the low-down on The Cooking School Noosa

Every been made an offer you couldn't possibly refuse?

It was last Friday afternoon. The crew had just arrived home from the Farmer's Golf Day when my phone rang.

The lovely folks at Tourism Queensland wanted to know if I might like to spend the day at the Cooking School Noosa with a bunch of media types they were showing around the Sunshine Coast. It took me all of 0.5 seconds to agree.

When I first learned a few months ago that the chefs behind Wasabi restaurant had started a cooking school, I'd added it to my kid-free, one-day bucket list.

The opportunity to go tomorrow? Like I said, an offer I couldn't refuse!

From the moment I arrived Julia, the cooking school coordinator, made me feel at home. Would I like some sesame biscuits? A coffee or a Japanese tea made from a super cool blossom that opens inside the teapot?

My new kitchen mates arrived shortly after and we were joined by our tutor for the day, and Wasabi's Head Chef, Zeb Gilbert.

It was every bit as fun as I had hoped. We split into teams, each team responsible for the preparation of a dish from start to finish. The Cooking School kitchen is superbly equipped and laid out beautifully. Their knives, handmade in Japan, were an absolute joy to use. After Julia gave us a brief orientation of the kitchen we set to work.

My team mate for the day was Sarah who writes for The Australian. We were responsible for the first course - the spanner crab and pork dumplings poached in an aromatic broth. 

I'm pleased to say that after Zeb's dumpling folding lesson our dish was received with rave reviews - although I suspect everything tastes better served with a view of the Noosa River.

We then returned to the kitchen and assisted the other teams as they produced tea smoked fish with pickled vegetable salad, Massaman curry and stir-fried veggies (complete with monkey ear mushrooms!) and our pièce de résistance; palm sugar and coconut tarts with citrus ice cream.

Dragon Boats raced up the river as we dined. Wasabi is a truly a spectacular setting.

After enjoying the delicious lunch, my fellow kitchen apprentices continued on to sample more of what the Sunshine Coast has to offer and I turned my car south and headed for home.

The Glass House Mountains appeared as I neared the farm and I had a moment of extreme gratitude. I don't visit the beautiful Sunshine Coast. I live here and, as the Little Sister would say, that's twenty-milli-hundred times as good.

Keen to visit yourself?
get all the details on The Cooking School Noosa website.

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Disclosure: I attended The Cooking School as a guest of Tourism Queensland.
I was under no obligation to share my experience, but I had a cracking time and wanted to tell you about it.