Many chefs can cook "beautiful" food - not all however are capable of, or prepared to share this knowledge with others.

Albin and Jenny Kilzer both love cooking - and teaching - and people. Without this healthy combination - love of food, pleasure in sharing knowledge and love for people, there would be no cookery school. Indeed, this three sided love affair led to the establishment of Kilzers Kitchen Basics in 1999.

What is the aim of the cookery school ? Simply put, to take the guesswork out of cooking.

Many housewives prepare a meal for a dinner party, and it is a roaring success; a month later they prepare the same dish and it is a disaster, and they do not know why.
Without any formal training, and the little they may have gleaned from their mothers, women cook intuitively, without understanding why they make the mistakes they do. The cookery school helps teach individuals the basics of cooking as well as the correct methods of cooking.

Whether for housewives, husbands, domestic workers, hospitality industry employees, newlyweds or any interested party, the course takes the guesswork out of basic food preparation.

The goal, as the name Kilzers Kitchen Basics implies is to instill the basic foundation methods of cooking into the minds of students - along with the mastering of various practical hands-on cooking methods and skills. Once these foundations have been laid, it becomes automatically easier for the student to progress, and become more inventive and creative in their cooking.

The course emphasizes outcomes based learning. In other words:
"Outcomes-based training requires that at the end of a course the student must demonstrate that they have developed competence in a new skill, rather than merely understanding the theory of an activity".


So whether you are a newlywed food novice who does not know the difference between sago and play-dough, or which end of the raw chicken is the dead-end. Kilzer's Kitchen is there to take the guesswork out of food preparation and to encourage creativity in cooking as well as to learn to improvise using any ingredients available in the kitchen.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH - Oysters

In keeping with the words of a well-known song, "let’s start at the very beginning, what better place could there be ", Kilzers Kitchen teaches first things first , followed by the nitty-gritty and pretty.

The initial course offered on the course embraces the complete foundations of cooking, i.e the acquiring of basic skills such as the following : correct knife handling techniques, chicken de-boning, preparation of stocks, sauces, soups etc, different preparation methods e.g blanching, poaching, oven-baked method, braising, pot roasting etc. etc. Whoever is able to master basic preparation methods, is then also in the enviable position of being able to produce more creative and complicated dishes - we take you by the hand and in the end, you are flying on your own - the sky is the limit, to use a cliché.

Food, like sleep, has remained a basic, daily human requirement since the advent of man. Life is more satisfying when good, simple food id in regular supply.

The aim of Kilzers Kitchen is to teach students to prepare good, simple wholesome and satisfying meals. We would like to emphasize however, that this is not a professional cookery course as would be designed for those persons interested in qualifying as professional chefs or caterers. At the same time it must be added that the skills taught are based on the City and Guilds cookery approach. Once one has been taught the correct methods and approach to cooking, one is provided with a fine foundation which is the springboard to successful, creative and enjoyable food preparation.

Indeed, the philosophy of the cookery school is reflected in the words of cooking guru, Anton Mosimann :
" The words 'to cook' are often misused in the kitchen. There are only a few raw materials which are cooked. I always say " whoever is fully conversant with the basic methods of preparation has the whole world of cooking at his feet, because these are the multiplication tables of cooking”. Whether he is cooking in London, Paris or Berne is of no importance. The basis always remains the same."

“It is the understanding, command and correct use of the basic methods of preparation which allow for the perfect accomplishment of the cooking process. Whoever is able to do that is also in a position to produce the more complicated dishes”.

At KKB we are in total agreement with the above-mentioned philosophy - once the basic cooking methods have been mastered, and by “mastered” we mean that at the end of a course the students must demonstrate that they have developed competence in a new skill, rather than merely understanding the theory of an activity. Only then does cooking reach new heights, where one can invent and create new dishes at leisure – and Oh, what a pleasure – and the pleasure is all ours !!

However there is far more than the foundations of cooking to be taught – the foundations are only the beginning. Once the basic cooking methods have been mastered, and by MASTERED we mean that at the end of a course, the student must demonstrate that they have developed competence in a new skill, rather than just understanding the theory of an activity.

How to correctly
chop an onion....

At Kilzers Kitchen we encourage students to become creative cooks as well as innovative cooks – after all, many great recipes evolved as a matter of course – dishes were concocted hand –in-hand with the current availability of fresh obtainable ingredients – these ingredients then formed a recipe, which was passed on initially by word of mouth, froom one generation to the next. For example, the queen of ingredients in Italy is undoubtedly the humble tomato, because of its excellent quality and ready availability in that country.

The following courses on offer at KKB to wet one’s appetite are as follows:

1) Advanced Food Preperation Methods:
A follow up to the Basic course, here studentsunder the guidance of Albin and Jenny are taught to prepare individual dishes for advanced, creative cooking, as well as the importance of presentation.

2) Courses by Specific Request
Training of individuals employed to cook on a luxury yachts; B&B and Guest house owners; various restaurant and hotel staff.

3) Pudding and Pastry Classes:
Encouraging students to improvise and make good use of locally available ingredients, as well as the abundance and variety of fresh fruits available.

4) One Day Workshops:
Covering anything from pasta to parma ham, to the handling of fresh fish, meat and poultry. vegetarians are not neglected either, neither are men - we run a monthly Men's Only workshop - no nagging wives in the background!!

5) Vacation Education:
Classes are run in a relaxed informal manner, thre is a glass of wine on hand as husband/wife learns the finer art of cooking, while their spouse sweats it out on the golf course!! These vacation education classes are run on a one or two week basis - from Saturday to Sunday. Besides cookery classes, there are various Gourmet Events arranged when students are taken to several restaurants for meals, including a visit to a goat cheese farmer along with a tasting session of the various handcrafted cheeses; not forgetting a stop at the Knysna Oyster Company!

7) Entertainment classes:
A laugh a minute as Albin & Jenny try to present a united front in the kitchen where they prepare a three course meal in front of an audience of live guinea pigs - wine in hand. The crunch comes when the guinea pigs have to sit down and eat the prepared meal themselves.

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