The clocks went back last night and I was up at 05:30 on a Sunday morning, to be honest I was not sure what time it was, the excitement of attending another cookery school after such a long time was too much!
My last attempt failed due to, well that ‘C’ word as ‘Junior’ had ‘symptoms’ and as a result self isolation had to take place, but I had managed to secure a place on a later date and that day had finally arrived.
This was my first venture 29 miles up the road to the Jericho Cookery School just outside Oxford, and I was using a new Phone/Camera which did not work quite as expected so please excuse the pictures, normal service will resume on the next post!
The owner Emma and I had something in common, we had both lived in Eastbourne and remembered the famous “Hungry Monk’ in Jevington, the restaurant where the Bannoffee Pie was ‘evolved’ by chef Ian Dowding, click the link to read the real story of how things happened.
Unfortunately the ‘Jevington’ Hungry Monk now closed.
Social distancing was in order, a maximum of 8 hungry and expectant pupils where ready to learn some challenging and tasty Street Food recipes from the brilliant and knowledgeable chef John Fernandez, my nearest ‘neighbours’, a lovely couple who ran a farm, had driven over 2 hours from Exeter in Devon to attend such is the popularity and reputation of the school.
The courses at The Jericho Cookery School are ideally ‘bite sized’ sessions of typically between 2.5 and 3 hours, and the team had been extremely busy before we arrived, making sure every cookery station had the Ingredients laid out, and recipes at the ready so we could all attack our particular menu items straight away.
Two large bowls with Garlic and Ginger were passed up and down (safely) and amazing aromas filled the air as we got to preparing Gyoza’s, Chicken Satay, Bau and much more.
I had been given the task of preparing the Gyoza’s (Jiaozi), a speciality for Chinese New Year, but also a popular street food. I was really pleased as this was something I was keen to master, you can see the filling I made in the first picture, Pork Mince, Prawn, Spring Onion, Garlic, Ginger they were going to be delicious. There is a ‘secret’ ingredient I won’t mention, you will have to book the course to find out!
Yep, they were very delicious indeed, especially when served with the punchy sauce/dip I had also made under Johns’ guidance adding some extra ingredients not on the recipe to ‘lift’ things a bit. We were all shown two methods of creating the folds in the delicate thin water pastry cases which was actually quite therapeutic.
The group worked really well together, chatting, sharing experiences and all producing their elements of the menu time was flying by all too quickly. In the background, the very efficient Jericho team was making sure we had clean tasting spoons, washing up, providing refreshments and making the whole session run extremely smoothly.
Now, Gua Bao, or Bao Buns, fluffy light, slightly sweet, sticky, gooey, tasty, yummy, addictive so many words can be used in the same sentence for these very popular street food, especially in……… Taiwan which has a fascinating history, click the link to find out more!
John had prepared a yeast based dough which needed to rise, and then showed us how to produce the well known smiley shape, and then it was our turn, not bad for a first go I hope?
We ventured to the Far East via India, a delicious Aloo Gobi had been prepared by one couple, delicate florets of Cauliflower and Potatoes had been combined with fragrant spices to make a ‘yummy’ addition to our travels around the world, interesting was the use of the sweet Jaggery to balance the various spices that had been used. You can see how its made both traditional and modern here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhUdfB2uzgI and you can get it in many supermarkets if you look carefully in the low cost Indian Ingredients section.
Back to the Bao and once shaped and left to rise a bit more they were steamed then left to cool a little before filling with an assortment of deliciousness including a sticky mixed mushroom mixture made with the addition of Hoisin Sauce, Mushroom Soy, Oyster Sauce, Garlic and Ginger. We added slithers of Cucumber and Spring Onion and an addictive Sweet and Crispy Chilli condiment, mmmmmmm, yes please!
I love these kind of courses as you learn so much more than from a recipe book or following say, a YouTube video. Things like technique, texture and smell really need you to be in the room with the chef so you can experience what exactly is happening.
Visits to Mexico and Peru were included in the non-stop journey that Sunday morning, Ceviché as fresh as you could get and Churros with a rich Chocolate Sauce finished things off. We were shown how to skin the fillets of Bass and advised that too long in the ‘curing’ mixture would make a lovely mush!
I was extremely fortunate to visit Mexico last year and had several Ceviché and have to say that, despite the lack of sunshine and blue seas (not available in Oxford), it was banging delish….. The addition of some roasted Sweet Potato really balanced the tart acidity of the Lime cure, something I will definitely be having a go at.
So, the menu of our world tour went something like South Asian Chicken Satays With Peanut Sauce (not that claggy stuff you usually get in take-aways), Bao Buns, Ceviché, Gyoza, Aloo Gobi and ‘Mexican’ Churros with Chocolate Sauce (They are subtly different from the Spanish ones).
It was a fantastic morning, I am already booked on another course at Jericho, with Sumayya Usmani from Pakistan and also plan on booking at least one more before Christmas (this year)!
Please take a look and see if anything takes your fancy, as usual, these are my personal views, no payment or discount for promotion just an honest appraisal of my investment in learning new cookery skills,
Many thanks to Emma and her team, and John Fernandez the guest Chef for putting on a fantastic experience and putting a skip back in my step 🙂
……………………………Till next time…………….L8ers………………….
The Banyan Tree at Mayakoba on the 
A welcome dinner had been prepared for us, interesting were the bread rolls filled with a cream cheese, unusual but tasty. The fish was very fresh and cooked perfectly, it looked like Stone Bass but whatever it was, it was damn good,
The first activity was ATV’s (All Terrain Vehicles), followed by some history on the Mayan Civilisation and a dip in a 
I have never eaten in a cave before, we were 50 metres below the surface in a beautiful cavern, and entertained by a Mayan ritual dance which was extremely energetic, as we were served a combination of Mexican and International Cuisine.
The following day was free time, I had booked on a cookery course, it was awesome, see the previous post for details as I learned the proper techniques to prepare Mexican cuisine and was taught by the lovely Karla, who really knew her beans 🙂 
After a welcome rest we were off to Cancun to 
Having spent a few hours with the delightful Executive Chef/Tutor Karla Enciso, at the El Pueblito Cookery School at Mayakoba my senses have been kick started, I am now of the firm belief that Mexican food has been much maligned by mass production and marketing by multi-national brands, I am sure you know who I mean.
Mayakoba is a ‘complex’ with a number of hotels, a championship golf course, and a small ‘village’ where the cookery school resides. I had booked 3 hours of 1-2-1 cooking, just me and the lovely Karla.
So next was a simple Molcajete Salsa, yeah right. You might recognise the next paragraphs context.
At this stage we are about half way through making the Molcajete Salsa, who’s name comes from the Mexican pestle and mortar I was going to use to complete the dish. More notes, another cup of coffee, further debate etc. As an aside, at the beginning of the session I was asked what music I liked and during our cooking we had RUSH, and Yes playing which being a couple of my favourite groups added to the atmosphere!
This Salsa was a massive surprise, it had a deep intense flavour and was something I had never tasted before, when combined with the Guacamole we made next, on top of a thin Tortilla crisp, wow, awesome. I will be definitely making this when I get home.
The 
If you remember that multi-national comment I made earlier, well I made (pressed) the fresh Masa into Tortillas, they then got a quick fry on both sides before being stuffed with Chicken boiled in Chicken Stock (adds more flavour and keeps the meat moist), and rolled. 
These are then fried again to crisp up, and topped with whatever you fancy, they were bl@@dy good! I went with the spicy and rich Molcajete Salsa on top of Lettuce and some Cream, and a little Mexican Cheese.
Next was 
You will notice a red item on the top of the finished dish in the picture below, this is a ‘tomato crisp’. The Tomatoes we used to dress the side of the crumble were de-skinned in boiling water and the skins placed in a low oven to dry out completely, and they were really delicious, as was the finished dish, the Mustard Cream was unreal, the fruit balancing the taste.
So on the main event Lightly Salted Cod in Aioli à La Languedocienne! For this we learnt (loose phrase) to turn vegetables, and very fiddly it was too. The Aiolli was problematic as we were running low on Eggs, we had one! A quick search in the fridge and a couple of yolks from the day before were discovered and we were on our way.
It was an extremely tasty dish, despite all the effort to make the various elements, but the dessert was the ‘piece de resistance’, a Gateaux St. Honoré. I made some Choux Pastry with Gill whilst the others knocked up a Crème Patissière (Creme Pat, as we came to call it by this time)! Then there was the Puff Pastry Base, and the piping, oh, the piping.
This was very testing indeed, home made Choux Buns dunked into Hot Caramel, filled with the Creme Pat, constructing Swans using a piping bag, it was baking and construction and everyone contributed to the elegant dessert, which was very very good.
I have done a bit of chocolate work with 
Marion’s ‘Boutique’ is 5.2 miles to the North Of Carcassonne in ‘Pennautier’, in fact 16 rue Pierre Loti 11610 to be precise! It’s very close to the impressive ‘Château de Pennautier’. I have marked the boutique, in the fortified village on the map above, it’s very historic and well worth a walk around if you are in the area.
Her small ‘chocolate kitchen’ is near the centre of the ‘fortified village’, where sessions like ours are run and she sells some of her fantastic products, her husband shares the premises where great organic wines are also available, what a partnership!
We started off by making a caramel, to fill some of the chocolates we were going to produce later. It was fascinating (to me), to understand how a professional knows when the sugar has reached the correct stage before adding the other ingredients, you will have to spend a morning with Marion to find out though, she runs regular ‘ Stage d’initiation au chocolat’!
There was a lot going on as we went through various stages of delicious Chocolate production. Gill, one of our ‘team’ is making ‘Rocher’ in the picture above. You remember the advert, the big pile of circular golden delicacies balancing on the waiters tray, that annoying music playing. These were much better than the mass manufactured version, but then I would say that!
We also made ‘Orangettes’, and ‘Lemonettes’ and ‘Gingerettes’, I made up the last two but essentially a firm, sticky fruit stick, dipped in my case, Dark Chocolate. There were filled Chocolates, and yes, we made a box, out of Chocolate, mine White and Milk, with a Cocoa Butter Patterned Transfer, I have some of those at home so must find an excuse to use them one day soon.
It was soon time to go, and on the way out some bars of Chocolate were too tempting to not purchase, Caramel, Gianduja and Fleur De Sea, yum.
Lobster is a delicate meat and was to be part of our evenings menu, very nice indeed.
Having cooked the Lobster for a couple of minutes after dispatching it using a knife through the………you don’t want to hear that I guess, but we were using the freshest high quality produce as is always the case at 
Anyone for 
The starter was to be a simple but tasty Spring Vegetable Vol-eu-Vent with a Garlic and Basil Oil, we all had great fun preparing the evening meal and when we had finished we sat down to enjoy all three courses, plating each one in turn learning more culinary skills. Oh, and the usual Cheese course which I really enjoy, I have a thing for Cheese!
Mind your fingers..! Monday starts the marathon session with Jean-Marc Boyer, our Michelin starred Chef tutor. Before I start, a massive bit shout out to the team at The French House Party, who clean, make tea, provide moral support at times of difficulty (joking). The well oiled engine behind the Chef’s make things run smoothly and efficiently.
So, Lettuce Soup, yes…. you heard, Lettuce Soup and wow how delicious it was. The top right hand corner picture above is the architectural design. A thin strip of Courgette is punched with holes, ‘wild asparagus’ is prepared by cutting off the long stalk and placed through some of the holes.
Ah, and we also made a ‘Basil Sorbet’ just for the fun of it. You can see the main course above, which whilst was a labour of love, tasted slam dunk. During the first session we had learnt so much about planning, prepping, cooking and plating, after a break we headed back into the kitchen and continued to prepare the evening meal!
The morning started with the communal breakfast outside as the weather has been fabulous, with fresh everything, Fruit, Bread, Jams, Cheese, Ham, Tomatoes, Croissant, Tea or Coffee and always needed to set you up for a very busy day!
So, what about Chocolate Brownies and Coconut Panacotta, what’s that all about, taking what seems very simple and elevating It was the order of the day.
As is usual with my reviews of personal trips on cooking vacations and the like, I won’t divulge the complete experience as it really will not do justice to what goes on and what you experience, suffice to say we all learnt lots about presentation, flavour mixing and how to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary and it was enlightening to say the least! This is my 3rd trip to the French House Party and I will definitely be back for more.
After lunch and a brief rest we headed out for the town of Limoux.
The tour of the cellars and its history are great fun and really interesting, the produce is exceptional and awesome value, you cannot get it in the U.K. except by mail order as they limit production. The other stuff in U.K. supermarkets marketed as Crémante and Blanquette is mass produced by other local ‘Maison’ and they do not use the same old traditional methods which you will find about if you come and visit. Guess what, my suitcase is a bit heavier, oops.
One stall particularly caught my attention, extremely intricate pastries that were absolutely stunning, you can see an example in the picture above, Middle Eastern in origin and showing how food culture has spread across the world.
I am not a ‘car person’ but when we arrived at the entrance to Cité de Carcassonne we were surprised to see numerous Citroen cars from ‘yesteryear’, like a scene from Paris in Day of the Jackal they were in remarkable condition and seemed very popular. Our reason to visit the famous location was to eat at a renowned restaurant, the only 1 Michelin starred restaurant in the walls of the Citadel, 
Suffice to say service was excellent, the food was excellent, the location was excellent, the weather was…. well you guess? Every dish showed its true light through well balanced flavours, quality ingredients and expert cooking we all were very pleased with the first of our ‘gourmet’ experiences, big tick in the box to Moira, our host for organising this visit.
It often the local translations that can cause much amusement when travelling and this trip was to be no different, I always though cults should be avoided at all costs, now back to St. Raymond for some cooking with Laurent Jeannin and some hearty fare.
Julian Rolfe 