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COOKING WITH CLASS:Whatever the reason - entertaining at home as a recessionary measure, increasing interest in knowing what's in our food, the growing popularity of "food TV" - cookery schools in Ireland are going forth and multiplying at a fierce rate.

Maggie Lynch, creative director of the Soul Food Co, a private catering company based in Killiney, Co Dublin, also runs some very practical classes. "Twenty meals in 20 minutes" is a four-week course on Wednesday evenings (7.30pm-9.30pm), starting on April 28th. Breaking reliance on ready meals and takeaways is the aim of this course, and you could easily save the €200 fee by learning how to put your own, much healthier and tastier, quick suppers on the table in just 20 minutes. See soulfoodco.ie, or telephone 01-2814039 for details.