Lisbon cooking class with kids: review

Food is always such a huge part of travel for me (and that’s not just an excuse to eat pasteis de nata every day in Portugal) so I was excited to squeeze a Lisbon cooking class and market tour into our trip.

review experience*

Arranged with Original Travel, as one of the experiences they feature as part of their Lisbon holidays, the three-hour private session was run by Cooking Lisbon with the promise of some authentic Portuguese food on the menu (and a chance to eat it all at the end, naturally).

We’d eyed up at an azulejo painting workshop, to unleash our artistic side on some tiles, as well as other options ranging from walking tours to dolphin spotting, but the idea of a Lisbon cooking workshop with kids tempted my own mini chef.

Lisbon cooking class: review

The class itself is one of several run by Cooking Lisbon – you could also try your hand at making pasteis de nata, as well as special family classes, along with the market tour and cooking class option that we tried out.

Starting at their kitchens, not far from the Picoas metro station (although Original Travel also organises transfers from your accommodation), the session starts by meeting the chef in charge and walking up to the Mercado 31 de Janeiro around five minutes away.

There, as well as getting to look around at the array of fresh fish, meat, fruit, vegetables and bread, you’ll pick up everything you need for your three-course feast.

After heading back to the kitchens, it’s time to pop on the apron provided, get chopping, peeling, stirring and whisking – all under the careful eye of a professional chef, to give tips and advice to novices, as well as a helping hand.

Then sitting down to enjoy the fruits of all your work – complete with wine, plus water or juice for kids – before being sent the recipes by email so you can make them again at home as a memento of the trip.

Check out my complete guide to Portugal with kids here

Lisbon cooking workshop – our family experience

​I love exploring markets when I travel – I’ve wandered around stalls in Tunisia, as well as more marvelling at more exotic ingredients in Laos and China over the years.

But strolling past the stalls of the market we visited in Lisbon was a first for my daughter, whose eyes were almost popping out of her head at the huge array of fresh fish and seafood laid out on ice.

Fascinated to discover some had ferocious teeth, while among the shimmering silver and bright orange-reds were tentacled heaps of octopus and squid, it was all a very long way from getting our click and collect order at the local supermarket.

The question was, what to cook? We’d caught chef Miguel slightly by surprise as a booking mix-up had meant he was expecting two adults, although happily the notes of dietary requirements had been shared.

It meant that rather than having a set list of traditional dishes, as I’d expected, we got more input into what we’d be cooking.

A definite bonus given my daughter’s very particular tastes – she loves cooking, but can’t always be convinced to eat the results! But it did mean that we all very politely spent quite a bit of time dithering over what to choose though before settling on seabass.

My nine-year-old has much firmer ideas about dessert though, homing in on the tempting variety of fruit, including dragon fruit, with fruit salad firmly on the menu.

With fresh bread purchased – to accompany Miguel’s suggestion of soup – we headed back to get started.

I set my daughter to work chopping and whisking… though she delegated peeling the potatoes (the ordinary kind as a base for the soup, and sweet potatoes to accompany the fish) to me.

We even got a few compliments on our technique from Miguel! I would class myself as a competent cook rather than Cordon Bleu, but it meant that he let us get on with a lot of the basics while overseeing.

I did get a demonstration on making tempura green beans: so delicious I almost scoffed the lot myself.

And some more tips on making fresh custard… something I’ve tried before, despaired when it totally failed to thicken and announced I was really intending to make creme anglaise all along!

This version, needless to say, was perfect. With a hint of lemon zest and cinnamon, it was a delicious addition to the fruit salad.

I wish the mangoes you can buy in the UK were ever as mouth-wateringly juicy as the ones we picked up in Lisbon though.

Somehow almost 90 minutes flew by much faster than it ever seems to at home when I’m cooking, as we transformed all the ingredients into our three-course lunch.

Creamy vegetable soup with fresh shredded greens still with plenty of bite, was accompanied by those tempura beans and fresh bread – and my daughter was tempted to try soup for the first time in years.

Then our seabass with sweet potato and romanesco broccoli (which I always think tastes more like cauliflower), plus fruit salad and custard to finish.

Not forgetting a glass of wine, then coffee for me, some lovely red berry fruit juice for my daughter to complete the experience.

Lisbon family cooking class: our verdict

In short, our three hours flew by, we both had a lot of fun and a fantastic lunch at the end of it – and even convinced my daughter to try a new food. Result!

It’s not the cheapest experience, admittedly, at around £70 per person (including the lunch), so it does depend what you’re looking to get out of it.

For more things to do in Lisbon with kids, check out my top picks

Looking through my daughter’s eyes, she loved exploring the market, marvelling at everything from the unusually shaped tomatoes to those eye-catchingly toothy fish, as well as the responsibility of stirring, whisking and handling sharp(ish) knives.

For me, it was a little different than I’d anticipated, based on previous similar classes elsewhere around the world.

I’d hoped to make something traditionally Portuguese, and while our menu was delicious, I didn’t feel we’d tackled any classics – although it dawned on me later that while I associate tempura with Japan, it was Portuguese sailors who introduced the peixinhos da horta recipe after being shipwrecked there.

And on the flipside, it was great to have dishes tailored for my daughter and her dietary requirements. But if you have mini foodies who’ll eat anything, it’s worth checking in advance and trying to arrange a more Portuguese menu to reflect that.

We did get a series of recipes sent afterwards, albeit not actually the ones we made in the class, so there are more options to try at home.

Equally if you’re looking to hone your cooking expertise, it does depend what level you’re on already: if you know your way around a kitchen, you’ll pick up some tips but it’s not focused on technique.

With kids, it’s lovely having a chef on hand to help them learn, or practice their skills more – Miguel was really patient and great with my daughter, which makes a big difference.

And if it wasn’t quite the taste of Portugal I had been expecting, it was great to step beyond the usual tourist experiences to add a different – and very original – flavour to our trip.

Disclosure: Our Lisbon cooking class was free for review, courtesy of Original Travel, and provided by Cooking Lisbon. All opinions and custard addiction are my own.

Images copyright MummyTravels

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