Before Lisa Davis took a cooking class, she avoided any recipe that required more than five ingredients. Too complicated. But now, with the benefit of cooking instruction, she feels confident enough to whip up something as complex as a chocolate souffle.

Michael Palmisano, 10, was already an old hand at preparing breakfast standards like scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes and French toast when he decided to take a cooking class. Now he's expanding his repertoire to include dinner dishes for his family -- including fried chicken and a cheesy fusilli pasta.

Austin George, a retiree, always enjoyed making different kinds of soups. But it wasn't until he took a formal cooking class, where he picked up tips from professionals, that he felt ready to tackle something as sophisticated as a shrimp bisque.

In the Baltimore area, cooks and want-to-be cooks are increasingly signing up for cooking classes.

"There's been quite a renaissance in the art of cooking," says Annette Romanoff, president of the Art Lovers League, which three years ago incorporated cooking demonstrations into its cultural schedule after members indicated an appreciation for food as well as art.

People who were weaned on sophisticated restaurants in the 1980s may be staying home more often these days (less disposable income, more family commitments) but they still want to eat well, and are willing to pay to learn how to cook well.

In addition, cooking has become for many a relaxing hobby. The advent of high-tech food processors and other innovative kitchen equipment has made food preparation easier than ever. And the increasing number of quirky culinary shows on television is convincing more than a few people that they, too, can become cooks.

Those looking to acquire or increase cooking skills have found that classes are a place to have a good time as well as share and develop culinary passions.

"When you meet with a professional you pick up tips," says Mr. George. "It's also a social function."

"It's entertainment," says Mary Lou Toohey, a nurse, whose excursions into cooking education have included classes on spa cooking and Italian specialties. "It's a novel way to learn with a fun group of people. . . ."

For those who think classes merely focus on basic techniques, think again. There's an ever-widening range of cooking instruction to choose from.

Want to make Hungarian pastry or goulash with fried bread? Have an interest in French dishes? Need to know how to prepare spa-style vegetarian meals, molded chocolates and candies for Easter, or Carolina Low Country cooking?

Chances are there's a class somewhere in the Baltimore area to meet your needs.

They're held in places as diverse as sophisticated culinary theaters, churches, museums, schools, restaurant kitchens and private homes.

And celebrity chefs are increasingly in demand at these classes by people who want to know just what goes into creating that sumptuous restaurant meal. The chance to experience the behind-the-scenes atmosphere in a restaurant kitchen is an almost irresistible lure for the food enthusiast.

"The atmosphere of being in the kitchen is like being on the set of a cooking show," says Dara Bunjon, who as president of the Epicurean Club of Maryland arranges demonstrations at popular area restaurants such as Pier 500, Hoang's, Cafe Troia, Boccaccio and the Brass Elephant.

Typically, the chef will prepare a full meal as the students watch. Most valuable are his or her cooking tips. Want to cook a chicken evenly? At one class, chef Linwood Dame advises participants to try cooking it on its side so the juices will drain throughout. Confused about proportions when using dried herbs instead of fresh? At another class, chef Gino Troia reminds students that dried herbs, because they are concentrated, need only be one-third of the amount of fresh herbs called for in a recipe.

The classes are fun for chefs as well. Nancy Longo, who taught at the Baltimore International Culinary College for two years before she opened her own restaurant, says she enjoys teaching shortcuts that one can't find in a cookbook to people who love food as much as she does.

Other regulars on the celebrity-chef circuit include Harold Marmulstein of the Polo Grill, Rudy Speckamp of Rudys' 2900 and Randy Stahl of the Brass Elephant.

David "Spike" Gjerde, of Spike & Charlie's, a participant in Goucher College's the Great Chefs of Baltimore Series, likes to encourage hands-on experimentation.

For his classes he sets up long tables in his restaurant's kitchen. Every student is presented with a paring knife and a peeler, a hand towel and a cutting board.

"It's sink or swim," the chef says, laughing. Then he qualifies his statement by adding, "It's a lot of fun -- they're not taking a cooking class to endure a torturous boot camp."

For the serious amateur interested in the proper techniques of fine cooking, Baltimore International Culinary College offers the same mini courses that are part of the curriculum for its full-time professional students.

More popular with the general public, says Kristy Poindexter, a spokeswoman for BICC, are the school's Wednesday evening classes, which feature guest celebrity chefs, including such big names as Paul Prudhomme, and also offer demonstrations of ethnic cooking, from Mexican to Pennsylvania Dutch.

The cooking class combined with social event is also emerging as another popular instructional style. Maria Springer, of Maja's Viennese Kitchen, offers demonstration classes in her home, with themes such as an English tea or a Viennese luncheon. But she also works hard to create a party environment.

She welcomes students, including Austin George, mentioned above, to her home with poundcake and coffee in front of a crackling fire in the family room. In her restaurant-sized kitchen, cookbooks are spilling off shelves in a dining nook, braided garlic hangs from the ceiling, and a sheaf of drying herbs, picked fresh from her garden, hangs over the sink.

Ms. Springer prepares the meal as students cluster around the kitchen island. Afterward, she guides them to her dining room to feast on the results.

Combining a cooking demonstration and social event is also Martha Royall's passion. Ms. Royall, who operates the Taylor-Royall Casting Agency during the day, likes to entertain as much as instruct.

She'll try anything from complex Italian dinners to the food fad of the moment. "I introduced tiramisu when nobody had any idea what it was," she says. "We've gone through polenta and wild mushrooms. And fennel! Nobody knows what to do with fennel."

Ms. Royall's attitude about cooking is that "the most important thing is to get in there and have fun. If it doesn't work out, just throw it away and order a pizza."

Her students appreciate Ms. Royall's lighthearted approach to culinary instruction. "The best part for me is it's a night away from home," says Lisa Davis. "I'm learning something and spending time with a lot of people interested in cooking."

Adults aren't the only ones interested in cooking. Kids just want to have fun with food, too. At Laura's Kitchen, a cooking school for children ages 7-13, the young chefs don't seem the least intimidated by the complexity of the cooking tasks before them.

Even though kids at today's class are preparing a full meal, including Silly Fusilli, Corny Fried Chicken, bread sticks, fresh lemonade and Vitamin See, a dessert that tastes a lot better than it sounds, the atmosphere in the sprawling kitchen at Bryn Mawr School is loose and easy.

Eight-year-old Connor Palmisano is working off excess energy by taking giant leaps across the room. Lara Win Lewis, 10, has spotted a friend outside and is tapping madly on the window to capture her attention.

The rest of the students seem to be entranced by Laura Burden, their instructor. Michael Palmisano, 10, diligently pounds cornflakes with a rolling pin while Allison Goldberg, 13, struggles peel a kiwi. Others take turns twisting bread sticks and dipping chicken in cornflakes.

Ms. Burden offers simple but practical advice in a language that kids understand: "Old Bay is only too spicy if you use too much of it" and "Boiling is when water bubbles."

She gives cooking tips with humor: "What you mess up you clean up," she instructs. "I'm still trying to teach my husband!" It's almost like cooking with Mom.

In Ms. Burden's class, kids start with the basics. "What's the first thing we do when we go into the kitchen?" Ms. Burden asks.

"Wash your hands," the kids shout back.

After the meal is prepared, Ms. Burden teaches etiquette and table manners. Students gather at a long table set for dinner with lace tablecloth and candlesticks.

Now Ms. Burden introduces the words that are forbidden in her class. In fact, she emphasizes, they are prohibited at anyone's table. They are "yuck" and "eewww."

"Yummy," she says, "is OK to say."

WHAT'S COOKING?

Here's a sampling of some area classes. Dates, programs and costs vary.

Art Lovers League

The Perfect Dinner

(410) 486-9552

Baltimore International Culinary College

Mini courses and Wednesday-evening demonstrations

(410) 752-8813

Epicurean Club of Maryland

(410) 486-0339

Great Chefs of Baltimore Series

Goucher College

(410) 337-6200

ura's Kitchen

Children's classes

(410) 377-8330

Les Deux Gourmettes

French cuisine

(410) 366-0874

Maja's Viennese Kitchen

Specializes in international cooking

(410) 561-1157

Roland Park Country School

School of Continuing Education

(410) 323-5500

Taylor-Royall Cooking Classes

(410) 466-5959