Bar-Be School Sydney (AUS post 6)

Back to School 2007! This time I forgot about the easel, paint brush, t-square, ruling pen, french curves and all my art gadgets back in 1999. It was time to bring out the apron, gloves, ladle, knives, grilling pan, skewers, bowl and all the cooking utensils. Time to learn something new and sharpen my cooking expertise. Let me share with you a memorable experience at the Bar-Be School in Australia.


I never enrolled in any culinary school but I've been cooking for more than 15 years in my life. What made me decide to enroll in a cooking school? And opt for a foreign cooking school? My reasons were very simple. I had a month-long vacation in Australia and I thought it would be great to embrace not just the culture but also the Australian cuisine. And the way to go about it is to enroll in a cooking school. I almost set aside enrolling in Bar-be School because the tuition fee was very expensive. But then again, more than the experience and gaining of knowledge, I was sure I'd meet new people and perhaps gain some new friends.

The school's venue is in UNION Hotel, north of Sydney. It's very far from where I stayed, which is in Goulburn St., Liverpool situated south of Sydney. The venue changes from time to time because it's a barbecue class and it needs open air for the grilling part.

Let me introduce you to Chef Jason (right side) who is the Executive Chef in our school. With him is his tall assistant. I hope the guy will forgive me because I forgot his name already. :p

These were my classmates. Most of them are male Aussies and British. There were few females and among them was The Artist Chef--the only Asian in the class.

What also made me choose Bar-be school among other schools I searched on the net is the hands-on class. What does that mean? Well that means that students are interacting together. The teacher will teach what to do and the students will be the one to do it by themselves. Unlike other schools where the teacher will teach and cook at the same time. Students will just watch and they have their pens and papers to take down notes. I don't like schools like that so I opted for the Bar-be School.

Well those were my Aussie and Brit classmates. Mostly with big bellies. They wanted to serve something new on their dining table.

This photo was taken by my classmate. He saw me taking pictures around the class so he approached me and asked if I want my photo taken. I gladly say YES! Actually he even offered me a ride to the CBD. I refused because my very supportive boyfriend was waiting for my class to finish. :-)

This is the good thing about the cooking class...I ate what I cooked.

Since I was the only Asian in the class, I got all the attention from our teacher. He wondered why I enrolled in Bar-be school. I told him it's part of my vacation and I want to learn some Australian cooking and apply it to my little business called Artist Chef. My teacher said "So you're stealing ideas from us..." Then everyone in the class had a laugh.