SHARE THE LOVE OF COOKING AT SCHOOLHAUS
If you love to prepare new and delicious cuisine — and then eat it — Schoolhaus Culinary Arts may be the place for you. Its founder, Aimee Schulhauser, created it to be a casual environment in which people could come together to share their love of cooking.
Schoolhaus classes are intended to build on even the most humble culinary skills. “We say they’re good for anyone who likes to eat, which, I think, encompasses most people,” said Schulhauser, who remains the kitchen’s owner and CEO. “It’s for the person who’s been cooking for 30 years or the person who’s been cooking for 30 minutes. Anyone can learn something from our classes, and anyone can feel at home in the same class too, whether you do have all that experience or not. We make sure we start with the basics, but then we’re available to talk about more advanced things too.”
Generally running three hours long, the classes focus on a particular subject or type of cuisine. “They go from 6 to 9 at night,” Schulhauser said. “Those classes are more of a meal type of thing, and they can expect to make an appetizer, a full, main course meal, and dessert in that time.” Weekend classes, on the other hand, run from either 10 to 1 or 2 to 5 and are typically workshops or baking classes.
Regardless of the time, the class format is usually the same. “We set you up with a cocktail if you wish, and the chef instructor will give you a brief orientation about the kitchen and what the itinerary of the night will be,” said Schulhauser. “You’re given a brief knife skills demo, and then the instruction for the rest of the class happens throughout the session.” The entire process is hands-on, and, at the end of class, the attendees sit down to enjoy the food that they have prepared.
Although Schoolhaus is located beneath Schulhauser’s Tangerine restaurant at 2171-B Lorne Street, none of the chefs that she has contracted to teach Schoolhaus classes work in Tangerine’s kitchen. “They’re hired based on their skillset,” Schulhauser said. “They don’t necessarily have to be a professional chef, just someone who has an extensive background in their particular cuisine. So, we have a Mexican chef who’s a real, live chef who works during the day in the industry, we have a lady from southern India who does our Indian classes, and a lady whose family is originally from China.”
That diverse array of specialists has allowed Schoolhaus to branch into new and interesting directions. “I encourage chefs to have their own ways of doing things, their own personalities,” said Schulhauser. “We do have some things we want to cover in that we want the knife skills shown, and there are some teachable moments on each one of them that should be taught, but, after that, their own experiences should apply, and that keeps people coming back.”
The coming season promises some particularly curious cuisine. “We’re going to do a lot of new classes in the fall, but we’re doing little teasers here in the summertime,” Schulhauser said. “For example, we’re having a wine and cheese workshop where you make your own cheese. That’s one that’s really interesting and fun. We also have one called ‘Foods of Northern Saskatchewan’ just from local things here. Our Mexican chef is doing a Yucatan class.”
Schulhauser herself teaches the classes that focus on theory or centre around a particular skill. For example, “We have a Modern Home Cook series that’s a 10-week class,” said Schulhauser. “We also have a Modern Home Cook Tool series, which is the advanced version of that and is a five-week class. And I leave myself open for the daytime classes too, so any corporate team-building or specialty classes I would do.”
Teaching Schoolhaus classes is not only a joy for Schulhauser, it has sharpened her own culinary skills. “The best way to learn is by teaching, I think,” she said. “Myself, I’ve learned a lot not only by reinforcing what I already know, but from people telling me their own tips and tricks, so it really helps in my professional career to hear about things that have worked for other people.”