“We’re going to start with chocolate” is the sweetest sentence a cooking class could ever begin with.
Standing in the cooking school at Time Out Market Montréal, caïpirinha in hand (courtesy of a very warm welcome), I quickly discovered we’d be kicking our class off with the truffle recipe—and I had zero complaints.
When I signed up for one of Ateliers & Saveur’s new summer cooking classes at the Market, I was dreaming of learning how to grill tender cuts of meat to perfection.
With locations in Montreal (including Time Out Market Montréal) and Quebec City, Ateliers & Saveurs offers cooking, cocktail, and wine classes, both in-person and online, for individuals and groups—it's the perfect idea for a group activity, original date night or just to beat the summer heat while sharpening your culinary skills.
I booked myself into the new two-hour Brazilian grill class, promising an exploration of the country’s traditional dishes, where I would learn how to prepare and cook 7 dishes—8 if you count the lip-smacking cocktail—and then taste them all.
While the chef stirred sweetened condensed milk, chocolate powder and butter in a small saucepan to make the brigadeiros (chocolate truffles) mixture that would soon get popped into the freezer, he gave myself and three other keen food-lovers an overview of the Brazilian basics—touching lightly on each of the dishes we would be preparing together.
Standing at our gleaming individual stations, I took another sip of my caïpirinha, tightened my signature blue apron, and watched the chef remove the slightly bitter core of a garlic clove—for a milder, more pleasant flavour—before dragging the flat of the blade across the minced garlic to create a paste.
Handing the knife over to me, I didn’t miss a beat, mimicking every move until I had a smooth paste of my own that would be used for meat marinates and vinaigrettes.
(Thank you, chef: I will never chop garlic the same way again.)
Next up was a whirring of green vegetables and herbs in the blender for the lombo assado (pork loin skewers) marinade, before a lesson in how to score (creating a diamond pattern on the fat with a sharp knife) the enormous picanha (sirloin steak)—and why (it helps the fat crisp up during cooking while also tenderizing the meat).
Spoiler alert: a comical amount of salt was used throughout the class, but fear not: it ends up drawing out the natural flavours of the meat.
After searing the picanha, it was popped into the oven with more garlic, a sprig of rosemary and a generous dollop of butter, while I started to thread the frango churrasco (chicken marinated in garlic and lemon) and pork on skewers for grilling.
As freshly grated cheese was being kneaded into dough for the pao de queijo (cheese rolls), I had a game-changing moment with the Brazilian salad.
Every salad I’ve ever made has always ended up soggy—and I’m talking well before I even added the vinaigrette. I had an a-ha moment watching the chef divide the salad bowl in half: romaine lettuce on the right, and cherry tomatoes, green peppers, etc. on the left—never the two shall meet until the salad is ready to serve.
Obvious? Maybe. Transformative? Absolutely.
Pulling the chocolate mixture out of the freezer, we poured a little bit of oil on our hands before forming small chocolate balls, rolling them in grated chocolate, and then slipping them back into the freezer to firm up.
As the intoxicating smell of grilled meats mingled in the enormous glassed-in space, I looked over at the table which was set for our dinner, and back at the generous quantity of food we had prepared, and wondered how we could possibly eat it all (pro tip: take-away containers are available upon request, and all the recipes are sent to your inbox).
Once the chicken and pork skewers were grilled to perfection, and the picanha suitably medium-rare, chef plated it all beautifully—crisp potato wedges roasted with rosemary sprigs included.
Best of all? I didn’t wash a single dish.
For more information about Time Out Market Montréal's Ateliers & Saveurs, click here.
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