Whatever the reason, there are firm signs that more people are cooking elaborate dishes at home - and using a more adventurous mix of ingredients.

The latest trends show spending is growing fastest on groceries that are more suited to budding home chefs than those trying to save pennies.

In the year to May, Nielsen figures show spending grew fastest on items such as fresh cream, which soared 31 per cent, followed by chilled seafood, which jumped 13.7 per cent.

Frozen pastries, smallgoods, and cheese were also among increasingly popular foods.

Coupled with cooking schools reporting buoyant business conditions, the trend suggests Australians are willing to experiment with more advanced types of cooking, as they cut costs to eat more meals at home.

None of this comes as a surprise to the manager of the Paris International Cooking School in Stanmore, Laurent Villoing. "It's actually got more and more busy in the last 12 months," he said.

As spending at restaurants falls, students have told Mr Villoing they are entertaining at home more frequently and want to learn techniques used by chefs.

"They want to learn the services that they were paying for when they were going to restaurants," he said.

Basic food also continues to sell strongly. Pasta, snacks and ice-cream remain among the top items, while a Woolworths spokesman said baking ingredients such as flour and sugar were popular too. Luciana Sampogna, who runs the Cucina Italiana Cooking School in Annandale, said the growing interest in cooking could lift people's spirits, as well as save them money.

"People need to have a feeling inside of their heart that they have achieved something. And when things go badly, you are either going to be fully depressed or you are going to get out of bed and say, 'I want to learn'," Ms Sampogna said.

Enrolments in her lessons have been steady despite the downturn - the most popular class being booked out until October.

But for all the interest in home cooking, many are still opting for simplicity. Spending on packaged meals was up 5.8 per cent, with canned food also performing strongly.

The principal of Sydney Community College, Garry Traynor, said the most consistently oversold course was an introductory lesson covering basic techniques such as chopping onions, sauteeing and simmering.

"That's always over-subscribed," he said.