Much more than delicious team building at CulinaryOn

The Sassy Mama team recently tried out a new Singapore cooking class at CulinaryOn… to delicious results

Ever on the lookout for fun team-building activities, the Sassy Mama team recently spent an afternoon giggling, sipping wine, eating, and – oh yeah – cooking up a storm at CulinaryOn, a cooking studio (the largest in Asia!) at Raffles Place.

CulinaryOn started in Moscow in 2012 (it’s billed as “Europe’s largest edutainment culinary studio”), and exudes a fun, festive vibe. The moment you walk in to the state-of-the-art kitchen you feel like you’ve entered a fabulous party – there are delectable nibbles laid out on the counters of the various cooking stations, there’s a bar area with an extensive wine menu and other drinks, there’s upbeat music playing, and there’s even a photographer there to capture all the fun you’re having.

Sessions are also led by a “host” who keeps things fun and loose. Our host, Anil, had us cracking up and took us through various ice breakers as we chopped and prepared ingredients under the watchful eye of Chef Daniel.

During our 3-hour session, we prepared a variety of dishes, including eggplant parmesan (YUM!), sauteed shrimp with homemade pasta, and mango ice cream with fresh fruit.

As probably the worst cook in our group (Chef Daniel graciously didn’t give me too hard a time for my inability to cut oranges or properly crack an egg), even I had fun and found the recipes easy-to-follow (and incredibly delicious).

Throughout the session, Chef Daniel gave us great tips and shortcuts, from how to quickly peel shrimp, to different flour combinations when making pasta. He helped Emilie improve her pan flipping technique, and explained why there’s no reason to add olive oil to boiling water when you’re cooking said pasta. It was all very interesting!

The best part of any cooking class (at least in my view) is that you don’t have to worry about cleaning up (other than washing your hands, which we were reminded about throughout the session). Instead, between courses we got to sit down and enjoy the fruits of our labor while admiring the breezy views of Boat Quay and the worker bees below at Raffles Place. CulinaryOn’s central location makes it ideal for office workers to come by for a couple hours or half a day for team activities, then get back to the office.

The eggplant parmesan was my fave – so flavourful and really so easy, although the thin slices of eggplant were pre-cut for us, so maybe that’s the hard part? This dish was closely rivalled by the oh-so fresh homemade pasta.

Afterwards, we were presented with personalised certificates (I can proudly state that I am now certified at “Cooking with Sass” – my husband got a big kick out of that one), and even better, all the recipes were emailed to us in easy-to-follow steps.

Besides team building (which can be tailored to your needs, whether you want to do a MasterChef competition or take a culinary masterclass in global cuisines), CulinaryOn also does Hens and birthday parties, and even hosts business events (a good way to ensure your power breakfast is truly delicious).

CulinaryOn also offers special activities for kids, including birthday parties (who doesn’t want to learn how to make pizza, pasta or birthday cake?) and their newly-launched kids holiday camps! Seriously, mama, check out the menu planned for their November camp, and just picture your child coming home from a productive day with a meal all ready to share with the fam!

The entire Sassy Mama team had so much fun at CulinaryOn (check out our Facebook album for ample evidence of that!), and we all left so excited to share the goodness with our readers. Whether you’re looking for a fun night out with your girlfriends, or want to find a great way to get the kiddos cooking, be sure to check it out, mama. Bon Appetit!

CulinaryOn’s Kids’ Cooking holiday camps will be running from 28-30 November and from 19-21 December. Classes run from 10am-2pm and are priced at $118 per day or $300 for all three days, and include light snacks, welcome drinks, cooking 3 dishes with the chef, all ingredients, photographs, full recipes, and diplomas upon completion. Email [email protected] with any questions! 

CulinaryOn, #04-63, Tower 2, One Raffles Place, Singapore 048616, Tel: (+65) 3108 0385, www.facebook.com/culinaryon.sg