Your day at the Country Cooking School will be about enjoying the beauty and charm of the New Zealand countryside and exploring delicious and innovative food and recipes featuring the freshest, seasonal ingredients grown on our farm.
Classes start at 9.30am. We will start the class* with cake, flavoured with fruit or nuts from the farm, tea and/or coffee. We will then cook for a bit before starting our forage through the vegetable gardens, orchards, chook run and farm. We will be looking for organically grown ingredients for our delicious four course seasonal lunch.
Active participation, questions and discussions are encouraged!
When lunch is ready, we will sit down together, open the local wine that will be matched to the dishes, and really enjoy ourselves.
At the end of each class you will have a set of easy-to-use recipes (that will become go-to recipes when you get home) and a kitchen gift to take home (perhaps a jar of a favourite Lavender’s Green condiment that you’ve learnt to make, like lemon curd).
* Class times can be flexible if your party is travelling to the Wairarapa by train. We can arrange transfers to and from the Featherston Train Station. Please ring to discuss.
Gift vouchers are available on request and are valid for one year. They make a perfect gift for the cook in your life, for Mother’s or Father’s Day or for birthdays. Or just because, if you don’t need an excuse!
Classes are also available during the week, if you prefer. Please contact Mary to arrange.
Mary can be contacted on: +64 274 836 181 if you have any questions.
The day will finish at about four o’clock.
What do you need to bring? A winning attitude and a relaxed disposition.
What do you wear? Casual clothes with flat, covered in shoes. Gumboots if you have them and in winter, a warm coat
What else do you need to know? The maximum class size is eight people. Gather together family and friends to make this a truly memorable and intimate day.
Allergy? All the food served will be gluten free. Please let Mary know on booking if you have other food intolerances.
All equipment, writing material and recipes will be provided. Photos are encouraged.
Cost: $200 per person
Before you make an on-line booking, please check class availability as written below. Or, please ring Mary on +64 274 836 181 to discuss your requirements.
(The cost of the class includes morning tea, a four course meal matched with local wine, all recipes, and a gift to take home)
Available Dates
Winter on the farm and in the kitchen garden is a slower growing time, but what is ready to harvest in the next couple of months will be full of flavour after being touched by the odd frost. Our meals will be robust and hearty and often slow cooked. The house fires will be roaring and we will be cosy inside. Luckily the store cupboards are full of preserves, the fall nuts have been harvested and the freezer is full of autumn fruits.
Saturday 14 July 2018 – Bastille Day – All day class cooking winter comfort food and utilizing fresh produce from the farm. This will be a truly seasonal four course lunch and we will celebrate all things French on their national day. Class starts at 9.30 am and finishes at 4 pm – FULLY SUBSCRIBED
Sunday 15 July 2018 – Fill your Tins class – suitable for ages 10+. Let’s do some home baking together then finish the class with an old fashioned, country high tea. Class starts at 1 pm and finishes at 4 pm. – FULLY SUBSCRIBED
Saturday 21 July 2018 – All day class cooking winter comfort food and utilizing fresh produce from the farm. This will be a truly seasonal four course lunch. Class starts at 9.30 am and finishes at 4 pm
Sunday 22 July 2018 – Fill your Tins class – suitable for ages 10+. Let’s do some home baking together then finish the class with an old fashioned, country high tea. Class starts at 1 pm and finishes at 4 pm. $80
Saturday 28 July 2018 – All day class cooking winter comfort food and utilizing fresh produce from the farm. This will be a truly seasonal four course lunch. Class starts at 9.30 am and finishes at 4 pm
Sunday 29 July 2018 – Fill your Tins class – suitable for ages 10+. Let’s do some home baking together then finish the class with an old fashioned, country high tea. Class starts at 1 pm and finishes at 4 pm. $80
Friday 10 August 2018 – “The Cook’s Cook: Experience Food on Board the Endeavour” for Visa Wellington on a Plate
This year The Country Cooking School will join with Gecko Press, Olivo Olive Oils and Palliser Wines to produce an outstanding lunch with author and illustrator Gavin Bishop.
Gavin will speak about food and life aboard the Endeavour: from Pease Pudding to Goose Pie and Shark Steaks, and how a resourceful cook fed a shipful of hungry sailors on their extraordinary adventure. He will tell us fascinating stories of the explorers including Captain Cook and botanist Joseph Banks, their life on board the ship, the places they visited and the people they met, and especially what they ate.
His talk comes with a three-course meal inspired by the one-handed cook who fed everyone aboard HMS Endeavour – delicious cuisine designed to ward off scurvy and keep the crew healthy.
Friday 10 August from 11.30am to 2.30pm at The Country Cooking School
Saturday 8 September 2018 – We’ll be celebrating Spring and creating a four course meal using foraged farm ingredients ! 4 places left
Saturday 15 September 2018 – We’ll be celebrating Spring!
Sunday 16 September 2018 – Fill your Tins class – suitable for ages 10+. Let’s do some home baking together then finish the class with an old fashioned, country high tea. Class starts at 1 pm and finishes at 4 pm. $80 per person
Saturday 29 September 2018
Saturday 6 October 2018
Saturday 13 October 2018
Sunday 14 October 2018 – Fill your Tins class – suitable for ages 10+. Let’s do some home baking together then finish the class with an old fashioned, country high tea. Class starts at 1 pm and finishes at 4 pm.
Saturday 27 October 2018
I can curate classes for you and your friends. Do you have a significant birthday coming up or would you like to celebrate your hen’s party at The Country Cooking School and the Te Puhi farm? Or, would you like to bring your work colleagues out to a beautiful environment to have an “away day” or team building opportunity? I am also taking bookings for work Christmas parties in November and December.
Please call Mary to discuss your ideas and let’s see what we can do!
Midweek classes would be delightful to arrange – please do call Mary to discuss your ideas.