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Lily Heise

A view of the Institut de France from the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris, where people are seen walking on either side of the bridge.
On the left, chef Stephane Nguyen stands in his home kitchen and on the right is a photo of freshly baked cornbread, cooling of a baking rack.
Header image: Alisa Morov / Silvan Steiner.
Middle image: Louis Paulin. Above images: French Cooking Academy

Every year, thousands of people come to France to sample its amazing cuisine. Many go a step further by taking hands-on cooking classes in Paris and around the country. Covid prevents many people from doing this, at least, in person. But the pandemic has expanded the possibilities, with a range of French cooking classes online, bringing the best of French cuisine into your kitchen!

Left: Various pastries, including a pain au chocolat and croissant, sit atop a wodden table next to an open book and a glass of orange juice, Right: A piece of rish is cooked in a pan filled with hot oil, and a pair of tongs coming in from the left side of the frame are used to flip the meat in the pan.
Basile Bedelek / Bon Vivant

Cook’n With Class

At the start of the pandemic the owners of Cook’n with Class, chef Eric and his wife Yetunde, extended their in-person classes in Paris and Uzès to their YouTube channel. It features two series, Cook’n With Class Recipes, hosted by Eric, and Cook’n With Remi, hosted by their 6-year-old son and aimed at younger would-be cooks. While both schools officially re-opened in mid-July, interest in online offerings has not waned. Therefore, they have designed a range of live online cooking classes. The focused classes cover multicourse meals, macarons, dessert and baking. Learn more about these here.

Left: Two people are seen walking closely side-by-side through Paris' hilly Montmartre neighborhood, Right: A freshly baked cake cooks upward out of a ramekin dish.
Charleen Vesin / Cook’n With Class

Sweet Pea Paris

Sweet-toothed Francophiles can perfect the art of French pastry and baking with the guidance of Paris-based, award-winning chef and cookbook author Alisa Morov. She has launched small group and private virtual classes via Zoom. The topics of her in-depth lessons include meringues, choux, gâteau basque, and café gourmand. The lessons are peppered with insightful conversations about French culture, mindsets and other invaluable tips. See her Instagram page for free tutorials, or contact her at sweetpeaparis@gmail.com to book.

A chef wearing a striped apron in a professional kitchen plates a sandwich, ready to be served to customers in a restaurant. There is a plate of salad next to the sandwich plate, and knives can be seen in the distance on the wall behind the chef.
Louis Hansel

La Cuisine Paris

You can catch some great French cooking tutorials on the Instagram account of this excellent Parisian cooking school. They also do online classes on specific themes like croissant fundamentals, French sauces, and macarons. These are organized in modules so you can work at your own pace. In addition, La Cuisine Paris has teamed up with the famous kitchen supply store E. Dehillerin to create three cooking equipment boxes (one for croissants, one for macarons, and one for pastries). The contents of these have been handpicked with Mr. Dehillerin himself. The boxes are currently available for shipment in France. See their website for further details.

Left: A person holds four freshly harvested carrots, with dirt still visible on each of them, Right: A person delicately plates a batch of freshly baked macarons, which have pink cookies and a chocolate filling.
Jonas Jacbonson / Les Petits Farcis

Les Petits Farcis

Bring a touch of the sunny south of France to your home via the virtual classes led by Rosa Jackson. Hailing from Canada, Rosa has lived in France since 1995, when she founded the first company to offer Paris food market tours. She is now based in Nice and teaches French cuisine at her school Les Petits Farcis. She has teamed up with sommelier Viktorija Todorovska for a Virtual Culinary Tour de France. Capped at eight participants and held live Saturdays from 6-8pm CET (12-2pm EST), each class “travels” to a different region of France, covering a local dish, dessert, and regional wines. More on these classes here.

Left: An overhead shot of a bright red strawberry tart sitting atop a large white and red plate, Right: An overhead shot of various desserts and pastries, including chocolte cookies and almond pastries.
Cooking Classes / Cook’n With Class

French Cooking Academy

With more than 400,000 YouTube subscribers, Stéphane Nguyen has a range of videos available on his channel, as well as paid online cooking courses. Ideal for anyone wanting to learn at their own pace, his Get Started with French Cooking is a comprehensive 12-unit course with 60 video tutorials covering all the important basics of French cooking, from making sauces to braising meats.

Left: Freshly baked Madeleines, light on the top and golden brown on the bottom, sit in the Madeleine cooking dish they were just baked in, Right: A person holds a small plate, atop of which is a large pain au chocolat.
Cooking Classes / La Cuisine Paris

French Guy Cooking 

If you want to have a little fun dabbling in French cuisine, then check out Parisian Alex Gabriel Ainouz’s YouTube channel and cookbook. His lively videos have attracted the attention of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and over a million subscribers. While he does not only focus on French food, there is content devoted to his national cuisine, such as these videos on croissants, French onion soup, and ratatouille.

Left: A wide shot of a view of Parisian rooftops and the Sacre-Coeur at the top of Montmartre hill at sunset, Right: An overhead shot of a larg bowl of yellow soup with a sprig of herbs in the middle, plated in a detailed white bowl and placed on top of a blue towel.
Henrique Ferreira / French Cooking Academy

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Left: The top of a Parisian apartment building, with the typical gray rooftop and large balcony, Right: A plate of cooked red meat with a side of potatoes sits on a table, with glasses of red wine in the background.
Mat Reding / Paul Einerhand

Written by Lily Heise for HiP Paris. Looking to travel? Check out Haven In for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, France or Italy. Looking to rent long-term or buy in France or Italy? Ask us! We can connect you to our trusted providers for amazing service and rates. 

WRITTEN BY

Lily Heise

Lily Heise has been living in Paris for more than 10 years. When she’s not getting into romantic mischief, she writes on dating, travel, and culture. Her writing has been featured in Frommer’s Guides, the Huffington Post, Conde Nast Traveler, City Secrets, DK Eyewitness Guides, and other local and international publications. She is the author of Je T’Aime, Me Neither, and Je T’Aime… Maybe? lively novelized memoirs on her romantic misadventures, and continues to share dating tips, stories and travel features on her blog www.jetaimemeneither.com.

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One Comment

  1. Love Lily Heise and everything she writes.
    Thank you for the post, I’ll recommend all these options to my clients who plan to come to Paris.
    Bises
    xoxo

    Reply

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