Whether you’ve always wanted to ‘go pro’ or you’d simply like to raise your culinary standards to a higher level, choosing a course is a fun but often confusing task. There are so many cookery schools, chefs, specialism, qualifications and accreditations; where does one even begin?
Well, a great place to start your search is our partner Learning with Experts portal. This exciting global platform features a host of online courses covering everything from photography and interior design to horticulture and, of course, cooking. The cookery courses cover every conceivable skill, cuisine and cooking style, hosted by some of the country’s most acclaimed chefs and experts.
But the platform offers much more than simple tuition – those seeking to enhance their skills in this always in-demand area of hospitality can access a wealth of industry-respected courses and diplomas to propel their career to the next level.
Amongst the most popular of these diplomas is the newly-launched River Cottage Cooking Diploma series, developed by Learning with Experts in partnership with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the dedicated Axminster team.
A national treasure
River Cottage, of course, needs no introduction; it burst onto our screens back in 1999 when budding chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall first charted his adventures as a downsized smallholder. The Axminster-based farm has since become one of the most recognisable settings on TV, and River Cottage has evolved into one of the most respected brands in the culinary world.
There are two River Cottage qualifications available; the Cooking Diploma and the Next Level Diploma. Each one includes 12 online courses (48 lessons per course in total) taught by 10 of River Cottage’s expert chefs – “the River Cottage dream team”, as Hugh puts it!
The course content is 100% online, so you can study and qualify remotely from the comfort of your own kitchen, without the cost of travel, accommodation and all the other little extras that come with taking part in-person. Students take part simply by watching course videos, testing themselves by cooking along, and receiving feedback.
Learning with pro’s
So what will you learn? Well, the River Cottage team will equip you with the theoretical and practical knowledge behind a broad range of skills, from preparing shellfish and correctly seasoning meat to making pickles, sourdough and pastries, along with vegetables, puddings and everything in between.
You’ll create exquisite pies with Tom Morrell, learn to forage for fresh, wild ingredients with John Wright, cure meat to create the ultimate charcuterie with Steve Williams, experiment with spices with Gelf Alderson, ferment food for health with Rachel de Thample and even get a few masterclasses from the man himself with Hugh’s ‘Much More Veg’ and ‘Christmas Cooking’ courses.
Those choosing to progress to the Next Level Cooking Diploma will then have the opportunity to perfect more niche skills like breadmaking with Andy Tyrrell, pasta making with Steven Kiernan, woodfired cooking with Gill Meller, cheesemaking with Marcus Fergusson and Hugh’s own classes on ethical meat sourcing and cooking.
The focus, as always with River Cottage, is on provenance – you’ll be encouraged to use produce that’s either home-grown or locally sourced, in line with the brand’s ethos on sustainability and seasonality.
With each diploma, there are two different pricing options. The Peer Option £415 gives students structured learning and the opportunity to share their progress and creations with fellow online learners and get feedback and support.
The Expert Option at £1,280 follows the same content but with a significant added bonus; instead of chatting with peers (though you’ll have that chance too), you’ll get personal tuition and direct feedback throughout each 12 courses from an Expert Tutor at River Cottage. Previous alumni describe it as being ‘like having a top chef in your kitchen with you’ – what could be better than that?
A mark of excellence
Crucially though, you’ll get more than a virtual pat on the back at the end; you’ll actually gain a nationally recognised industry qualification with commercial value. The qualification is awarded by CPD UK, a national body dedicated to Continued Professional Development qualifications.
The courses have also just been awarded accreditation from the Independent Cookery Schools Association (ICSA), which recognises and celebrates excellence in teaching standards, now making River Cottage an ‘ ICSA Accredited Online Teaching Academy’ Cookery Schools. The ICSA mark of accreditation is a mark of trust and quality which gives you complete assurance that the cookery school you’ve chosen is operating to the highest standards of training.
The River Cottage Cooking Diploma is, in fact, the industry’s first course to be both accredited for teaching content by the CPD, and for teaching standards by ICSA, and is ICSA’s very first awarded accreditation for an online course.
So where to start? Simply head over to www.learningwithexperts.com, dedicated River Cottage Diploma page, or search all their online cookery courses including River Cottage here. Online classes start from as little as £45! Your GourmetXperience Collection Gift Certificates are redeemable off all their online courses. Ask us for details
Happy cooking – and learning!
