, and advisor for both Yale and Harvard University’s arts departments. His books, ‘Selling Leonardo: The Art World’s Greatest Scandal’ and ‘Holy Ghost: Decoding Leonardo da Vinci’s Final Painting’ are available wherever books are sold.