The Niagara Peninsula boasts some of Canada’s finest vineyards and wineries, which necessarily requires the area to also serve some of the country’s finest food. After all, what’s a great glass of wine without a great meal to accompany it? Fine dining farm-to-table restaurants are so common throughout the region that getting a world-class meal is part and parcel of coming to Niagara at all.
Because of this emphasis on fine food and wine, a number of renowned cooking schools have sprung up over the years to train those who would continue the traditions of local culinary excellence. For the foodie headed to Niagara on vacation, these cooking schools provide a one-of-a-kind opportunity to learn some of what makes the region’s dining so spectacular. Here are just some of the opportunities that exist for lovers of food eager to learn a few, new tricks when they head to Niagara.
1. Wine Country Cooking School
Located at Strewn Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Wine Country Cooking School is the first winery-centered cooking school in all of Canada. They offer day-long, hands-on classes for chefs of all skill levels every Saturday from January through the end of November, and because they’re a wine-centered cooking school committed to working with local and seasonal produce, you’ll not only cook up a delicious meal for yourself, but you’ll do so while exploring the relationship between food and wine. For oenophiles who want to learn to cook in a more wine-centered way, the classes at the Wine Country Cooking School are ideal. Classes are open to individuals or couples, and should you be traveling in a group, you can inquire as to a group cooking class as well.
2. The Niagara Falls Culinary Institute
Located in the center of downtown Niagara Falls, the classes and instructors at the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute (NFCI) won’t just help you prepare an excellent meal, they’ll also equip you with a host of real-world cooking and kitchen tips to take back home. Learn in a state-of-the-art facility with some of Canada’s most well-known chefs, while getting more familiar with local vegetables, fruit, cheese, meat, and fish. You’ll thoroughly enjoy eating whatever they have you prepare during your time in class at NFCI.
3. The Good Earth Food and Wine Company
One of the original farm-to-table restaurants in the area, the Bistro at The Good Earth Food and Wine Company has been serving up excellent local food since 1998. Wholeheartedly committed to the earth and producing delicious wine and food from its bounty, the good people at The Good Earth Food and Wine Company offer cooking demo classes throughout the year.
While the demos aren’t cooking classes per se, the chefs at The Good Earth Food and Wine Company do an exceptional job of showcasing the skills require to pull off the amazing meals they make, and at the end of it all, you get to eat what they’ve cooked up, while enjoying some of their amazing wine.
Come to Niagara and bone up on skills related to providing yourself with the one source of pleasure we all get to engage in multiple times a day: Eating! With these cooking classes and others like them, you can not only enjoy the excellent food in the region, but you can also become a better cook while you do.