By following this course we hope you will develop a love of cooking! However, whether you are cooking at home for friends and family or are intending to use your newly acquired skills in the catering or restaurant industry, it is important to appreciate the steps involved in basic food preparation as ignoring these can be costly later. In fact to fully appreciate this you could spend some time watching a professional chef, the best chefs will ensure that all essential ingredients are sourced and prepared well in advance allowing all meals to be cooked quickly to order.

In this online cooking course you will learn about the history and scope of the catering industry as well as the prinicples for selecting, cleaning, cutting, preserving, flavouring, mixing, cooking and menu planning and much more.

• 100 hrs
• 12 months to complete the course
• full tutor support
• Learn how to prepare and cook food.
• Recommended with Food & Beverage Management, Catering Management or Restaurant Management courses

This course is suitable for anyone who wants to have a better understanding of food, cooking and menu planning either professionally or for their own use.

There are 9 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction

• • History of cooking/ Trends
  • Principles of Cooking
  • Nutrition
  • Scope of the Catering industry
  • Weights and measures
  • Basic cooking techniques
  • Terms

2. Fruits and Vegetables

• • Why eat Fruit & Vegetable; How much a person should eat; How poor preparation can damage nutritional value
  • How to choose fruit and vegetables when shopping
  • Basics of preparation- peeling slicing etc
  • Cooking techniques
  • Nutritional information relating to food group

3. Cereals & Starches; Bread, Cereals and Potatoes

• • Preparation- including how to make fresh pasta
  • Why eat cereals & starch; How much a person should eat; How poor preparation can damage nutritional value
  • How to prepare potatoes- different types of potato dishes- mashed, boiled, daulphinoise etc
  • Cooking pasta- different recipes
  • Cooking Rice, cous cous etc.
  • Nutritional information relating to food group

4. Meat Fish and Alternatives

• • How much a person should eat
  • How poor preparation can damage nutritional value
  • Selecting the perfect cut of meat/ basic butchery, fish mongery
  • How to prepare and cook it, which sauces compliment it.
  • Eggs- cooking different types
  • Cooking with pulses
  • Nutritional information relating to food group

5. Milk and Dairy

• • How much a person should eat
  • How poor preparation can damage nutritional value
  • Cheese making basics
  • Cheese types and recipes
  • Basic recipes e.g. Macaroni cheese
  • Dairy free cooking
  • Yogurt
  • How to make it, use in sauces
  • Dairy free cooking
  • Nutritional information relating to food group

6. Fats and Sugars

• • How much a person should eat
  • How poor preparation can damage nutritional value
  • How to make perfect puddings
  • Types of fat
  • How to adapt recipes to reduce sugar and fat- catering for low fat and low sugar dietary requirements
  • Nutritional information relating to food group

7. Flavouring Food

• • More on complimenting foods- sauces- cream, wine, butter, vinaigrette etc
  • Stocks
  • Use of herbs/ seasoning

8. Menu planning on a Small Scale

• • Designing menus- complimenting foods
  • Recipes simple to advanced- Seasonal foods
  • Planning a dinner party- case study

9. Menu Planning on a Large Scale

• • Planning Meals/Catering for parties and events; outdoor, indoor etc
  • Restaurant Menus/Catering