14 January 2019

Mini master chefs will love what Pialligo Estate is offering during the school holidays

| Wendy Johnson
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Children loving Pialligo Estate Academy Mini Master classes. Photos: Supplied by Pialligo Estate.

It’s a kids’ holiday program with a delicious difference. Pialligo Estate Academy is hosting Mini Master classes for budding young chefs or young ones who just can’t resist hanging out in the kitchen.

Engage, explore and experience is the aim of the fun day classes on the farm, held for children aged 8 to 12 years.

Each class has a different taste but all incorporate tours of the estate’s orchard, featuring 1,000 fruit trees, its two-hectare organic market and herb garden, and vineyards. The Estate’s long history of farming in Canberra began in the 1920s.

Children make their own pasta from scratch during one of the Mini Masters series.

Kids get down and dirty learning about produce and how it grows. They then whip up brunches, lunches and no-bake desserts from scratch, all under the watchful eye of Chef Peter Young. The day also includes a movie, games and activities, including one teaching the difference between fruits and vegetables (for example, is tomato a fruit or a vegetable?).

Diana Ryan, key coordinator of all the classes at the Pialligo Estate Academy, says the Mini Master series is engaging and the kids love getting their hands soiled in the gardens and getting covered in flour and other ingredients in the kitchen.

“It’s a fun day on the farm,” says Diana, “and a truly different school holiday activity that gives kids the confidence to create simple dishes at home. We’ve held children’s classes before but not ones that carry through the entire day.”

Pialligo Estate Mini Master classes offer children a holiday program with a delicious difference.

This Thursday, 17 January, kids will make French toast with berries and whipped yoghurt for a healthy brunch. They’ll pick fresh produce on their farm tour and then get creative making pasta with tips and tricks by Chef Peter. They’ll also make tasty snowballs to take home.

On Tuesday 22 January, it will be smoothies for brunch before heading into the orchard and garden to pick fresh produce for the Pialligo burger at lunch. The day’s dessert will be a Mars Bar Slice.

The last class for this holiday period, held on Wednesday 23 January, will see the kids create sushi for lunch and make a cheesecake to present to families at home.

The Mini Master classes are a fun day on the farm, with tours of orchards and gardens.

Chef Peter loves the Mini Masters series, especially watching the young ones absorb so much about food and loving chowing down on what they’ve created during the day. Chef Peter has an extensive international career in the culinary world, having spent many years as head chef for various European Embassies and working as a food columnist in Brussels. His culinary career also includes working in Asia, London and New York.

Set on a rural working farm, with majestic views of the Capital, Pialligo Estate’s philosophy is paddock-to-plate. The Academy delivers unique and innovative lifestyle, educational and vocational training programs to enhance personal development, engage social groups, build teams and inspire quality hospitality practices.

Kids make a great burger during one Mini Master class.

Mini Masters classes run all day for children between the ages of 8 and 12, from 9 am to 5 pm. Price is $110. To find out more about the Kids Holiday Program or to register, visit the Pialligo Estate Academy website. Kids must bring enclosed shoes, a hat and sunscreen. Aprons are provided.

If you have questions about your child’s allergies or intolerances, contact Pialligo Estate.

A favourite Mini Master class dish is fresh sushi.

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