Who We Are

Courses for Cooks is owned and run by Jenny Thomson.  A cook and chef for over 30 years, Jenny trained at the renowned Leiths School of Food and Wine, London.  She practiced her art working as a private cook in Scotland, France, Canada and The United States, coming back to Scotland to work as a chef in St Andrews.

Since opening its doors in 2011, Courses for Cooks has been teaching classic cookery skills with a modern twist in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

About Jenny…

Apart from walking and cycling in the Scottish countryside, or rowing a skiff on the Firth of Forth, feeding people is what gets me out of bed in the morning!
Calm and patient may not be exciting words, but they’re the ones my clients use to describe me. They also say I am very good at what I do and crucially am very good at explaining the ins and outs of what’s being made.

How I Got Started…

After graduating from Leith’s School of Food and Wine, I spent some years as a private chef, working around the Scottish Highlands and over the pond in North America.

On then to the world of hospitality, growing and developing my own restaurant in West Fife. This took 15 years and was based on my love of good home cooking using fresh, seasonal Scottish produce.

Hospitality is immensely rewarding and I have many happy memories of my restaurant days; serving the regular customers, working with our wonderful staff and on busy days, the satisfaction and sense of achievement when everything ran like clockwork!

A chance article in the local paper about a new cookery school opening its doors in Edinburgh gave me a lightbulb moment and Courses for Cooks was born.

From the beginning, my idea has been to teach the skills and techniques of great cookery, enabling clients to become more confident, competent, inspired cooks within one class.

Cookery Courses

All of the cookery courses are designed to be fun, informative and inspiring.  Whether you are a complete beginner or competent cook, male or female.  Cookery courses are held in my kitchen over either a half or full day for a maximum of 4 people at any one time, giving plenty of opportunity for 1 to 1 attention.
In Person courses usually start at 10am with coffee and finish around 2pm.  With a maximum of 4 people, the day is a mixture of demonstrations and hands on practical cooking with a chance to sit down and eat what you have produced for lunch.

All ingredients, utensils, aprons and recipe sheets are provided. Gift certificates can also be purchased for a specific course or value.

Live Online courses are usually 2 hours duration, arranged to end at a meal time so you can sit down an eat what you’ve made. They are streamed through Zoom and clients say it’s like having me cook beside them in their kitchen.

Custom courses are tailor made to specific days and requirements, both In Person and Live Online, please contact me to make arrangements.

Courses

Custom Events

Gift Certificates

Get Connected

Follow us on social media to keep up to date with our latest news and updates.