Best MasterClasses for a Home Chef
By Franki Hanke
We’ve all heard of MasterClass chef Gordon Ramsay, best known for his television roles on Hell’s Kitchen and MasterChef, though arguably his seven Michelin stars should probably be front of mind.
Ramsay’s status as a chef largely relies on his detailed approach to the techniques of cooking. From the humble poached egg to complex beef wellington, Chef Ramsay cooks with sharp precision.
So, no matter what you like to cook, his perspective on cooking techniques is a lesson worth learning. The best part is you can learn that lesson at your own pace from the comfort of your own home with MasterClass.
If you’re gifting to a home chef, a MasterClass subscription takes all the pressure of buying cookery they’ll use but don’t already own. Gift a subscription today!
What is MasterClass?
MasterClass is a streaming platform, not unlike Netflix, but instead of watching yet another murder documentary, you’ll watch in-depth lessons from well-known experts including iconic celebrity chefs.
Compared to in-person cooking classes, MasterClass gives you access to famous, accomplished chefs with serious acclaim. Their cooking courses go beyond technical skills alone, plus you can choose your schedule, work at your own pace, repeat at will, and learn alongside anyone you choose for no additional cost.
How does it work?
MasterClass is an annual subscription, so with one price, you’ll have unlimited access to over 150 different online courses on more than cooking, but even if you’re only here to cook, there are days worth of cooking MasterClasses to watch.
Each class ranges between ten and 20 video lessons. Follow along in the class’s workbook for the full experience. Conveniently, you can stream them to TV apps or a smartphone, perfect for watching while you cook dinner.
What if I don’t like it?
MasterClass has a thirty-day guarantee. If, after a month, the online courses aren’t worth it to you, you can get a refund. So, there’s no reason not to try it.
Where to Start: Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking
The video lessons feel like he’s teaching you cooking skills face to face. After all, they are set in his home kitchen, not one of the Ramsay restaurants.
The Gordon Ramsay MasterClass is nearly four hours altogether across 20 lessons. He covers basic skills including proper kitchen layout, knife skills, and preparation for a whole chicken. Then, you can practice those skills with step-by-step videos to make restaurant recipes at home including Lobster Ravioli (including making pasta dough from scratch), Massimo Bottura, and Chicken Supreme with Root Vegetables.
See the whole MasterClass course, subscribe, or gift on masterclass.com.
What’s Next? Cuisine-Themed MasterClasses
There’s more than one celebrity chef teaching on MasterClass? In fact, whether you’ve already watched the MasterClass by Gordon Ramsay or not, there’s a lesson for you to improve a kitchen skill you already have or learn a brand new approach.
Once you’ve improved your fundamental kitchen skills (or if you’re already a practiced home chef), you can advance to more specific perspectives on a new cuisine or specialty with the same MasterClass subscription.
Dominique Crenn – Modern Vegetarian Cooking
Whether you’re specifically vegetarian yourself or not, Dominique Crenn’s MasterClass on vegetarian cooking is a detailed spotlight on ingredients you might otherwise overlook. Plus, it proves there’s more to a vegetarian dinner party than cauliflower steaks…
The course covers a full tasting menu of recipes perfect for learning in preparation for your next dinner party.
If you want more recipes from two-starred Michelin chef Dominique Crenn, invest in her cookbook Metamorphosis of Taste. After following her course, you’ll approach the recipes with a uniquely informed perspective.
Madhur Jaffrey – Indian Cooking
You could read all thirty of Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbooks to learn how to truly prepare Indian cuisine, but it’s much easier to watch MasterClass instead. Start with an in-depth perspective of spices and then leverage that background information into understanding several core Indian dishes and ingredients: curry, bread, legumes, and chaat.
Continue to explore Indian cuisine with Jaffrey’s most-loved cookbook At Home with Madhur Jaffrey which shares simple, homey dishes.
Mashama Bailey – Southern Cooking
Walking through recipe-by-recipe, Mashama Bailey’s course on African American Southern cooking is a recipe brought to life. With traditional and reimagined techniques and recipes alike, you’ll be able to learn flavorful, comforting dishes like succotash, fish and grits, and okra gumbo from a James Beard Award-Winning Chef.
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For more of the story behind Bailey’s role at restaurant The Grey, read their dual-memoir Black, White, and The Grey with John Morisano.
Niki Nakayama – Japanese Cooking
You don’t have to know anything about Japanese cuisine to start Niki Nakayama’s course. Across eighteen video lessons, you’ll walk through Japanese pantry staples, key techniques and tools before learning specific recipes to spotlight modern Japanese cuisine in your own kitchen.
Unlike many chefs, Nakayama doesn’t offer their recipes or techniques in any cookbook. Instead, their MasterClass is one of the rare opportunities to experience their process.
Apollonia Poilâne – Parisian Bread Baking
Many of us dabbled in bread-making for the first time during the pandemic, but with Parisian baker Apollonia Poilâne, you’ll master the technique for a variety of French bread: rustic weather, rye, and brioche including making your own starter. Hands-on demonstrations and recipes make the chance of a deflated loaf much lower.
Once you’ve learned the techniques on video, supplement your recipe book with Poilâne, Apollonia Poilâne’s cookbook.
Gabriela Cámara – Mexican Cooking
Learn a mixture of classic staple and chef-created recipes with step-by-step instructions in Gabriela Cámara’s MasterClass on Mexican cuisine. For a taste of her teaching style, watch the free sample video making Tacos al Pastor!
Don’t Miss These: Extra Kitchen Expertise to Watch
Lynnette Marrero and Ryan Chetiyawardana – Mixology
What is a delicious meal without a drink to match? Learn to make cocktails fit to complement your elevated cooking with the expert duo: Lynnette Marrero and Ryan Chetiyawardana. You’ll learn how to set up your home bar to start and then different recipes for every type of mood, including your dinner party that has to happen now.
With your home bar outfitted and a few recipes in your arsenal after this course, learn more recipes in Chetiyawardana’s book Good Things to Drink.
Alice Waters – Home Cooking
With experience and exploration in a multitude of cuisines, bring that new expertise back home with Alice Water’s course on cooking with fresh, seasonal ingredients. The combination of courses lets you leverage your lessons into your own life in a totally unique way based on what grows in your area and what’s in season now.
Improve all of your cooking by finishing this class with Water’s book My Pantry for how to store and prepare staples you’ll use across your cooking.
Gifting MasterClass
If you’re gifting MasterClass, pick out a class your giftee will most enjoy. Then, give yourself something to wrap by buying the cookbook for the class you’ve chosen and include their subscription reveal inside. The wrapped package and a personalized introduction will show so much thought, and once they dive into MasterClass, they’ll realize just how much you’ve given them!
Now, pour a glass of red wine, sign up for a course, and start learning. With MasterClass at hand, it’s never been easier to take a skill to the next level.
Once you have your subscription, find more classes you’ll love with all our MasterClass articles.
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Your all-access pass for MasterClass covers all classes, so if you start with Gordon Ramsay’s technique for preparing crispy duck, you can move next to practical advice for life, business techniques, or really anything! That’s the beauty of MasterClass. Next, you can learn anything.
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