First up, Edinburgh New Town Cookery School is launching a half day Scottish cookery class.

It is aimed at visitors to Scotland who want to learn how to cook the dishes they might encounter while travelling here.

However, if local residents ever fancied perfecting their Cullen skink or learning how to make your haggis bon bons crunchy then you know where to go.

The classes are bespoke so guests can choose the dishes they would like to learn about.

Easy options include smoked fish pate, Cranachan and shortbread.  More challenging dishes include roast venison or Scottish lamb, haggis canapés and Forfar bridies.

Once the students have prepared their meal, they can sit down to enjoy it with a glass of wine or Scottish beer.

Alternatively they may prefer a baking class where they can finish their experience with an afternoon tea they have prepared themselves.

Principal, Fiona Burrell, comments: 'We find visitors from abroad love to learn how to cook Scottish meals, particularly so they can recreate them when they go home. The Scottish Cookery Classic is a really inspiring way for visitors to the city to return with special memories of our local food and our warm Scottish welcome.'

 Suitable for up to twenty people, the Scottish Cookery Classic is adapted according to requirement, with prices starting at £400 plus vat for two people, dependent on the menu chosen. 

Plate up the plants

Assuming it's fair to say that the ENTCS' Scottish Cookery Classic is aimed at the leisure market, then a new course from the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine is tailored towards a very different set of students.

Tapping into the zeitgeist, their Foundation in Nutrition & Plant-Based Food is a full-time, six-week course that costs £3000.

The only course of its kind in the UK, it focuses on the 'recent rise of cooking that is designed to be lighter, more nutrient-dense and an all together more modern approach to food for the 21st century'.

It is described as 'Perfect for those wishing to develop a new kitchen repertoire; turn a passion into a profession; cook privately around the world or even to work within the food and publishing industries'.

Aimed at aspiring and existing chefs, food stylists and gap year students, the course covers everything from fermentation to food styling and supplier visits. From the power of spices to a module on nuts, grains and seeds, the course is designed to teach students to cook dishes that are not only 'delicious but also rooted in the knowledge that it will deliver on nutrient density'.

Back to the classroom?