By: Zethu Gweva
A self-trained chef Claire Flanegan De Bruin has made it her destiny to educate/teach domestic workers how to cook different exquisite dish recipes.
Claire’s Home Cooking was established on February 14, 2017, at her home in Berea, East London. According to Flanegan De Bruin, her classes offer baking and pastry courses, jam condiment making, kids, and adult classes.
“I believe we should all eat good food wherever possible. I always hated to hear people say they can not cook or bake. I wanted to help people eat home-cooked meals even when they could not make it themselves. I changed from doing the cooking myself to teaching others to do it for themselves,” said Flanegan De Bruin.
The Chef who gained her cooking skills at a young age from her mother and grandmother said she is teaching people how to fend for themselves, provide food from scratch for their families and gain confidence in the kitchen no matter their background.
“Every person is hands-on and involved in the process of cooking, then we all sit together and eat,” she said.
Flanegan De Bruin offers day time classes which are part of a course for those who are domestic workers. The course consists of 4 consecutive Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday classes for a month. Thereafter the student gets a completion certificate.
Explaining the course fees, Flanegan De Bruin said the cost for the course is R900 paid in full or R230 per class paid ahead of time. She added that the evening classes are usually R180 or R200 per person per class, covering all the ingredients.
One of the domestic Workers Pumeza Mlamla had the privilege of being one of the students at Claire’s Cooking classes after her employer applied for her to attend the course. She said she began her classes in September 2019 and has learnt about cooking different dishes.
“Where I work I cook and clean. Ever since I started attending the classes my cooking skills have improved tremendously, I even shock my employer with the dishes I cook for her,” she said.