We had the most amazing time at our cooking class! It was my 13 year old son's first time. He absolutely loved it. Aletha is a warm, patient, and kind chef and welcoming hostess. The food was delicious. Recipes easy to follow, most importantly, stories and customs that accompany them. My favorite part of traveling is immersing myself in local customs and trying to learn about communities whether it be through cooking, local dances, calligraphy, pottery, etc. Sign up for this, you won't regret it! read more

Cooking Kauai - Butter mochi, ahi poke - Cooking Schools Near Me

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A cooking class was the perfect addition to our trip to Kaua'i! Our family had a great time doing the Corner Store Cooking Class. We learned to make Spam Musubi, Somen Salad, Ahi Poke, and Butter Mochi. As 4 beginner cooks, we were a bit apprehensive, but Aletha was the perfect hostess, guiding us to prepare dishes that we can confidently make on our own. This is a great hands on experience to immerse yourself in Hawaii's incredible culture and traditions! read more

Cooking Kauai - Cooking Schools Near Me

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Our family had a wonderful time cooking with Cooking Kaua'i! Aletha is a skilled teacher and chef and has combined her passions into a wonderful vacation activity for all ages and abilities. She shared cultural stories and the history of Kaua'i with us as we prepared traditional Hawaiian foods. We worked as a team with other participants to make a four course meal which we enjoyed as a family-style dinner afterwards. The kitchen space is very professional and clean. Aletha greeted us as if we were entering her home, provided everything we needed, and ensured everyone had a chance to contribute. Cooking Kaua'i was definitely a highlight of our trip. We feel fortunate to support local businesses led by people passionate about the island, its people and heritage. We highly recommend Cooking Kaua'i and hope to return for another class! read more

We signed up for this to learn more about Kauai cuisine and culture. It was fantastic- we were able to make together in the group ahi poke, musubi, a Japanese-inspired salad, and butter mochi. Along the way we learned about the adaption of cuisines to the Kauai modification, the salt unique to Kauai and the culture around it, and the various other entrepreneurial ventures around the island. And of course had a wonderful and plentiful lunch with musubi and mochi to take away. It was a great experience and highly recommended. read more

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We went with our two kids as a family for a private class with Aletha and had an amazing time! A really beautiful and authentic Hawaiian setting; the food was delicious, and her stories about the dishes, the local area, and their customs made for a very entertaining evening! She also gave us some local jam, and a great many suggestions on what to visit during our stay. And we left with a snack to take home too! Awesome time. read more

Cooking Kauai - Cooking Schools Near Me

Great time at Cooking Kauai. Althea and her daughter welcomed us into her ohana kitchen for a delicious peek into Kauai-inspired dishes. Hands on small class size made all the difference for delightful conversation and storytelling and learning about Kauai. Highly recommend this 3 hour class rain or shine! read more

Cooking Kauai - Tuna poke x 2, somen salad, spam musubi & butter mochi. - Cooking Schools Near Me

We attended a cooking class led by Aletha. She was well organized, she kept the class going at a good pace, and she drew everyone into the class. She tied the class into Hawaiian culture. She selected easy dishes and gave us the recipes so we could make the dishes at home. If you are interested in Hawaiian culture and food and cooking, I highly recommend Aletha's class. read more

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What a great blend of cooking, local tradition and better understanding Hawáian culture. It was a great experience- what a nice way to spend an afternoon and the tips we got to for our other days were all great. read more

Cooking Kauai - Everything we learned to make and then EAT! - Cooking Schools Near Me

Well organized and delicious recipes. strongly recommend especially if you're visiting Kauai and want a truly local, high quality experience! read more

I did the Virtual Corner Store class, a new venture for all. We made musubi and mochi, and both were fantastic. I reluctantly shared with my son and his family; hopefully they will appreciate it as much as we did. I'm always a little nervous to try new recipes and usually have to take my time. I didn't have that luxury, as we had to keep moving, but everything turned out fantastic! I believe these are foods that I will be able to make again and again. Thank you, Aletha, for a fun and scrumptious time! read more

Althea did an excellent job instructing and sharing information about the history of Kauai. The ingredients were fresh and the food was delicious. read more

Cooking Kauai - Cooking Schools Near Me

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Aletha was the perfect host and instructor. We made 5 different dishes that were all delicious! It was a great way to spend the afternoon!

Aletha was great and worked with us to improve general skills. The food was delicious and it was an overall good experience. I also appreciated her historical facts. Highly recommended. read more

What a great experience! We have been visiting Kauai for over 40 years and this ranks as one of the highlights. Learning how to prepare local favorites & hearing more about the culture was so much fun! Highly recommend! read more

What went well? EVERYTHING. The BEST way to start our vacation in Kauai! Aletha is so knowledgeable and like able and respectful of Kauai culture she really gave our family a base of knowledge and respect for Island culture. read more

Aletha share recipes and history. Very hands on and entertaining. Nice pace and delicious food. We learned a lot

Had another great cooking class with Aletha. She makes it easy to cook delicious foods that may feel intimidating if you did it on your own. Looking forward to future classes! read more

Exceptional experience! Highly recommend. Experienced and knowledgeable instructor. Beautiful food and detailed written instructions. Alethia made sure all 10 students had a hand in preparing all 3 dishes. We were multigenerational family, fun experience formally of us. Thank you for a great and informative morning. read more

Cooking Kauai - Jacob, a Norwegian Cruise line excursion representative is now a member of our family! - Cooking Schools Near Me

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We had an amazing time making delicious Hawaiian favorites! My family and I were on a cruise the week of Thanksgiving 2025 and this was one of the excursions on Norwegian Pride of America. It did not disappoint. if you are ever there please don't miss this little gem. The cooking studio was amazing and so was the hostes! Thank you for making our trip memorable!!! read more

I used to buy Aletha's jam at the farmers market whenever we visited Kauai and prior to this trip, I saw she was offering cooking classes. I took the Farmers Market and the Corner Store classes on this trip. I'm so happy I did! What a wonderful way to learn about the culture and the island that I love so much through food. During the Farmers Market class, we met at the market and she showed us different fruits and vegetables that we don't normally see on the mainland and even got to taste a few. She took us to some of her favorite farmers and we were able to buy a few things while we were there. Buy a bunch of the apple bananas. We regret not buying them! We went to her kitchen from there where she had the recipes printed out for us. It was so much fun talking to other people and learning through cooking. We made a vegetable galette (conquering my fear of pie dough!), charred tomatoes with yogurt, a salad with a beautiful papaya dressing (using the fruit and the seeds!) and roasted carrots with a carrot top pesto. Everything was so delicious and the plus side was that it was vegetarian (our son is trying to eat vegetarian). The corner store class was really fun and also very informative. This is my 3rd trip to Kauai and I learned quite a few things about the beautiful culture of the island. We made Spam Musubi, somen noodle salad, ahi poke and butter mochi. I grew up eating spam but my mom never seasoned it. We made a homemade teriyaki sauce and assembled the musubi and it was delicious. Even the teenager who thought spam would be gross announced to her parents that she wanted to eat the musubi every day. We even had enough to make a few extra to take home. Highly recommend these classes! I hope to be able to take more classes on my next trip to Kauai! read more

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Had a wonderful cooking class today, great instruction and yummy food. Highly recommend doing this one on the island.

Wonderful experience and knowledgeable instructor! I would recommend! **************

I was luck enough to get a recommendation for this cooking class from a local. We had such a fun time! There were stories and lots of local lore woven into the simple, yet delicious dishes. Cooks and non-cooks alike will enjoy this class. You could do as much or as little "cooking" as you wanted to. We had some people with us who had dietary issues, and they were very accommodating. No one left hungry, and we left with recipes and ideas to bring home with us! read more

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Purchased a $14 jar of white ginger pineapple jam. Oh so yummy.... spread atop toasted Ani's from Aiea sweet bread? I'm a goner. Diabetes gambler... PS the Monkepod trees grow out westward by Polihale area... but!! I spotted a gorgeous mature healthy monkeys of tree planted by Mr Yamamoto in the old town center, near Sueoka market read more

Wow, what a treat and during a weekend in Covid. Don't miss the marvelous hospitality and the most amazing cranberry chocolate chip bread. Less a star cause the Myer lemon curd tin I bought was "off" maybe a bad jar, it said good till 12/29. read more

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We were disappointed to drive by where Monkeypod Jam was in the past and find it closed. Their previous location is closed, yes. But they are open at a new location so look them up. You can order from them through signing up for a three month contact or more if you wish. Your yummy products can still be shipped to you. I hope this note helps others who that they were closed. BB. Cookeville, TN we attended a yummy chocolate class while on Kauai read more

Cooking Kauai - We made chocolate purses today. DELICIOUS, and such a fun class - Cooking Schools Near Me

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Butter Mochi, Spam Musubi, and amazing poke bowls - I can now make all this at home in Seattle after a class the Aletha. She welcomes everyone, no cooking skills needed, just a love of food and meeting new people. Added to my recommendations for to-do-list on Kauai read more

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This cute little store/cafe is awesome! We did a tasting for a group of 4. We were given 4 mango Italian sodas when we arrived. Then we were given 2 platters with cheese, crackers, grapes, candied walnuts and focaccia bread and 8 different jams and curds. It was a great variety of sweet and savory. The tomato jam was a little spicy (in a good way). Everything we tried was good but I really loved the passion fruit curd, the mango jam and the tomato jam. We loved the tasting but the customer service is really what made the entire experience exceptional. The owner was so friendly and informative. If you're in Kauai definitely make a stop here! You won't be disappointed. read more

Cooking Kauai - Cooking Schools Near Me

We had the opportunity to attend not one but TWO cooking classes at Monkeypod Jam and couldn't be happier that we did. In fact, both were truly highlights from our trip. The first class was Kauai Favorites - poke two ways, somen salad, Spam masubi and butter mochi. The second class was the Farmers' Market class. We spent about an hour at the farmers' market, learning about local produce and various other products - often times we even got to sample things. Then we took our acquisitions back to her kitchen and made dinner together. It was very interactive and we learned a lot about not only the food being prepared but other local customs. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this activity and I would definitely go back. Aletha is a very personable and sweet woman - she made everything super approachable and did a fantastic job! read more

Such a fun cooking class! Our family really enjoyed the Corner Store cooking class. The "classroom" setting is great, it's a nice small friendly group setting, the recipes are approachable and well explained, and the food is delicious. We would absolutely book a class as a priority for any return visit. read more

So much fun cooking and learning about all the local food and history. I would highly recommend taking a class here if you can fit it in your vacation schedule! read more

Cooking Kauai - Cooking Schools Near Me

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Did something new on the island. Learned how to make some classic hawaiian fare and it was so much fun. Bought some jam of course as well. Definitely will do again. read more

Spent a delightful afternoon at the Farmer's Market with Aletha learning about the local produce. She purchased the best of the best for us to try. Next we met her at her wonderful professional kitchen. We spent the evening preparing a 5 course meal. Beautiful, tasty and fun meal with recipes to take home with us. So glad we found this wonderful cooking class with Aletha! read more

Cooking Kauai - Delicious meal! - Cooking Schools Near Me

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Fun class! Educational and opportunity to prepare dishes that are delicious and not typical from my kitchen. Aletha is authentic, personable and welcoming. I bought her jam and am looking forward to trying it at home along with my new recipes. read more

One of the BEST experiences I had with my granddaughter for her 13 th b' day! THE BEST gift EVER!can't wait to go to another class!

3.5 stars but rounding up to support a local business. Their items are on the pricier side, but this is a boutique cafe/bakery and the quality was high. I liked all the different tropical jams/curds, and they had some unique combinations. I would come back if in the area! They also have pastries and coffees available, although there wasn't a lot of selection for pastries around 9:45am on a Tuesday. Parking is easy since they have a lot in front. read more

We have been fans of Monkey Pod jam since we first found them at a farmer's market 10 years ago. On every visit to Kauai we had to get some of their delicious jams and/or eat at their cafe. On this trip we heard about Althea's cooking classes and had to take one. We love local food and we took a class that taught us how to make butter mochi, spam musubi, somen salad, and ahí poke! Althea taught us the history behind the dishes, shared personal stories about her life on the islands and was very sweet and helpful. The class was so laid back and enjoyable. The three hours flew by. We had fun talking story with Althea and others in the class. At the end, we all enjoyed lunch together eating the food we made. I highly recommended taking a class here, you will love it. We will be back on our next trip. read more

So hearing about this place from the magazine from our hotel we decided to take a look their jams are excellent and they have lots of different options the owner came out and talked a bit about their fruits and where they get them . They Do ship to read more

What a fantastic experience! Our group of eight just had a personal cooking class with Aletha in the wonderful kitchen behind her home. She is warm, funny and a wonderful teacher. We started with samples of her delicious jams made only from local fruits. She then gave us some local island food history. We then made 5 dishes musub, a great Japanese noodles salad, 2 kinds of poke and a wonderful coconut butter mochi for desert. Her knowledge of the island is immense and so is her willingness to share! read more

Cooking Kauai - Aletha in her backyard kitchen - Cooking Schools Near Me

We stopped here as the first stop on our South food tour. After tasting some scones and hearing how jams are made, we sampled everything they make in terms of jams and chutneys (all made from scratch) and bought a case to be shipped home to us. Everything is simply delicious. What I really like is that the owner is self-made (a former teacher) and buys produce only from Kauai so she supports local farmers. We are a customer for life. This is the type of business that deserves to be supported. PS. When we received our case of jam one of the bottles was broken but they replaced it quickly and efficiently, could not ask for better service. read more