We run a 5 month Culinary Skills Training Programme where our students receive basic theory and practical lessons, which equip them with skills that make them employable in the food industry and/or able to start their own small businesses. The students have access to a fully equipped professional kitchen every weekday.
The women are trained by a qualified culinary trainer and the course is designed to offer individual attention taking into consideration the varied levels of trauma and educational backgrounds.
What does the Vheneka Culinary Course entail?
Please see the modules below :
- Hygiene and Safety
- How to read and write a recipe
- Kitchen Equipment and basic use
- Knife Skills
- Measuring and weighing of ingredients
- Fruit Preparation using knife skills (peeling, skinning, segmenting, slicing)
- Vegetable Preparation using knife skills (slicing, dicing, julienne, grating, chopping)
- Cooking Vegetables and Fruit (boiling, stewing, baking, frying, braising, steaming, roasting)
- Cooking Eggs and egg dishes and custards
- Cooking Starches
- Making a White Sauce -Roux method
- Cooking Meat (Poultry, Fish, Beef, Pork) in various ways (Roasting, frying, braising, baking, stewing)
- Chicken Portioning and jointing, Fish filleting
- Making stock (Chicken and Beef stock with bones)
- Soups
- Cooking and baking with Flour mixtures - Quick mixes, dough, yeast, muffins, cakes, breads
- Cake decorating - butter icing
- Jellies and gelatine
- Short crust pastry
- Baked puddings
- Garnishing and decorating food for service
- Drinks - Fruit juices and Mocktails
- Hot beverages serving tea and coffee
- Food storage and packaging
- Meal and menu planning
- Serving of food and beverages
- Table setting
- Entrepreneurship (Introduction to starting a small business & business plan)