We have so many amazing people at The Cookery, some chefs, some passionate foodies, men and women, but they all have one thing in common – they are passionate about sharing their love of cooking by teaching classes at the venue.  Each of these instructors has areas of specialty and in addition to their public classes they are also available for corporate events.

 

Emilio Coccia

A passionate traveller and foodie, Emilio (Milo to his friends) not only shares his love of Asian and Portuguese food, but he is also The Cookery’s venue manager.  Milo orginally studied law before deciding on completion that he would rather travel and see the world.  Whilst on his adventures he discovered a passion for food and on his return to South Africa he struck out to make something for himself.  First working at popular restaurant Alfies in Pretoria before making the move to Jozi and joining the team at Pronto.  After Pronto Milo joined The Cookery.

 

Sue Barber  –  Guest Instructor

This passionate foodie brings a whole new level and range of cuisines to The Cookery.  Sue has always been involved – in some way – with the food industry since she first cut her culinary teeth at Silwood Kitchens in Cape Town back in the 80’s.  Calling herself the Frustrated Foodie, because no matter how much she does with food there is always more she wants to cook, taste and learn.  Sue has lived around the world with her latest sojourn being in Mauritius, where she learnt a lot about the local cuisine and culture.  After that she returned to Cape Town for a short stop and has now settled in to Jozi’s vibrant culinary scene.
With a food career that spans 30 years Sue brings a world of knowledge and passion to the school.

 

Ché Upton – Guest Instructor

Ché Gourmet was started by Ché Upton in 2015 after a long successful run of her previous cooking business in South Korea called Che-ke & Bake.

Ché started her travels in The United States of America. She saw 36 States, all 4 corners of America and a huge expanse of the food intertwined within each city she visited.   After that she headed to South Korea to teach English where she stayed for 3 years, travelling, cooking, eating, learning and truly imagining her ultimate dream; to share this all with everyone back home. While she was based in South Korea she managed to travel extensively and eat even more extensively through Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, The Philippines, Japan & China to further expand her foodie knowledge.   After that she embarked on her greatest adventure yet, to The Inca Trail and seeing Machu Picchu. Luckily the other countries in South America were all so rich with culture and amazing food she set off to learn it all. She toured extensively and experienced the cuisine of many countries.

 

Faith Rubin – Guest Instructor

Faith started her career in fashion and eventually made her way to her first love food.  She has been involved in catering, hotels, teaching as well as running her own successful brand Almelba Biscotti and a catering company.

Faiths experience and passion covers many cuisines and styles of cooking, but it is her practical approach to cooking that makes her classes so popular with real world cooks.  Faith has many years of practical experience that she converts into great solutions for home cooks.

 

Baiju Dharmalingam – Guest Instructor

Baiju is obsessed with all aspects of food. Whether it is trying out the newest restaurants, a new recipe, reading the latest cookbook or just connecting with people over a great meal :  Food, Family and Friends makes her world go round.

Growing up in a large Hindu family her earliest memories are of her mum cooking of the wonderful smell of spicy, aromatic food permeating from the kitchen – always seemingly simple but impossibly intricate.  Through many years of cooking and experimentation, Baiju has learnt that good cooking requires passion, patience, a willingness to make mistakes and learn from them! This, together with a real love for food, are the ingredients required for a great meal.  Baiju hopes not only to share the technicalities of cooking Indian food, but also the intricacies of extracting the real flavours of spices.