Welcome to Totally Tangerine Cookery
Welcome to our small, independent cookery school, nestled by Shepperton Lock along the picturesque River Thames. As an award-winning business in Spelthorne, we are passionate about inspiring everyone to enjoy cooking and fostering connections through food.
Whether you’re eager to explore new cuisines or refine your kitchen skills, our small, friendly classes offer a hands-on, fun, and relaxed learning experience.
...see all our classes and workshops
What we do
At Totally Tangerine Cookery, we believe cooking is about so much more than just making a meal. It’s a way to connect, discover new flavours, build confidence, and enjoy a mindful moment in a busy world. Whether you’re a complete beginner or love to cook and want to learn something new, we make cooking fun and accessible for everyone.
Our award-winning cookery school offers hands-on classes for all ages — from after-school clubs in schools and holiday camps for children, to cooking workshops for teens and adults. We teach everything from global cuisines to essential kitchen skills.
We can help you with your team building events and even offer 1 to 1 sessions. Of course, we love parties too – we run private parties for adults and cookery parties for children.
We’re passionate about our community, working with local charities to promote healthy eating and collaborating with talented guest chefs throughout the year.
For us, food brings people together — and we’d love to welcome you into our kitchen to cook, learn and share the joy of good food.
Founder of Totally Tangerine Cookery
Hi, I’m Catherine Hayes! I’m passionate about food, cooking, and nutrition—and I’m also a mum to two little people.
A few years ago, I left my career in events and marketing to pursue something I truly love, and I’ve never looked back (although I do still occasionally dabble in event projects!).
When my children started primary school, I was excited to see what they would learn about food. However, I soon realised that regular food education wasn’t always possible in schools for a variety of reasons.
This inspired me to take action, and in 2019, I founded my own cookery school to teach children how to prepare healthy, delicious meals from scratch. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted by offering online classes, and in 2022, we reopened as a physical cooking school.
My mission has always been to pass on this essential life skill, empowering children and adults to make healthier food choices while having fun along the way.
Food has always been at the heart of my life. Growing up in a Filipino household, I was surrounded by my mother, grandmother, and aunties cooking from scratch. I’ll never forget the incredible smells, lively chatter, and laughter that filled our small kitchen.
Cooking has remained a source of joy, creativity, and connection for me ever since.
Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to refine my skills by learning from experts around the world, I love nothing more than creating fusion food with lots of bold flavours. I retrained and worked in restaurants and hotel kitchens whenever I could, constantly striving to elevate my craft.
Qualifications:
I am EYFS trained and have studied paediatric health and nutrition so I can incorporate what I can into all our cookery sessions.
All our cookery supervisors who run after-schools clubs have the following certifications:
- Enhance DBS Checked
- Level 2 Food Hygiene
- Paediatric First Aid & Allergens Trained
- Safeguarding Certificate
