Sydney Seafood cooking school at the Fish Market

Yanking the digestive tract from a king prawn and scraping the squelchy innards out of a squid isn’t everybody’s cup of bisque, but Sydney Seafood School is luring in curious cooks faster than a highly-skilled fisherman.

And as visiting singles will vouch for, an evening in the kitchen with a bunch of strangers is currently one of the city’s most exciting social networking opportunities.

Back to cooking school

The Sydney Seafood School, located in a designated area above the Sydney Fish Market, first opened its doors in 1989, but has undergone a recent transformation.

We took our seats in anticipation of the demonstration in the large and extremely chilly auditorium (tip: bring a sweater). As well as casting my eye over two men who’d come alone, I looked at ex-designer Michael McCann's cooking school.

Icelandic fish-leather sets the theme and 46-inch LCD screens ensure that all guests have uninterrupted views of the action.

Mingle with singles

Out came the king prawns to be battered in spicy szechaun sauce. Coriander was chopped and lemon

s were squeezed. A unified groan was emitted as a whole squid was gutted, sliced and diced before being sizzled in a salt and pepper frenzy. It’s best to come hungry -- but be warned -- the smells meant our tummies were rumbling like volcanoes during the demo.

Time to head through to the hands-on room. As destiny would have it, I was placed in a group of five: a couple and the two single guys I’d spotted earlier.

Standing around the stainless steel cooking station in a room with wild, blackboard graffiti adorning the walls, we made small talk, created huge dishes and secretly pretended we were on MasterChef.

Seafood and eat  

Our expert hostess for the night, Coralie, wandered between stations offering advice.

“We get people of all ages, from all over the world, and it’s really nice to see people coming together to learn something new. We’ve even had a few relationships out of it,” Coralie says.

This confirms what I’d come to realize -- that it’s a great place for people to mingle without the pressure of being in a ‘singles’ situation.

Although initially established to create a demand for the more unusual species being sold in the Sydney Fish Market, the cooking school reaches out to foodies everywhere and now incorporates a variety of different cuisines, including French and Thai.

A celebrity serving

The most popular classes, undoubtedly, are those that involve demonstrations by Australian chefs, including Christine Manfield, Matt Moran and Guillaume Brahimi. Classes can be booked out weeks in advance.

Enjoying the fruits of our labor over a glass of fine wine in the softly-lit dining room, my new friends and I swapped numbers (for cooking tips, naturally).

I may not have caught myself a serious new man on this occasion, but who’s to say it won’t happen next time? After all, there’s plenty more fish in the market.

Sydney Seafood School, Sydney Fish Markets, +61 (0)2 9004 1111. Costs range from $85 for a two hour class to $155 for a four hour class. Check out the Sydney Fish Market's Sydney Seafood School website for more details