Learn to cook from a chef this fall, whether it’s how to make a traditional loaf of bread, a top restaurant dish you have tasted, or a quick lunch.

The number of professional chefs who have turned teacher has risen like a batch of well-kneaded dough, and courses offered are showing a new level of imagination and entertainment. There’s even a cook-your-

dinner course that is geared to singles interested in meeting other men and women as they help sauté or stir up a meal.

Chefs’ courses are proving popular. One new series, organized with some of Montreal’s most celebrated chefs, is completely booked until Christmas, but you can get on the waiting list for early 2009.

The three big categories of cooking courses remain strong: Italian and Mediterranean, Asian, and vegetarian courses are being offered as usual, some by veterans, some by newcomers.

Which brings up the point that many of the courses in today’s annual list are well known to The Gazette’s food writers, but others are not. In the case of the latter, we have tried to find out as much as possible about the new courses and suggest you do the same before registering. If it’s a new course and offers single sessions, we recommend to take one before committing to a series.

There’s an increase in children’s cooking courses; one school is ready to take pre-schoolers but most are geared to children of elementary school age. Parents who introduce their youngsters early to kitchen skills are likely to find that the effort pays off.

Today’s list begins with the baking category, starting with courses in bread-baking from two experienced baking chefs:

Marc-André Cyr, whose baking experience includes a stint at the Old Montreal restaurant Olive & Gourmando, will teach how to make a variety of loaves, some using flour from the heritage grain red fife, plus Boston brown bread and a slow-rising “no-knead” loaf.

Dominique Homo, a Normandy-born baker who worked with the late French bread guru Raymond Calvel, has set up a professional kitchen to give group classes.

Pastry and cake decorating classes are more numerous. Take note, too, that both the Académie Culinaire and Pearson cooking schools are offering baking classes with their staff chefs.

Source: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/arts/story.html?id=9ee1a229-6866-47c8-b69c-5593f14d1362