“Today, we’ll be cooking a Kerala stew with rice,” he says. I see him standing by his countertop, with pots and pans in place, and two cameras: one, facing the chef and the other, offering a close up of the food. Donning a black shirt, the speckled chef Sandeep Sreedharan is all ready to begin. A cook-along, as it turns out, would have to wait for another day as ingredients-despite being fairly common-aren’t available at my house.Īt the other end of the screen, a smiling face greets me. The D-day arrives, and I’m ready with my notepad and pen, eager to jot down notes. Prior to the class, a Zoom link, an idea of the dish being taught, and a list of ingredients land up in my inbox. With a fairly simple procedure to sign up (search for the class on Airbnb’s experiences section on the website or app), I’m booked for the session without any issues. Paired with this is a focus on zero wastage-a concept more relevant now than ever before.

The words ‘one-pot’ meal and ‘minimalist’ in the online class’ description lure me.Īirbnb’s Online Experience, the Minimalistic and Sustainable Cooking-a virtual cook-along conducted by Chef Sandeep Sreedharan, is all about learning how to make simple yet wholesome meals for the family. And, being invited to a live online cooking class? Even worse! With the hopes of shedding away my embarrassment, I agree to be a part of it. Watching friends share gourmet delicacies all over social media during the lockdown feels like a taunt, to say the least. To be honest, I am not the greatest chef not even close to being an amateur one.

Cooking airbnb