I absolutely love to cook. It started during the pandemic — I was 20, and when my college sent everyone home, I watched a ridiculous amount of “The Great British Baking Show.” 

Armed with extended time away from school and my new favorite TV show, I turned my parents’ kitchen into a bakery. I perfected my honey-oat bread recipe, experimented with making pistachio macarons and baked endless batches of homemade cookies for my sweet-toothed sisters. 

That fascination with baking and cooking followed me to Washington, D.C. the first semester of my senior year of college. I was completing a “semester abroad” while interning for a political communications company and, for the first time, I had my own kitchen. 

The first time I made chili, I threw it out because the smell of actively cooking ground beef was bizarre and concerning to me. I tried again, and it came out delicious. As the years went on, I grew to appreciate, and later love, cooking. 

Now, at 26, I look back on those days and sometimes wish I knew to take a cooking class. But there’s still so much I want to learn about cooking, and luckily, there are plenty of cooking classes in southern and Midcoast Maine that can introduce budding cooks and experienced home chefs to new techniques and styles of cooking.

Here are my top 4 recommendations.

Bravo Maine! 

559 Brighton Ave., Portland. bravomaine.com

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to cook San Francisca-style cioppino (an Italian-American seafood stew), mushroom and goat cheese ravioli, or even Beef Wellington straight from Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen, Bravo Maine! is the right class for you. 

Located in Portland, Bravo offers unique cooking classes almost every day of the week, with private classes available on Mondays and Tuesdays. 

All classes are hands-on and BYOB, so you can bring a friend or partner, a bottle of wine and a willingness to learn, and come out of the class with a brand new recipe for your next dinner party. 

Jillyanna’s Woodfired Cooking School 

141 Wildes District Road, Kennebunkport. jillyannas.com

With summer right around the corner, it’s almost time to break out the grill, the Blackstone or even an open fire. Summer cooking is some of the best — think sweet corn on the cob, locally caught seafood and wood-fired pizza. 

All of that can be achieved on a grill or an open fire, and Jillyanna’s Woodfired Cooking School in Kennebunkport will show you exactly how to do it. 

Throughout the summer, Jillyanna’s offers classes on wood-fired seafood, grilled salmon and wood-fired pizza. Wood-fired cooking takes patience and time, so slow down, take in the sound of a crackling fire and enjoy coastal Maine in the summer. 

Maine Tasting Center 

506 Old Bath Road, Wiscasset. mainetastingcenter.com/explore-workshops

One of the more unique ingredients found in Maine is fiddleheads, a delicacy with a taste similar to asparagus or green beans. The season is fleeting: Fiddleheads can be harvested from April to June, with peak harvesting in May. 

Prepared incorrectly, fiddleheads are bitter and toxic. But when cooked perfectly, they have a nutty, grassy flavor. At Maine Tasting Center in Wiscasset, you can learn how to prepare fiddleheads during their peak harvest season, and enjoy their unique spring flavor. 

Maine Tasting Center also offers hands-on classes like homestyle Indian cooking, shucking and cooking Maine oysters, and delicious Asian soups, with each class taught by experts in their craft. 

Armand’s Kitchen 

318 Windham Center Road, Windham. armandskitchen.com

“Cooking is a skill that you can learn.” That’s the phrase Armand’s Kitchen lives by. Located in Windham, Armand’s Kitchen offers private cooking classes for everyone from those who think the kitchen is a place to store takeout to those with a carefully curated knife collection. 

Each class is created by you, the student — learn to cook classic French cuisine, homemade pasta, local seafood or even simple meatloaf and macaroni and cheese. You name it, and Chef Doug will teach you to cook it! 

The classes proceed at a leisurely pace, starting with a cup of coffee and a brand new apron. Over the course of several hours, you’ll learn the history of the dish you’re cooking, how to handle your cooking tools and finally, how to cook your dish, tasting the flavors as you go. 

At the end of the class, enjoy your meal and leave with a tote bag filled with delicious food and recipes.