Trial and Membership
I do recommend that you sign up for the free 7-day trial that is offered. This way you get to see the layout of website and you get some exposure to what the lessons will look like. There are even some quizzes for you to test your knowledge. What I found with the trial was that I was able to skim through the material, pass the quizzes, and all without ever stepping into my kitchen! Personally, I needed something that was going to hold me more accountable! I could certainly not commit to an online course that kept me on my couch and not in my kitchen!
The standard Rouxbe membership is much like the trial, and to me should be used more as a resource. It is not set up like a course in that there is no order to what you are learning. You decide what you want or need to know, search for it, and learn. There is definitely some value in this if you do not have the time to commit to a full course! But, I’d guess that once you got started with a membership, you’d be even more curious about what the courses have to offer!
Courses
Rouxbe offers several different courses. The main two that I looked at were the Forks Over Knives Course versus the Plant Based Pro. Both of these courses are excellent choices depending on your level of interest and commitment. Here’s a comparison to help you decide!
In looking at the syllabus for each course, it seemed that most of the content covered in the Forks Over Knives Course was also covered in the Plant Based Pro Course, plus the Plant Based Course covered so much more! I ended up deciding that the value of the Plant Based Pro Course was more of what I was looking for. All 18 units seemed very interesting and I decided to dive right in!
From the start, I was not as excited about the unit about “Culinary Wellness” and wanted get to “Global Flavors” as soon as possible! As it turns out, the “Culinary Wellness” units was one of my favorites! (There is a short Culinary Rx Course if you want to focus on the health benefits of a plant based diet!) The “Global Flavors” unit really pushed me to learn about different world cuisines and create my own recipes!
While you are encouraged to complete the course in order, you do have access to all the lessons right from the start. Also, you can skip over an activity that requires you to create a recipe until you have the time and ingredients to make it. Just don’t leave it for too long, or your assignments will start piling up, and you don’t want to fall too far behind.
Course Work
Each unit is divided into sections and each section has several tasks to complete. Tasks could be reading, watching videos, trying recipes, activities, unit review, and assessments. Activities usually include photos and written descriptions of the recipe that you prepare. Each activity has 3 sections, mise en place (preparation), in process, and final dish. Here’s an example of a recipe assignment.
Benefits
Over the course of six months, not only was I learning and refining my techniques in the kitchen, I was becoming a better writer (aka…food critic), and developing my skills in food photography. These are two additional aspects that you may not expect going into any of these courses, but definitely skills that you will develop as you move through the courses!
In addition to the learning that I expected, I also learned more about writing about food. I was constantly googling lists of descriptive words to accurately describe my dishes. Since the instructors can’t actually taste what you’re making, it’s up to you to describe the flavors! Originally, I thought an online class was a definite disadvantage to being able to take a live class, however, it left me developing another skill that I hadn’t expected.
Food photography was another big focus for me. Although the instructors do let you know that they are not judging the quality of your photo, but rather the look of your food (uniformity of cuts, colors, textures), it is still beneficial to try to refine this skill! My favorite photo is the cover image of this post!
This course pushes you to make things you may not have ever imagined. Some examples…I made my own udon noodles, ravioli, and vegetable stock. I researched spices used in various world cuisines and tried them out in my own cooking. I tried different variations of a plant based diet including cooking with no oil, raw meals, and gluten-free recipes. I cooked with ingredients I had never used before…agar agar, ñame, and lentils (previously not a favorite of mine, but now I would eat them again).
My biggest piece of advice is to stay on track! The number of hours per week in the chart above is fairly accurate. The thing is, you will be spending much of that time cooking…and eating! It does take quite a bit longer to prepare a meal for an assignment than it would to throw together a quick dinner on a work night, so be prepared for that. This is a commitment and in order to get your money’s worth, you want to complete the course! They do give you enough time if you are regularly logging in and completing tasks. I was able to finish in a little less than six months and took off about a month total for traveling.