Learn a new skill, meet some great people and eat something tasty.
The Depanneur hosted fun, hands-on cooking classes, everything from pickles to pierogis, vegan cheese to whole-animal butchery. These days we are exploring new pop-up workshop opportunities at locations around the GTA.
If you’ve got a culinary skill you’d like to share, find out more about hosting a class at The Dep.
Upcoming Cooking Classes at The Dep
COOKING CLASS: Spring Pickles and Preserves by Camilla Wynne
CSI Spadina 192 Spadina Ave., Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaHaving a cupboard full of zingy, homemade pickles is better than almost anything. Join award-winning cookbook author and master preserver Camilla Wynne for this fun, hands-on workshop where you’ll learn how to transform the first delights of spring — asparagus, rhubarb — into tangy pickles and delectable chutneys, perfect for bringing a big, bright flavour punch to your cheese plates, sandwiches and salads.
COOKING CLASS: As Easy as Apple Pie by Leslie Lindsay
CSI Spadina 192 Spadina Ave., Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaOntario is overflowing with delicious apples — perfect for pies! Come learn how to make quick, easy, and delicious pies with baker Leslie Lindsay. In this hands-on workshop, Leslie will demonstrate how to make a classic apple and cranberry galette. You'll get all the tips, techniques and hands-on experience to make the flakiest pie dough, delicious filling and different ways to finish your pie, like a rolled crust, lattice or crumb topping.. There will be a slice of warm pie to share at the end of class, as well as a fully made pie for each participant to take home and bake (they freeze beautifully!)
COOKING CLASS: Spring Pickles and Preserves by Camilla Wynne [2]
CSI Spadina 192 Spadina Ave., Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaHaving a cupboard full of zingy, homemade pickles is better than almost anything. Join award-winning cookbook author and master preserver Camilla Wynne for this fun, hands-on workshop where you’ll learn how to transform the first delights of spring — asparagus, rhubarb — into tangy pickles and delectable chutneys, perfect for bringing a big, bright flavour punch to your cheese plates, sandwiches and salads.
COOKING CLASS: Syrian Brunch by Rahaf Alakabani
CSI Spadina 192 Spadina Ave., Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaA popular dish throughout the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean), kibbeh comes in a vast array of shapes and flavours — in Syria, Aleppo alone is said to have more than twenty different kinds. Best known are made from a bulgur dough combined with finely ground meat and spices, carefully stuffed and formed into small football-shaped dumplings that are fried to a crisp, dark auburn. Making and stuffing kibbeh is a group activity just about every Syrian woman would have participated in at one time or another — virtually no major occasion occurs without the appearance of a platter (or mountain) of kibbeh at the table. Talented cook, musician and co-founder of Newcomer Kitchen, Rahaf Alakbani is no stranger to making kibbeh, and she will be sharing her favourite recipes and techniques in this fun, hands-on class.
MASTERCLASS: Discovering Wild Foods by Dyson Forbes
CSI Spadina 192 Spadina Ave., Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaJoin Malav Naik for a tea party like no other; a deep dive into the history of chai and its customs. You'll discover a variety of easy ways to make delicious, fresh, authentic chai at home! The workshop will also feature tutorials on how to make some popular, traditional chai time snacks. Along with the hands-on tutorial, you will also get a chai making kit to take home and a compilation of delicious recipes.
COOKING CLASS: Grande Ripieni – Spectacular Rolled Pastas with Chef Anthony Sestito
CSI Spadina 192 Spadina Ave., Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaJoin Chef Anthony Sestito for an intermediate-level exploration of some of Italy’s most outstanding filled-and-rolled pasta dishes. You'll ease into the class with a beautiful spread of antipasto on arrival, and then dive into learning how to make a simple and versatile fresh pasta dough from scratch, with an emphasis on choosing the right flours and the importance of resting the dough. Chef Anthony will then walk you through the art of crafting not only classic cannelloni but also other large, impressive shapes like manicotti, rotolo, sacchetti, and pasta imbustata. You'll be guided through selecting and preparing a variety of fillings—ranging from classic spinach and ricotta to hearty meat or delicate vegetable blends—while demonstrating the essential techniques for rolling, stuffing, and sealing each shape. There will also be a discussion of the pairing of different shapes and sizes with their traditional sauces. The class culminates in a light meal of freshly-prepared spinach & ricotta Cannelloni con Pomodoro. (Vegan option available on request). Any extra pasta made in class can be taken home, along with PDF recipes and new skills to impress your friends!
COOKING CLASS: Afghan Mantoo & Ashak Dumplings by Frishta Ghafoori
CSI Spadina 192 Spadina Ave., Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaThroughout Central Asia, delicious dumplings of all kinds are a staple of the local cuisine. Mantoo (or Mantu) is a popular traditional Afghan dish consisting of steamed dumplings filled with spiced ground meat and onions, or called Ashak when filled with a vegetarian leek filling. In Afghanistan they are served alongside split yellow lentils and a rich tomato gravy, then topped with fresh yoghurt and mint sauce.
Join Frishta Ghafoori (along with her aunt Samia, her family's resident dumpling expert) as they show you the traditional way to make mantoo and ashak from scratch. You will learn the whole process, from making and rolling the dough, preparing the fillings and sauces. You'll get to enjoy some delicious samples and take extras home to share along with all the recipes and your newly-honed dumpling making skills!
COOKING CLASS: Full-Day Breadmaking Intensive by Leo Baduria
Café ZuZu 555 Dundas Street East, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaJoin artisanal baker Leo Baduria for a full-day, in-depth exploration of the fundamentals of great bread. You’ll learn how to make your own sourdough starter, and how to prepare different types of dough, using various grains and flours. There will be hands-on practice of the techniques to folding, kneading and shaping dough to make focaccia/fougasse, baguettes, boules, batards and brioches, including challah braids.
MASTERCLASS: The Past and Future of Maiz by Iván Wadgymar
CSI Spadina 192 Spadina Ave., Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaJoin Ivan for a journey into the origins of maiz in Mesoamerica and discover how millennia of skillful crop domestication created a foundational food for Pre-Columbian civilization that lived the centre of their cosmology. These sophisticated agricultural practices coevolved with the technologies like nixtamalization, which transforms the nutritional profile of corn, and creates the masa used in tortillas, tamales, and even the ubiquitous supermarket corn chips. The place maiz holds in Mexico's socio-political-economic web has undergone dramatic changes from the colonial period until now, and projects like Maizal help protect this unique cultural inheritance, from seed to table.
COOKING CLASS: Tamales by Iván Wadgymar
CSI Spadina 192 Spadina Ave., Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaTamales are an essential and ancient Mexican dish – soft cornmeal masa (dough) stuffed with a flavourful filling, wrapped in corn husks and steamed. Portable and self-contained, tamales are a popular street food with countless variations found all across Mexico, and a beloved part of many Holy Week and Easter celebrations. Join Iván Wadgymar of Maizal for a fun, hands-on class where you will learn how to make delicious tamales from scratch using traditional, freshly ground masa de maiz instead of the industrial maseca (dried corn flour) that many recipes call for. As a local grower, miller and processor of artisanal Mexican corn, beans and chiles Iván connection to Mexican culinary traditions runs much deeper than most. More than just recipes and techniques, you will learn about the roots of the ingredients and traditions in Mexican and cuisine — literally what puts the culture in agriculture. You'll be making Tamales de Rajas (Poblano Pepper) and Tamales Verdes (chicken in salsa verde), as well as a fresh Salsa Verde Cruda. There will be tamales to snack on in class, and everyone gets to take home the tamales they make, along with all the recipes.