For a diehard foodie, learning how to make croissants sounds like fun. It’s acquiring a skill that will repay the effort in flavor for decades to come. For many home cooks, taking a cooking class sounds more like the homework they hated. It may be useful, but it comes with a heavy sigh.
While Boulder County has no shortage of cooking education opportunities (more on that later), Journey Culinary stands apart with its immersive cultural approach.
School founder Jay Minaya was not originally a chef. He grew up in Lima, Peru and came to Colorado to attend business school. That experience led him to open Longmont’s Journey Language Center to teach second languages to adults and children.
“I became very curious about becoming a cooking instructor and started taking classes,” Minaya said. “I realized that teaching languages was a great gateway to sharing culture through food.”
Journey Culinary opened in 2019, initially offering classes in Peruvian fare. The small sessions take place in a cozy space at 706 Kimbark St. “Our kitchen is more like a home kitchen,” Minaya said. “We don’t have any restaurant appliances, so you learn in a space much like your own.”
The school offers one-night cooking classes in various cuisines as well as sessions to develop cooking, knife, sauce and pasta fundamentals.
“When we’re teaching a Peruvian cooking class, we always explain the language and have Peruvian background music,” Minaya said. “We don’t just show the ways to cut carrots properly but why the French came up with these different cuts. There is history behind the cooking.”
School staff includes Bahar Ghodousi, who focuses on Mediterranean and Persian cooking, and Deborah Dupuis, an expert in Italian, French and Spanish cookery.
“They share the same philosophy of making classes hands-on, fun and delicious,” Minaya said. “It’s supposed to be entertaining. We play trivia games and have little contests.” Continuing the social and relaxed atmosphere, classes also always end with a meal.
For Minaya, the warmer months are a perfect time to acquire new cooking ideas.
“I love summer,” he said. “It’s a great season for cooking with all the fresh produce.”
Upcoming Journey Culinary classes include: Persian brunch (July 28); Peruvian cuisine (July 31); Spanish tapas (Aug. 2); Middle Eastern cuisine (Aug. 16) and macarons (Aug. 17).
More local learning opportunities
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Boulder’s professional cooking and baking school also offers occasional home cook classes. escoffier.edu/about/cooking-classes-boulder
Food Lab. Located on Pearl Street in Boulder, this school offers a wide range of hands-on group classes for adults and children: paella (July 21); date night Paris (July 26); plant-based Indian (Aug. 5). foodlabboulder.com
OZO Coffee. Boulder-based coffee roastery hosts hands-on classes: intro to coffee and cupping (Aug. 18); latte art (Aug. 25). ozocoffee.com
Piece, Love & Chocolate. Boulder shop offers classes for amateurs and professionals: truffles and ganache (Aug. 3); eclairs and cream puffs (Aug. 24); macarons (Aug. 31). pieceloveandchocolate.com
The School of Natural Cookery. This Boulder institution offers in-depth courses on mastering healthy, plant-based cooking for home and professional cooks. naturalcookery.com
Sur La Table. Classes and camps at Boulder cookware store on the 29th Street Mall. Date night: Parisian (Aug. 3); croissants (Aug. 17); great British baking (Aug. 25). surlatable.com
The Art of Cheese: Longmont’s cheesemaking school offers hands-on classes including goat farm tours:
mozzarella and burrata (Aug. 3). theartofcheese.com
Read more Boulder County food news from John Lehndorff