Cooking Alaturka is located in Sultanahmet area. Eveline Zoutendijk, a Dutch expat living in Istanbul for more than 10 years, created her school right after she moved to Istanbul. Her passion for cooking started when she was a teenager girl, then she went to Paris to study at Cordon Bleu cooking school. Cooking Alaturka introduces its students the traditional ingredients used in the Turkish cusine, and teach them how to prepare and combine these ingredients in a creative way. They are confident that most of the students are going to be able to provide a five-course traditonal Turkish meal to their friends and families at home. Click for details
Turkish Flavours provides a Turkish cooking class in a Turkish home setting. Selin Rozanes's 1930's home is located in the heart of Nisantasi, one of the most elegant neighborhoods where Orhan Pamuk grew up. You get to learn how to cook 6-7 different Turkish dishes during the class, and learn about the history of Turkish cooking from Selin. Click here for details.
Sarnic Hotel is also located in Sultanahmet, the old city. Their class takes place in the hotel's kitchen and the local chefs from the hotel instruct the workshop. During the 4 hour class you get to prepare a five course meal of traditional dishes. Then, you get to enjoy the dinner on the rooftop restaurant of the hotel. Sarnic was selected as one of the best Pamela Lanier's Bed & Breakfast Inns. The class size is ranging from 4 to 10 people. Click for details
Delicious Istanbul by Olga Tikhonova Irez offers cooking classes on Istanbul's cuisine, which has been featuring Greek, Armenian, Central Asian, Balkan, and Middle Eastern origins for centuries. Olga lived and was exposed to local cuisines in Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Scandinavia, Italy, Balkans, India, Kyrgyzstan, Morrocco, and Turkey. She is a member of International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). Before the cooking class the group goes out for grocery shopping on the Asian side of Istanbul, Kadikoy. Then, they sit down for a Turkish coffee at a local coffee roaster, and eat a piece of baklava from one of the oldest baklava stores. Then, they go to a local home in Moda neighorhood, and cook lunch of a few starters, main course and dessert. Click for details
Also Culinary Arts Academy of Istanbul could be good place to check for courses. Current ones are not offering any traditional Turkish cuisine classes. Here is their calendar: http://www.msa.com.tr/programs/event-calendar.aspx
Mymerhaba, a great source for expats and travelers in Istanbul, mentions also Istanbul Culinary Institute. Here is their schedule: http://www.istanbulculinary.com/eng/certificate-programs/amateur-programs
As an alternative to Cooking Ala Turca, I can also suggest Istanbul Culinary Institute. You can join one of their scheduled classes or ask to have a private class scheduled to your availability.
Here is the e-mail address of the person in charge:
I found out about Datli Maya restaurant, in Cihangir, with the help of my expat friends. They learned it from Ansel & Yigal's blog, Istanbuleats. It became one of my best restaurants right away. I just learned from Ansel that they started offering cooking classes. Here is their facebook page, where they post their cooking classes.
