Cooking has never been this fun before.

Thanks to chefs in the city who are holding masterclasses, foodies can now learn the skills from a pro. From Indian to Italian, Asian and more, these weekend workshops are bringing the cool back to cooking.

Chefs Sarabjeet Singh and Faseeulla, started The BBQ Story 11 months ago. The two have been friends since their college days at Christ University and decided to start the classes when they noticed the growing popularity of barbeques in the city. “We started out doing classes for friends and soon it became a mixed crowd including young couples, father-son duos, students, professionals and more,” says Sarabjeet, who runs Popsies and Cafe Grind.

The focus of their classes is on back-to-basics cooking with easy-to-find ingredients, without the use of stoves or electric appliances. Each class or chapter is based on a different theme, he explains.

“So far, we have had eight chapters with cuisines ranging from Thai to Spanish, Jamaican, Italian, Chinese and more. We limit the number to about 20 people so that it’s not like a demo, but a very hands-on experience,” adds Sarabjeet. Classes are fun-oriented and end with a Sunday brunch where the morning’s work is served.

Another theme based masterclass is the Herbs & Spice event organised by three chefs from different culinary backgrounds — Chefs Manjit Singh, Mako Ravindran and Madhu Menon.

Chef-entrepreneur Mako tells us, “The three of us are diverse in our knowledge of food so we have a huge resource among us. So far, we’ve held about 12 masterclasses on different themes like salads, rice, party foods, pasta, baking, etc. It’s not something we do for profit and we keep the numbers low so as to give participants a personal one-on-one workshop with professionals. It’s not only about learning a recipe, but also technique, theory, practical knowledge and application. We taste everyone’s food at the end and try to critique it as constructively as possible. People also get to take home some of the food they’ve made.”

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Lifestyle> Dine o Mite / by Tenzin Dechen / DC / Bengaluru, April 03rd, 2012

Chef and owner Manjit of Herbs & Spice adds, “We are keen on restarting the series and organising a class this month.”

For those who want to learn how to host their own barbeques, Starvinmarvin’s Backyard BBQ run by Sarfaraz Soudagar and Sarosh M offers lessons on classic American barbeques.

Sarfaraz, a foodie and self-taught barbeque expert, says, “This is not a professional class but our aim is to teach you how to entertain guests independently. A session involves everything from how to light the barbeque to desserts. We have held four Art of Grilling workshops so far and have many more lined up.”