Has anyone ever taken a cooking course?

I wish to take a culinary course and I have even found some schools which specialize in it that may help me. Is there anyone out there who's taken a course in cooking before? What should I expect? By the way, I already know how to cook but I am interested in taking these courses to learn how to do a nice food presentation.Has anyone ever taken a cooking course?
I've taking some classes. When I was studying to be a chef - never worked out, because I couldn't afford to continue school... oh well.



They start you out with the basics, how to properly hold a knife, what knife is used for what, what the different cuts are, and how to make them.



All stuff you'll find useful later on.



When I took the classes, we didn't get into presentation till the 2nd or 3rd level. The 1st levels were designed so that we got an understanding on how to prepare the food, so that we knew how to cook a steak to Medium, without having to cut into it to check the 'doneness', and then plate it up and have the juices run all over the plate - that doesn't make for a nice plate.



Once we mastered the 'basics' then we got into the 'art' of plating.Has anyone ever taken a cooking course?
I have taken a couple and they were really basic, like made for people who could burn water. Check with the cooking classes that you go to that you are actually able to be involved in the cooking, in some of them you only get to watch the teacher cook (BORING). Also, some of them have you work in groups which means that you spend a lot of time waiting for some guy to finish peeling a potato.



I would recommend doing a cooking class for a particular type of cuisine (ie. Thai, French pastry etc) because these seem to actually teach you new styles and recipes.



In terms of presentation, they usually give you some presentation tips depending on the type of cooking that you do. Vietnamese was great for this, we learned how to make carrot flowers and all sorts of garnishes with cucumber and tomatoes.
it really depends on the school. some will let you take classes but they are the degree classes and you are under the ';prerequisite'; dilemma. I think what you are looking for are called Continuing Education classes. At the CIA there were classes for professionals and for people that just wanting to take one class,or a few classes . As I said it just depends on the school and what they offer. and i have to agree watching someone else cook is boring and can also be done for free at home watching the Food Network.
I love to cook, so I have taken a number of classes. One thing that I found out was, only take the classes that are hands on. Do not do the demo's. You can see all the demo's on Food network, but the hands on are great. Check your local kitchen stores like Rolling Pin, or supermarkets like Publics, and I understand that William Sonoma is now offering them.