The Number One Trick Nicholas Hoult Learned In Cooking Classes - Exclusive

For you skeptics, yes — Nicholas Hoult cooks. He does it with gusto. For those of you who are here because he entranced you in "The Menu," the actor might not know how to use a Pacojet, but he could probably make a better lamb dish than his latest on-screen alter-ego, Tyler. He's been to enough cooking classes not to attempt a shallot leek butter sauce when asked to perform in front of a culinary legend.

As it happens, Hoult has picked up his skills in the kitchen from different corners of the globe. "I like, when I'm traveling, going cooking and trying to cook [like they do in those] places," Hoult told Tasting Table in a recent exclusive interview. "Because you get to meet people and you get to take a little bit of information home and learn about it. I do like doing that."

In Italy, he did a pasta-making course once. His number one tip? "Do it with people who know what they're doing," Hoult quipped. In Belize, he went spearfishing and cooked that up — much to his dismay later. While in Jordan and attending a cooking class, Hoult learned to make baba ganoush, which quickly became his favorite vegetable dish. In other words, the man might not have an alternate career track should acting fail him, but he knows his stuff.

When Nicholas Hoult was 17, he refused to eat Brussels sprouts. Here's an update for any die-hard fans who have been following the actor since he rocketed into the limelight with "Skins": Hoult, at 32, now enjoys the vegetable.

It turns out that all Brussels sprouts needed was a little bit of TLC at the hands of a seasoned cook. "You can put balsamic on most things, and it makes it taste better," Hoult told Tasting Table when we asked him to divulge the favorite thing he's learned in a cooking course. It's a nugget of wisdom that's as true for salads as it is for roast potatoes, watermelon and feta, and small cabbages. "If you fry them and put balsamic on them, Brussels sprouts are then naturally quite delicious," Hoult assured us. Too bad Tyler didn't know that when Chef Slowik called him into the kitchen.

Nicholas Hoult stars alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, and Hong Chau in the black comedy "The Menu," which is now playing in theaters.