We live in a world where cooking skills have become unnecessary for survival. You can live perfectly well for months and years without touching a pan or switching on a stove and still enjoy healthy, tasty meals. We do not need to know where ingredients come from and how they grow and - beware - in which months they are ready to be picked.
Especially living in Brussels with its numerous local and international restaurants and take-aways, the busy expat (and tourist!) has great choices everyday of food from Belgium, France, Italy, Thailand, China, Japan Russia or even Afghanistan. So it is not surprising that some highly skilled people with diplomas and PHDs end up disconnected from nature. These people might find themselves in a company €team-building€ cooking class or choose to go to a cooking class on their own because they finally want to lose weight by changing their eating habits, improve their health or just learn to cook to save money. It s also possible they get the feeling that it has become unfashionable to proudly say €I can't even boil an egg!€
€Once, we had an English speaking lady in her fifties whom the chef asked to peel the pumpkin and she did not know what to do. It was not about the peeling but she actually did not know which vegetable to pick€ Isabelle Heim de Balsac, the director of Cooking Time in Brussels recalls.
Preparing a meal, being creative with food, working together on an almost artistic project also has an important social side that helps expatriates living in Brussels build their network. Companies understand that and use this tool as an incentive for employees and clients.
And thanks to a special agreement with a local brewery Cooking Time offers €motivating€ wine and beer tastings for private groups and company teams plus a chef for at home service.
€Our business keeps us very busy at the moment€, Isabelle adds, €More and more educated people are increasingly demanding about food and wish to taste natural flavors and avoid industrial products. The hype about GMO foods, as well as health problems dues to allergies and intolerances makes people more aware and curious about rediscovering nature.
But in case your work load does not allow the daily shopping, chopping, cooking and cleaning, here is Isabelle's advice: Fine dining at all restaurants at the Grand Place is a must for the expat living in Brussels. Just try them all one after the other and enjoy the beautiful setting.
Especially living in Brussels with its numerous local and international restaurants and take-aways, the busy expat (and tourist!) has great choices everyday of food from Belgium, France, Italy, Thailand, China, Japan Russia or even Afghanistan. So it is not surprising that some highly skilled people with diplomas and PHDs end up disconnected from nature. These people might find themselves in a company €team-building€ cooking class or choose to go to a cooking class on their own because they finally want to lose weight by changing their eating habits, improve their health or just learn to cook to save money. It s also possible they get the feeling that it has become unfashionable to proudly say €I can't even boil an egg!€
€Once, we had an English speaking lady in her fifties whom the chef asked to peel the pumpkin and she did not know what to do. It was not about the peeling but she actually did not know which vegetable to pick€ Isabelle Heim de Balsac, the director of Cooking Time in Brussels recalls.
Preparing a meal, being creative with food, working together on an almost artistic project also has an important social side that helps expatriates living in Brussels build their network. Companies understand that and use this tool as an incentive for employees and clients.
And thanks to a special agreement with a local brewery Cooking Time offers €motivating€ wine and beer tastings for private groups and company teams plus a chef for at home service.
€Our business keeps us very busy at the moment€, Isabelle adds, €More and more educated people are increasingly demanding about food and wish to taste natural flavors and avoid industrial products. The hype about GMO foods, as well as health problems dues to allergies and intolerances makes people more aware and curious about rediscovering nature.
But in case your work load does not allow the daily shopping, chopping, cooking and cleaning, here is Isabelle's advice: Fine dining at all restaurants at the Grand Place is a must for the expat living in Brussels. Just try them all one after the other and enjoy the beautiful setting.
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