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Spend four hours at the Seafood School with Lucy Tweed learning slow-cook seafood techniques and how to make a perfect paella using prawns, squid, and mussels. This hands-on class combines market-side provenance with practical skills you can use every week.
Spend four hours at the Seafood School with Lucy Tweed learning slow-cook seafood techniques and how to make a perfect paella using prawns, squid, and mussels. This hands-on class combines market-side provenance with practical skills you can use every week.
Book with Sydney Fish Market
Verified experiences and guided adventures in the surrounding area.
Operated by Sydney Fish Market · Glebe, New South Wales
At the Sydney Fish Market's Seafood School, a cooking class led by Lucy Tweed turns the salt-bright energy of a working harbour market into a focused lesson in slow seafood: a hands-on masterclass in paella, teaching how to coax flavor from prawns, squid, and mussels while respecting the supply chain behind them. Located at 1 Bridge Rd, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia, this four-hour session is ideal for anyone who buys fresh fish and wants to learn how to make it sing at home. Lucy Tweed - food stylist, author of Every Night of the Week and Tender - brings practical hacks and elegant technique: how to judge doneness on shellfish, the right stock balance for a creamy paella socarrat, and gentle long-cooking methods that can turn inexpensive cuts and offcuts into banquet-worthy dishes. The class balances demonstration and practice; you'll work at a shared bench (maximum six per bench), prep seafood, learn regional variations of paella, and plate dishes to eat with your classmates. The Seafood School's setting is part of what makes the experience distinct. The market is a living supply chain: rows of fresh catch, ice beds, and vendors who move fast to get product from boat to bench. That access teaches students about seasonality and provenance—how local water temperature and tides can influence texture and flavor—information that lifts a recipe into a dependable weeknight routine. Practical details are built into the booking. The experience is wheelchair accessible, open to cooks age 12 and up (children under 16 must be accompanied), and runs about four hours. Wear enclosed shoes and bring a pen and a container for leftovers; the school avoids single-use plastics where possible. If you're coming for the first time, allow extra time to find the Seafood School within the market complex. Why book it? For home cooks this is rare trade craft in a compressed, friendly format: clear techniques from a stylist used to making food look effortless, hands-on time with multiple seafood types, and a sensory, market-side education about why fresh seafood behaves the way it does. It's not just a recipe class - it's an afternoon that marries technique, locality, and sensible slow-cook approaches you'll use again and again. Groups are small by design, so expect personalised attention; if you have a private party or group of seven or more the school asks you to contact [email protected] or call 02 9004 1111 to arrange. Recipes can be tweaked when produce availability changes, so the practical skills you learn - stock-making, timing shellfish, tempering heat - translate across species and seasons. For visitors staying in nearby hotels, the market's location makes it an easy half-day culinary outing that pairs well with a harbour walk and seafood supper at home.
easy.
4 hours.
Suitable for most adults and teens; involves several hours standing and light prep work such as chopping and stirring.
Check-in at the Seafood School inside Sydney Fish Market, 1 Bridge Rd, Glebe; allow extra time if it's your first visit.
Yes—minimum age is 12. Children 15 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
The school tries to follow the published recipes but may alter ingredients or format due to produce availability; instructors will show adaptable techniques.
You will cook at a shared workstation with up to six people per bench; for groups of seven or more contact [email protected] or call 02 9004 1111.
Yes, the Seafood School is wheelchair accessible—notify the school if you need specific accommodations.
Wear enclosed shoes, bring a pen and a container for leftovers; the experience is otherwise all-inclusive.
Sydney Fish Market is a long-standing hub for the city’s seafood trade and a focal point for local fishers and vendors.
The school actively discourages single-use plastics and emphasizes cooking with seasonal, responsibly sourced seafood to reduce waste and support local fisheries.
Located in Pyrmont, New South Wales, Sydney Fish Market is Australia's largest working waterfront seafood marketplace and a destination for seafood experiences. The market offers a diverse program of guided tours, market tastings and hands-on cooking classes that showcase seasonal Australian seafood and global culinary traditions. Visitors can explore wholesale operations, watch live seafood auctions and meet retailers who supply top restaurants and hospitality businesses. Programming includes educational tours such as the Taste of Sydney Fish Market Tour and the Behind the Scenes Tour, along with specialty offerings like the Sunset on the Wharf Tour that highlights tide-to-table practices and sustainable fishing. Cooking classes range from Mediterranean Odyssey and Spanish Paella to Italian Seafood Feast and a hands-on Singapore Chilli Mud Crab session — each designed to teach practical techniques for preparing prawns, squid, octopus and other seafood. Sydney Fish Market partners with seafood educators, industry professionals and retailers to deliver expert-led experiences focused on freshness, sourcing and sustainability. The venue combines a busy retail precinct, dedicated demonstration facilities and a working fishing wharf, making it both an educational resource and a vibrant public market. Bookings are available for individuals, groups and corporate events through the market's experience desk.
Book with Sydney Fish Market