Welcome to On the Ridge

On the Ridge Cooking School at Kureelpa in the Blackall Range, Sunshine Coast hinterland, invites you to come and enjoy our cooking classes whilst experiencing the lifestyle and the beauty of the wonderful Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Enjoy a ‘tree-change, a ‘sea-change’ for a day, a ‘Sunshine Coast hinterland’ day at Kureelpa.

The On the Ridge experience delights the senses and tangibly expresses the desire to share good food and goodwill with those we love and those who are close to us.

Our cuisine is modern Australian, taking the best ideas, using the freshest, local produce, combining the cooking principles, techniques and inspirations gained from many cooking traditions and cultures, and forming it into what we like to eat today.

At On the Ridge we create, cook and celebrate good food to make sitting around the table and dining, a pleasurable, delectable food taste sensation for both family and friends.

>>> read more

On the Ridge chef, Tonya Jennings, has recently been in the Dordogne, South West France at La Combe en Perigord teaching French cooking to Australians. As you know, Tonya is a passionate francophile and so.....

...for the moment, there will be no classes scheduled at On the Ridge, as she will be staying in France for some time.  We will keep you informed via Tonya's Musings, her blog and the newsletter.

In France cooking is a pleasure, the French cook because they love it and they want to eat well...

...take a culinary journey through France with classic dishes like moules marinière, magret du canard, pissaladière...

>>> read more

Notebook Magazine, July 2009...featured On the Ridge Cooking School...'Cook like Nonna: schools that teach you the recipes for success'.

The article , by Laura Venuto, entitled 'The secrets of cooking', is about how today's 'cooking classes teach so much more than the technical skills required to prepare a meal. They can revive lost skills, restore old traditions, reconnect us with the seasons and reveal the secrets of cooking from the heart'...>>>read more

 Savour the Season      

        Winter

'Banana-cream and apricot arose in the eastern sky;
Softly blending with shaded-greys...
Winter mornings are specially-embellished with colours more muted and soft…’
Joan Adams Burchell 'A Winter Dawn'.

We enjoy the changing seasons and the new food each season brings.  We do have quite marked seasons in Queenland, although some may not think so....the days do get shorter, mornings are dark and cold until 7am and sundown is around 5pm...

There is a warm, comfy feeling of coming home after work or a long frosty walk, to the smell and sound of a roast sizzling in the oven, the smell of puddings baking, of a soup bubbling away on the stove, a ‘slow’ casserole braising to impart the most wonderful, rich flavours.
The range of winter produce is not as great as in other seasons, but the root vegetables have a great sweetness and full flavour, which is sometimes lacking in the other seasons.

In Winter we eat food to warm the heart with steaming soups, tasty stews and ragouts with pungent herbs and robust flavours served with creamy gratinéed potatoes followed by hot hearty bread and butter puddings with custard!

>>>  read more

Special Accommodation and Cooking School packages now available.

>>> read more