I had that feeling of deja vu, I have been here before, similar circumstances, am I ill again. As a child I suffered from petit mal (a mild form of epilepsy characterized by brief spells of unconsciousness without loss of posture), my circumstances did not include the unconsciousness, but I was having regular events where I would be somewhere, immediately think I have been here before, and the effect caused nausea and I was infrequently physically sick. The cause was apparently my left brain lobe being a millisecond out of sync with my right brain lobe, luckily it was gone, thanks to medication by the time I was in my early 20’s but such conditions prevent you driving until you are clear of ‘attacks’ for three years.

I was actually back in Padstow, the same location as I was approximately two years prior in 2021, to attend Rick Steins Cookery School, but this time a four day event The Ultimate Fish & Shellfish Cookery Course, with the brilliant chef/tutor Nick Evans. I knew Nick from my previous visit, and had also popped in to say hello during a Cornwall vacation last year, just after the school kitchen had undergone a refit, it looked great.

Unlike last time I drove down on the Sunday afternoon, there was a ‘getting to know the group’ session on the Sunday evening as it was a full class of 14, and canapés/drinks would enable everyone to meet and get to know each other before the course started.

I had not eaten on Sunday, and not much on Saturday, I was conscious that there would be a lot of food over the coming week and had actually had a couple of days without food to prepare my body for the onslaught, well it’s not that bad but it made sense to ‘create some room’.

The 234 mile trip took about 4 1/2 hours with breaks, and whilst on a tea break at one of the services, did a quick check to see what might be open on arrival to start the week off, I already had reservations for every evening except Sunday, just in case there was a delay in my arrival in Padstow. Rick Steins Fish & Chip Shop was open until 19:00, yeaasssss.

I arrived at my ‘home’ for the week, The Harbour Hotel, Padstow. The hotel commands an amazing view, I had a sea view room on the top floor and from there you can see the Camel Estuary, and the village of Rock. It’s a lovely location, the rooms are very clean and comfortable, breakfast was included, but for me, as I was going to be grazing all day, I didn’t get a chance to see what was on offer although overhearing the guests, it was extremely good. From my room I could also see the Cookery School, and other ‘Rick Stein’ outlets, the Deli and Fish Bar. There is always a large gin in a decanter in the room, and two bottles of Fevertree Tonic for you to enjoy as a welcome, a really nice touch. You can see the hotel in the picture above, I was admiring the harbour view my new friend Henry the Pigeon!

After a quick change I had walked the 2 minutes to the Fish and Chip shop and had settled down at the bar, the service was efficient, menu in my hand in seconds and there was only one option on my mind, Cod and Chips. The Steins partner with a number of charitable foundations, in this case ‘One Feeds Two’, where for every meal you buy, a meal is donated, in this case to child living in poverty somewhere in the world, so my ‘investing’ in this meal would help some child somewhere in the world, nice. I placed my order including some homemade Tartare Sauce and a large glass of Spanish wine, I wasn’t driving till Friday morning so that was perfect, the food arrived promptly.

This was no ordinary fish and chips, the fish, as you can hopefully see in the picture the fish was very fresh, never frozen there were large succulent flakes falling away, the batter perfectly thin and crisp, the tartare sauce was bright golden yellow, obviously excellent eggs and packed with cornichon and capers, it was banging. The wine was crisp and cut through everything nicely, it was just delicious and a perfect way to spend some time before the reception at 19:00. There are gluten free options for the batter, and if you don’t want you meal cooked in beef dripping, they have a separate fryers for gluten free and vegetarian, attention to detail is spot on.

I was first to arrive at the cookery school reception and grabbed a quick picture so you can see the main school area, our classroom for the following four days, a demo area at the front with switchable TV screens, and the workstations fully equipped with top quality professional equipment. Behind is a communal table for eating with a lovely view of the Camel Estuary.

Other ‘classmates’ started to drift in and soon we were mingling like old school chums at a reunion, wine glass in one hands, food in the other. Aarron, one of the senior sous chefs had just been promoted to head chef at Rick Steins cafe and came along to cook our nibbles, not your typical sausage roll or sandwich. We were treated to a range of tasty delights, like Halloumi Sagnaki with honey and black sesame seeds, Loc Lac, a spicy Cambodian lettuce wrap with spicy Beef ,Chilli and lime, Thai Fish Cakes and Chicken Satay, all freshly made in front of our eyes, delightful.

Two hours passed and before long people were departing to get some rest, some guests had travelled from Australia and Portugal to attend the course, which was going to be a lot of fun.

……………………………………..Until Next Time………………………..L8ers…………………….