Brazilian Night at Hipcooks

Do you know what the term "Hipcooks" means? I did not and my boyfriend jokingly guessed actually the right meaning. It doesn't mean that the food is "hip", no, it means that you cook from the "hip", without measuring the ingredients.

My boyfriend and I had this giftcard for a class at Hipcooks and we decided to use it for a Brazilian themed class. Registering for the class ended up being not a very good experience. We had some problems with the management and the giftcard. The giftcard was for 2 spots and did not expire, however Hipcooks had raised their prices and did not accept the giftcard completely, so in the end we had to pay an additional amount on top... As these were giftcards, we did not expect that and were a little disappointed with the management.

Understandably we were a little miffed about the situation. However, the class was so much fun, the teacher was a well-spirited Brazilian cook and the food was delicious. If we wouldn't move and had not had these problems with the management, we would definitely go to one of their other classes.

Menu

• The Brazilian menu started with some very tasty cheese bread puffs (called "Pão de queijo") that my boyfriend was really crazy about, and a black been soup ("Caldo de feijão). This was accompanied by self-made "Caipirinha", a Brazilian sweet and sour rum drink (with cachaça rum, lime juice and sugar).

• As the entree, we had a delicious slow cooked halibut coconut stew with onions, bell pepper and tomatoes ("Moqueca de peixe") and  a very creative salad with collard greens, hearts of palms, mango and roasted cashews (called "Salada Brasileira"). I never had hearts of palms before and was amazed how flavorful they were.

• The desert was a simple but tasty maracujá mouse, served with a pineapple-mint juice.

Going to this class was a very fun experience and I cannot wait to recreate some of the dishes. I will definitely do a cooking class again :)

And class get started... with the caipirinha drinks right in front of us

my boyfriends favorites - the cheese puffs

Dining the first course: bean soup with cheese puffs and fresh salsa

Delicious green collard salad with heart of palms, mango and roasted cashews

Tasty Halibut stew with coconut milk, onion, bell pepper and tomatoes

So yummy!