Curaçao Cooking Class: Experience Traditional Caribbean Cuisine and Innovation with Chef Helmi
5.0
38 Ratings
Willemstad

Join Chef Helmi in a hands-on cooking class in Curaçao and experience the traditional Caribbean cuisine with a twist. Learn innovative ways to use Caribbean ingredients and create exciting dishes. Taste fresh fruits and vegetables, learn cooking techniques, and enjoy a delicious home-cooked Caribbean lunch.

Duration: 4 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Helmi Smeulders - Caribbean Chef - Explore the vibrant flavors of the Caribbean during a hands-on cooking class with Chef Helmi Smeulders, known from her appearances on the Caribbean Cook-Out Show, Top Chef and 24Kitchen. Discover the secrets of Caribbean cuisine and learn how to use exotic ingredients like tamarind, funchi and lionfish. Whether…
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What's Included
  • Carbonated beverages
  • Snacks
  • Lunch
  • Tea and coffee
  • Alcoholic Beverages
Meal Options
  • Lionfish Ceviche -
  • Jerk Chicken
  • Corn Tortillas
  • Sweet Potato Salad
  • Green Papaya Salad
  • Funchi Fries
  • Papaya Cake with Lime Cream
Additional Information

Taste the flavors of the Caribbean!
Explore the vibrant flavors of the Caribbean during a hands-on cooking class with Chef Helmi Smeulders, known from her appearances on the Caribbean Cook-Out Show, Top Chef and 24Kitchen. Discover the secrets of Caribbean cuisine and learn how to use exotic ingredients like tamarind, funchi and lionfish. Whether you’re…

see more
Location
Helmi Smeulders - Caribbean Chef
Djonoramarthaweg
My kitchen is located opposite the dentist behind the taupe wall with pink flowers. Please park somewhere down the street, not at the dentist parking lot.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(38 Ratings)
5 stars
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Williamld6130zj
Jan 9, 2025
Terrific cooking class - Really terrific cooking class. Highly recommended. Well deserving of all the other five star and very accurate reviews. Educational and fun. Kudos to Helmi and her staff. My wife and I loved the cooking and the food was wonderful!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Travisb1395
Jan 5, 2025
An absolute MUST if your are planning on visiting Curacao!!! - This was one of my favourite excursions of all time. Be sure to book early because there only about 12 spots available. And that was part of what made it so great was the group size, by the end of it we were all family. Chef Smeulders is a master at her craft. The first half is a class, where Chef Smeulders goes through a number of different ingredients, all that can be found on the island. The second half we all where assigned a different dish to make that ultimately ended in all of us having lunch together. This excursion is a must when you visit Curacao!! Deserves way more than 5 stars, more like 10 /5 stars. Thank you to Chef Smeulders for such a wonderful experience, I will definitely visit again!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
783maryannec
Dec 10, 2024
Must Do Cooking Class in Curaçao - Chef Helmi is a gracious and humble chef that shared her knowledge of the Caribbean culinary foods that are from Curaçao and neighbouring islands. She shared tips on preparing lion fish and how to prepare her recipes from the menu that the whole class were going to make. We all had part of the menu to prepare that made our lunch to share. She also explained the different produce that were found on Curaçao and shared how they can be prepared. This was a shore excursion from Holland America Cruise line that exceeded my expectations. It gets sold out fast so make sure you sign up early for it. You receive a gift bag with her special sea salt she makes and your recipe booklet. She also has her 3 cookbooks available to buy.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Trek588673
Dec 5, 2024
A cozy and educational culinary experience on Curacao - Helmi talks vividly and passionately about all the fresh produce of the island. The cooking studio is a nice environment. Nice dishes to make and especially very tasty. The cooking workshop is highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jesse
Nov 28, 2024
Fun, educational cooking class - Helmi and her staff were great. Delicious food, education on local ingredients, and a fun time all around. Highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Susandf5074hq
Sep 27, 2024
Great Time Taking a Cooking Class! - As a first time traveler to Curaçao, and a culinary school graduate as well as a former cooking school owner myself, I had no idea what to expect! Helmi's class couldn't have been more FUN! I learned so much about the local cuisine, met people from Amsterdam and England, and was the only American in the group! Helmi's hospitality was unbelievable, I felt like I was cooking in the kitchen of an old friend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
559amena
Sep 26, 2024
Fascinating - The cooking class was a special experience, especially from my perspective as an African. It was fascinating to see how they often use the same ingredients in Caribbean cuisine as they do in our own kitchen, but prepare them in completely different ways. It gave me new insights and ideas, and it was very educational to discover the diversity of tastes and techniques. What also made the experience special was the personal introduction to Helmi and the other participants at the beginning of the class. This created a warm and cozy atmosphere, where everyone quickly felt at ease. The interaction between everyone made it not only an instructive, but also an incredibly fun and social morning/afternoon. Highly recommended for those who love cooking and want to learn more about other culinary cultures!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
757bentev
Sep 26, 2024
A Tasty Journey Through Caribbean Cuisine: Educational and Delicious! - The cooking class was a fantastic experience! It started with an interesting introduction in which we learned a lot about the different ingredients used in Caribbean cuisine. I had no idea how much variety and depth lies behind the flavours and spices typical of this region. It was super educational and immediately gave us a good basis to get started with the recipes. Then it became really fun: get started yourself! It was great to work with those fresh and colorful ingredients, learn new techniques and prepare the dishes together. The atmosphere was casual and cozy, and everyone was well supervised. And best of all? At the end of the lesson we could taste all that delicious stuff ourselves! Everything we had made was incredibly tasty and it was really satisfying to enjoy dishes we had made ourselves. Highly recommended for anyone who loves to cook and wants to get to know Caribbean cuisine better!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ulfkardell
Sep 22, 2024
Fun, interesting and fantastic - An amazing day on my birthday September 21, 2023. Really fun for a happy amateur chef to get nerded down in the Caribbean kitchen and Helmi is fantastic now we look forward to Dinner in the field next time. Those of you who visit this paradise, do not miss Things to do an activity at Helmi you will remember this with pleasure forever.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jodi_t_tsg
Sep 21, 2024
Helmi Smeulders Cooking Class! If you like to eat, it’s a must! - If you allowed 10 stars, that’s what I would give to our experience with Helmi and her fabulous sous chef Reijson. It was a magnificent experience from start to finish. Having spent the last 35+ years living in the Caribbean I was amazed by how much I still had to learn about Caribbean food, usage, preparation, and so on. To learn in a beautiful environment, such as the one that Helmi has created and hear her teach with humor, passion and love for what she does was really inspiring. I had the good fortune of attending the class with one of my dearest friends, and we had a ball! We were a small group of around 10 people, all willing students. We learned, we cooked and then the best part ….we ate! Spectacular food! The next time that I’m in Curaçao, I will plan my time around another activity that Helmi offers and if I go with a friend who has not yet been to one of her cooking classes, I will even repeat it because it was such a memorable experience! She’s the kind of person that you want to hug when the class is done and then go out for a drink with. When in Curaçao, do not miss this class! It’s worth every penny and then some.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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