Cook'n With Class is a small cooking school in Montmartre that offers a variety of classes for visitors. Classes range from market dinner to sessions for families and kids, from sauces to cheese and wine pairings. If you're interested in baking, you can choose from bread, croissants, macarons, French desserts, and more.

I wanted a full meal experience, so I chose a French Market class. The description indicated that the menu is chosen based on what is in the market, rather than being decided in advance. The 5-6 hour session would end with the group enjoying a four course meal. With no more than 8 people in a class, it promised to be fun and interesting. My class had only five students, a nice small group. The class is taught in English.

The experience began with meeting the chef (and his green wheeled shopping cart) at a nearby métro stop. After inquiring about allergies and food preferences, the six of us set off to the various neighborhood market shops, visiting a bakery (for bread), a butcher, a fish monger, a produce market, and a cheese market. We passed by a boucherie chevaline (horse meat) but declined to visit. I was surprised to find they still exist!

We decided on a main course of duck breast, buying both a magret de canard (duck breast from fattened ducks, as done for foie gras) and regular duck breast, so we could see the difference. At the fish monger we had trouble choosing between fish and shell fish, so we "invented" a first course that would include stuffed flounder filets and mussels.

Produce was next, where we got cherries for the duck sauce, endive to have another vegetable, leeks, carrots, various herbs, an artichoke because one person really wanted it, and a few other things. After picking up the cheese it was time to head back to the school and get to work!

Our chef that day, Brian Defehr, has been an instructor for many years, and also works as a high-end personal chef. He has published a book on French market cooking and knows the markets well.

Brian demonstrates the correct way to cut an artichoke.

 

We started out chopping vegetables for the flounder stuffing and boiling up fish bones to make stock for the sauce (which included an equal amount of cream.) We students did lots of chopping, with instruction from Brian on proper (and safe) technique.

Then we each had the opportunity to stuff and roll a flounder filet. They were various sizes and some neater than others, but all were delicious. They cooked in some of the fish sauce while we continued with other prep.

Then on to the duck, which required scoring the skin and otherwise prepping it. The most time consuming activity was pitting the cherries for the sauce, but with five students it went fast.

Finally it was time to eat! The first course of stuffed flounder with a creamy sauce, finely chopped vegetables, and steamed mussels was delicious. Next we tried the two types of duck (very similar, we found) with cherry sauce and caramelized endives. Delicious!

Duck breast, cherry sauce, and caramelized endive.
What could be more French?

We took a little time to digest as we prepared chocolate lava cakes for dessert. (This was a big chocolate day for me, as I had taken a Chocolate Workshop at the Cordon Bleu in the morning!) While the lava cakes baked we enjoyed our cheese course, about five different French cheeses. And of course our meal was complemented by some French wine.

The class was both fun and educational, and the dinner was great. Cook'n With Class allows students to invite (and pay for) a guest for dinner if there is room, so Tom was able to join us. A week or so after the class, I received an email from Brian with recipes for the dishes we had made.

Because of the market-based approach and the variety of chefs who teach the course, each class will be different. This description is to give you an idea of one experience only, and your experience may be very different from mine.

A couple years later, I took a croissant class there—also delicious and fun!

And during the pandemic, I was able to enjoy a wonderful cooking class via zoom. It was fun (and yummy) and we sat down to dinner that evening of soupe au pistou, duck with fig sauce, and a wonderful lemon tart.

In addition to its Paris location, Cook'n With Class also offers classes in Uzès, Provence, not far from Avignon and Nimes.

Métro: Jules Joffrin

Cook'n With Class
6 rue Baudelique
Paris 75018, France
+33 (0)1 42 57 22 84

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