Culinary Flavours Cooking Course

Overview

Learn to cook international cuisine for FREE* at West Notts College!

Culinary Flavours is a dynamic, hands-on cookery course designed to help adult learners build real kitchen confidence while exploring diverse global cuisines. Whether you’re passionate about food, seeking to develop professional culinary skills, or looking for a creative and rewarding hobby, this course offers a supportive and engaging environment where you’ll cook, learn, and grow.

You’ll work with quality ingredients, professional equipment, and gain practical skills that can be applied at home, in community settings, or as a stepping-stone to further study.

This course is ideal for adults of all levels - from complete beginners with a love of food to those with some kitchen experience who want to broaden their skills. It’s suited to anyone keen to explore French, Italian, East and Southeast Asian, South Asian, and Spanish cuisines while developing a strong foundation in culinary techniques, food safety, and kitchen operations.

• Build confidence in a professional-standard kitchen.
• Master core skills such as knife handling, bread and pastry making, butchery, pasta making, sauce preparation, and more.
• Gain insight into the ingredients, techniques, and presentation styles of five major world cuisines.
• Learn time management and teamwork through dish assessments.
• Create a portfolio of dishes that could support applications for further training, employment, or self-run catering projects.

Throughout the course, you’ll work towards preparing and serving dishes to a professional standard, with opportunities to showcase your skills during assessments.

Do not worry if you have been out of education for some time. Our tutors have many years of experience supporting adult learners back into the classroom and will guide you every step of the way.

---

What will I study?

• Food safety, health & safety, and professional kitchen practices
• Professional kitchen setup and clear-down procedures
• Knife skills: identification, handling, and correct use of a range of kitchen knives
• Basic vegetable cuts and their culinary uses (including French cuts)
• Fresh bread and dough-making techniques
• Fresh pasta making and identification of pasta types (Italian cuisine)
• Basic pastry making - sweet and savoury products
• Preparation of classic and regional sauces (French, Italian, Spanish, East and Southeast Asian, South Asian)
• Butchery skills: breaking down whole chicken, fish filleting, and portioning
• Marinating, pickling, and cooking techniques from various cuisines
• Production of Spanish tapas and South Asian fresh paneer
• Fundamental cookery methods: grilling, frying, braising, roasting, steaming, etc.
• Presentation and plating skills inspired by global cuisines.

---

Start dates, attendance and fee 

This course is either full or currently not running
But don’t worry – you can still register your interest. Just click the green 'Register your interest' button to be the first to hear when the course becomes available again. 

• Start date - TBC
• Attendance - TBC
• Fee - Free

• Adult learning support and guidance

  Starting something new can feel like a big step, but you don’t have to do it alone. From careers guidance to mental health and wellbeing, we’re here to support you before you apply and throughout your time with us.

  Visit our adult support page