Arlington Community Education

Thai cuisine is filled with aromatic herbs and spices that contribute to its unique and delicious flavors. Join us to explore fresh interpretations of traditional Thai recipes that you can replicate at home. We will make a full Thai meal, starting with a warming and colorful Thai coconut soup. For the main course we’ll create the popular stir fry noodle dish pad thai. Dessert will be a simple and refreshing no-churn mango ice cream.

Discover the satisfaction of baking your own Italian cookies and bring home a box of sweet treats that will rival what you can buy in the North End. Together, we’ll make a variety of classic Italian cookies: crispy, dunkable twice-baked biscotti; soft and pillowy ricotta cookies; crunchy and fragrant sesame cookies; amaretti cookies bursting with almond flavor; and rustic, buttery Venetian currant and cornmeal cookies.

Learn to decorate a cake like a pro in this hands-on workshop. Start by leveling, filling, and frosting your cake. Then practice applying just the right amount of pressure to the decorating bag to pipe flowers, leaves, and other embellishments. Leave with your decorated cake and the skills to make a unique custom confection for your next celebration. Icing and decorating tools are provided. BYO unfrosted cake (details online). Please note: Bring a single-layer cake (6, 7, or 8 inch round) and a cake carrier or box to transport your finished product, and an apron if you'd like. All other materials will be provided by the instructor.

Feeling adventurous? Join a cheesemonger to learn about and taste some of Formaggio’s funkiest favorite cheeses. As you taste your way through, you will come to appreciate the incredible skill needed to produce them. Although wine will not be served, throughout this tasting you will also learn helpful tips and tricks for pairing wine with more robust cheese flavors. You’ll leave this class having discovered some new favorites!

Coffee is love! Learn where specialty coffee comes from, how it is processed, graded, and roasted, then taste a few different types. After the group has decided which coffee they like the best, we will fire up the roaster and develop a batch of freshly roasted beans. After they have cooled, we will bag them and everyone will leave with a 12 oz. bag of their own freshly roasted coffee.

Please note: new date for this class is Tuesday, 5/21. For Indian food aficionados, the word “curry” conjures up images of chunks of vegetables, lentils or meats in buttery, colorful, and aromatic gravy. If you are new to cooking Indian cuisine and would like to introduce your family to the exotic flavors of a good curry, come learn to prepare two different simple kinds. We will make palak paneer (spinach and homemade cheese cooked with onion, ginger, chilies and spices, and drizzled with cream), and curried black-eyed beans cooked in an onion-tomato gravy. These curries will be served with aromatic saffron rice made with ghee, saffron, raisins, and nuts. Come get “curried” away! This class is a mix of demonstration and hands-on cooking.

Let’s go green! Palak (spinach) extends its popularity to the Indian continent with great zest. Because it is a seasonal vegetable, home cooks try to incorporate it daily in their meal plans for the few months of the year it is available. There are hundreds of recipes that use palak, and we will learn three popular ones. First we will make palak paneer, a very famous north Indian curry with onions, pungent spices, and paneer (cheese). We will also make palak pulao of basmati rice with spinach, tomatoes, brown sugar, and garam masala, with peanuts and cashews. Finally, we will make spinach dal, a healthy lentil soup with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk. This class is a mix of demonstration and hands-on cooking.

The popularity of Tequila has exploded in recent years and for good reason. It’s delicious! Come learn about the distinctive distillate of the blue agave plant grown in Jalisco, Mexico. Together, we will sample a range of exceptional Tequilas, discuss its history, and learn why so many people love it. Our tasting will explore Silver (unaged), Reposado (lightly aged), and Añejo (well aged) varieties. We will also compare Tequila to its cousin, Mezcal. Returning students are welcome as we will be trying an entirely new lineup of Tequilas. Light snacks are included. 21+

Make the whole month of May a celebration of Cinco de Mayo by cooking some favorite Mexican dishes. We’ll get the meal started with homemade pico de gallo and an irresistible guacamole. Then it’s on to the main course: rich and aromatic chicken enchiladas to please a crowd. We’ll round out the meal with a satisfying side dish of Mexican tomato rice. This will be a Mexican feast you’re sure to enjoy. ¡Olé!

Ever marvel at the many kinds of mustard, in so many colors, consistencies, and flavors? There is literally a mustard to please every taste and palette. We’ll try a dozen varieties paired with a wide array of mustard’s perfect accompaniments—cheeses and cured meats. Taste the difference between Pommery and Dijon, deli style vs. spicy brown, Bavarian vs. British, and coarse-grained vs. whole seed. Get a detailed overview of the history of mustard, how it is grown and processed, what makes it hot or not, its many nutritional attributes, its legacy in medicine as heralded by Hippocrates, and even mustard’s distinguished place in advertising and pop culture.

Plant-based dishes are the cornerstone of Mediterranean cooking. We will prepare a variety of delicious and nutritious recipes from this region known for its harmonious flavors and healthy ingredients. On the menu is the Greek bean soup fasolada, a Turkish-inspired quick bread with feta and olives called pilavuna, and several vegetable filled salads.

Everyone loves ravioli! Learn to make pasta dough from scratch, how to use a pasta machine, and practice using a few necessary tools to make perfect ravioli. We will also make sauces to accompany our filled pasta. Our menu will include wild mushrooms and shallot ravioli with fresh tomatoes and roasted garlic sauce; butternut squash ravioli with brown butter sage sauce; Swiss chard, ricotta, and pancetta ravioli with creamy Tuscan tomato sauce; and seafood with mascarpone and tomato basil cream sauce.

Did you know that chocolate has a sound, and professional chocolate judges use it to help determine a bar’s quality and sophistication? Learn how to taste the “food of the gods” just like the experts do at this dynamic and engaging tasting that will forever change the way you eat chocolate. Learn how to truly experience the different flavors and nuances through demonstration and discussion as you are led through the process of sampling small-batch, craft specialty chocolate. Then participate in a blind taste test and guess which samples are high-end specialty chocolates vs. low-end commercial chocolates.

A few chemical reactions will start the process of turning milk into cheese during this culinary adventure. While waiting for the curds and whey to separate, learn about the fundamentals of making cheese at home, how to select milk, and where to buy ingredients and tools. As our cheesemaking experiment progresses, we will discuss artisanal cheeses, flavors, and pairings, while sampling several varieties and accompaniments. After trying your hand at making ricotta, queso blanco, or paneer, you will make a batch of quick mozzarella. Take home a packet of starter culture so you can mix up a batch of creamy, fresh mozzarella in your own kitchen.

Make dilly beans, sauerkraut, and kimchi as you learn all about fermentation. Not only does fermentation have the power to make plants safer to consume and more nutritious, but it also enhances the flavor, aroma, and texture of food. We’ll taste a few samples, and then talk about what fermentation is, go over a very brief history, and get an overview of the microbes involved. We will discuss how foods can be transformed by fermentation and how to ensure that we are fermenting safely. There will be time to make each fermented item and brainstorm fun ways to use them.

Explore the diverse and delicious world of Spanish tapas and Basque pintxos, small bites you would find in Madrid or further north in San Sebastián. We will make a classic tortilla española (egg and potato omelet), garlic mushroom pintxos, gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp), and more. You will leave with a plethora of fun ideas for your next cocktail party. Please bring an apron and a container for leftovers.