A new cookery school, Yarrow, is set to launch in Edinburgh next week

The new cookery school coming to Edinburgh will offer cooking courses such as 'Date Night', 'Kids in the Kitchen' and 'Seasonal Healthy Cooking' among many others when it opens on Wednesday 28th October.

Yarrow Cookery School is coming to Edinburgh on Wednesday 28th October to give families, friends, couples and more the chance to bond over cooking together and learning under chef Richard Yarrow.

The school will be running courses catering to kids, couples looking for a fun date activity and those looking to master some seasonal healthy dishes, for 4 hours and 30 minutes at a time in a relaxed, intimate environment. The school also lets you pick your own menu ‘so that you can learn how to master the food you love to eat’.

The Yarrow Cookery School offers several course options for a range of different customers and interests. Among those available are a Family Day, letting the whole family enjoy a day in the kitchen together with prices starting from £50 per head for a group of three. Alongside learning how to cook Richard’s speciality, Beef Wellington, courses such as ‘Destressing Dinner Parties’ gives those of you who wishing to cooking for friends and family can learn to do so ‘without turning your kitchen upside down.’

Richard Yarrow, chef and founder of Yarrow Cookery School, tells me that he was inspired to start his business after getting some assistance from kids when cooking for large groups of 16 people. “I said to all the kids when I arrived for the job that they were free to come along and help out with any cooking if they wanted, and a 13 year old girl basically became my sous chef,” he says “I think the penny dropped for me then that I just love teaching, especially for children.”

Yarrow Cookery School became the perfect culmination of Richard’s two passions for cooking and teaching, with additional courses providing wider options and accessibility for a wide range of customers.

While the idea of going to a large cookery school and mixing with strangers can understandably feel like a daunting prospect amid the pandemic, Richard hopes the familial and low-key atmosphere of his home-based business will help customers feel more comfortable. “The idea for my course is that the only people who will be booking on it will be from the same household or two maximum,” he tells me “so it wouldn’t be a case of having loads of new people around.”

Richard also plans to source any food and ingredients for the school from local suppliers, as well as from his own healthy range of herbs growing at home: “I think a really important thing for most people now is eating as locally as possible, which is great with so many root vegetables now coming into season.” He adds that Yarrow Cookery School hopes to show customers the value in buying, using and cooking with fresh, local produce – advocating that we opt for cheaper fruit and veg grown in Scotland and Britain rather than alternatives shipped from overseas.

The Yarrow Cookery School will be based at Lawrie Reilly Place, Edinburgh EH7 5FA.

Visit their website at www.yarrowcookery.com to book and find out more.