Welcome to the cooking class series, Cooking up Confidence: Skills in the Everyday Kitchen, created by the Spartanburg Food System Coalition and hosted by Chef N’Gai Dickerson, an American Heart Association-certified chef. The series was developed for community use in South Carolina as a turn-key program to compliment the FoodShare boxes. The purposes of these classes are to help participants gain confidence in their own kitchen and to give them the skills needed to create healthy, delicious meals. We have heard from the community that cooking and nutrition skills are a vital part of individuals being able to make the healthy choice the easy choice. Preparing more healthy meals at home will help people increase their fruit and vegetable consumption and spend less money on eating out.
Classes can be hosted virtually or in person.
The four-class series focuses on these five components, which can be found in each video:
- Food Safety
- Cooking Methods
- Cooking Skills
- Food Storage Tips
- Nutrition
The methods and skills of the four videos include:
- Raw and Sauté
- Dry Heat: Roasting and Baking
- Moist Heat: Braising and Simmering
- Steaming and Zesting
The class is meant to be flexible so that it can be tailored to meet the needs of the participating community members. For example, there may be a class that offers more information that pertains to diabetic participants, or there may be a series that is four classes, but stretched out over four months instead of seven weeks.
We also offer a similar series for Spanish speakers. The Spanish classes are focused more on incorporating children and family into cooking rather than on basic cooking skills.
We offer two options for these cooking classes: teach the classes or take the classes. Below you will find more information for each option.
