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Sam
Head of the Vegetarian Society Cookery School
Life-long vegetarian, now vegan, Sam is Head of the Vegetarian Society Cookery School. She has a wealth of experience, having worked in the catering industry for more than 15 years.
Originally from Liverpool, with a mixed European heritage, she has experimented with many different flavours and dishes throughout her career. She frequently leads cookery events at the school and across the country to teach people how to make fantastic vegetarian and vegan food. Sam says: “I love that I’m able to pass on my knowledge and skills through the cookery school. I always aim to inspire people to be more creative when preparing food for themselves and their families and to thoroughly enjoy cooking.”
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Maz
Tutor
Maz has a passion for fantastic flavours! She teaches on a wide range of courses at the Vegetarian Society Cookery School, including World Street Food and The Thai and Viet Veggie.
Her love of tropical flavours was enhanced when she worked in a restaurant in Mauritius as a teenager. She has worked in the catering industry for more than 30 years and the vast majority of her teaching has been vegetarian.She now uses her vast experience to teach on our Professional Chefs’ Diploma. She has worked with big organisations, including the LGBT Foundation and Manchester University, and has catered for the England women’s cricket team too.
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Jim
Tutor
After a career spent in the hospitality industry, Jim decided to follow his passion for cooking and foraging by setting up Forage Box - a wild food company with a focus on subscription ingredients and foraging workshops. Having grown up in Altrincham, he has spent many years in the surrounding countryside finding edible plants and fungi, and is now keen to pass on that knowledge in order to get others to reconnect with nature.
"Right here in Cheshire, we have access to so many abundant wild flavours and I want to show people just how easy it is to incorporate them into their everyday cooking. Vegetarian and vegan cooking is the perfect way to showcase foraged food and, although I love cooking outside, the kitchen facilities at the Vegetarian Society means I can take my recipes to the next level!"
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Lajina
Tutor
Lajina Leal teaches our popular Indian course.
An enthusiastic and passionate chef; Lajina loves to cook authentic, home-style Indian food. Her dishes are full of flavour, with a focus on health, so her recipes have a reduction of fat, sugar and salt.
Lajina’s love of cooking stemmed from wanting to cook nutritious meals for her son. She drew inspiration from TV shows and cookery books before deciding to set up her own company ‘Lajina Masala’. Lajina believes that the key to delicious Indian food is in the spices. During her class, you will learn some perfect spice blends to bring your own curries to life!
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Danielle
Tutor
Danielle currently teaches students to make jaw-dropping vegan desserts on our Professional Chefs’ Diploma. We thought it wasn’t fair that everyone else misses out, so now she runs The Vegan Dessert Guru, too!
Her Belgian heritage has given her a love of good chocolate, and she has been a pastry chef around the Mediterranean, from Greece to Lebanon. After challenging herself to come up with a range of dairy-free desserts that beat the competition, Danielle decided vegan patisserie was her calling. Those who come on this course will discover how to make sweet treats look and taste as great as hers.
Our tutors
The Vegetarian Society Cookery School holds host to a number of highly knowledgeable tutors with years of experience in teaching, nutrition and the catering industry. You can find out more about them below.
