Following a career as a senior food buyer for Sainsbury’s and an HR consultant specialising in training & development, The Cooking Apple was started by Pip Porter, whose passion for food was formalised with training at the Cordon Bleu School, London in Basic Cuisine.

She has also completed courses with Leith’s, Divertimenti and Thai cookery schools in a broad range of cuisines, breads and patisserie. Pip’s been lucky enough to live and work in 3 continents; giving her a breadth of experience in cooking styles. Her thorough training has given her a wealth of kitchen ideas to share (and she is well known for sharing her shopping and restaurant tips & tricks on Instagram too!).

WHERE

Live events are in a great location in central Sevenoaks, with free off-street parking.  Events range from full cooking demos to ‘kitchen evenings’ where guests make canapé or desserts and enjoy a main course demo to relaxing yoga supper & brunch clubs, teamed with the fab @yogabylucy.

ONLINE CLASSES

Since lockdown Pip has introduced brilliant virtual cookery classes so you can relax and learn from the comfort of your own kitchen. Perfect for uninspired chefs, complete beginners looking for a helping hand or bored teens needing a bit of encouragement in the kitchen.

Whilst online meeting and virtual classes may give you horrible flashbacks, Pip’s wonderful classes are a great way to learn cooking from the comfort of your own kitchen, with the equipment and foibles you are used to. Trust us, it really does work!

There are a selection of classes each term for guests to travel the world via their kitchen (for example, classes explore Morocco, Indonesia and Scandinavia).  The classes are at a great price point of £17.50 – so really accessible as a gift to friends or family.

TEENS

We know how hard teens can be to persuade to do extra activities but The Cooking Apple holds fab virtual classes for teens – just sign up and join in – or can host private classes for small groups if you have a set of friends who fancy sharing some lessons together. 

All held via Zoom, yup they won’t even need to leave the house and joggers are welcomed! They’ll leave with a tasty meal to enjoy with the rest of the family. Weekend baking, mid-week chef and even baking parties are just some of the options. 

Pip can also offer a pre-university private classes and Duke of Edinburgh prep classes to ensure your teen is sent off ready to cater in a small kitchen and on a budget.

KITCHEN EDITS

Is your kitchen full of knick knacks like melon ballers or filled with gadgets and machine that you’ve only used once or never? Enter Pip’s brand new kitchen edits! Have a kitchen that has everything you need to make life easy and cook for your household, stress free.

With a 1-2-1 KITchen Edit session, completely personalised to you, Pip will leave you with a calm and tidy environment from which to create some fab meals. You’ll have an equipment list tailored to you, some help with decisions over what to keep, donate and throw away plus equipment, utensils, pots and pans recommendations. Each session is £90.

PRIVATE CLASSES

Have some fun with your family our friends with these private classes! Get together virtually or in person (if you’re Kent based), pick the menu, difficulty then just choose a date and get ready for a fab evening to remember – tasty food and laughing guaranteed! 

We personally love the sound of the in-person classes with a mix of hands-on fun and being cooked for – what a treat! Make some elements of the meal then hand over to Pip who will demo your dinner whilst you relax with a glass. 

Lovely printed vouchers wrapped in a gorgeous ribbon are available from The Cooking Apple – a really great Christmas or birthday present idea for the foodie in your life.

TEAM EVENTS

Have a team and fancy hosting then a fun event? The Cooking Apple can tailor you a great team cooking event – just there for pure fun! Sit down with drinks & nibbles to enjoy a cooking demo showcasing a fab main meal delicious for entertaining family and friends and then roll up your sleeves to have a go yourselves with a fun (and slightly competitive!) dessert challenge.

We love the Cooking Apple classes for the relaxed and friendly atmosphere (no flashy chef intimidation here!). You can make mistakes, laugh and cook with others. Pip will give you the skills, confidence and inspiration to create delicious new dishes and impress your family and friends.

Photography by Mollie Manning