Cookery Books can be a fantastic source of inspiration and simultaneously just as frustrating, when the dish you have spent ages preparing turns out really disappointing, and in some cases inedible! I LOVE cookery books, especially where the content takes you on a journey with the author through a period of life, or travels through an unfamiliar land of exotic and tingling flavours.
When a I received a call the other week, “Hey hun, there is a nice looking Indian Cookery Book called ‘I Love India‘, by someone called Anjum Anand, do you want me to get it for you?”, my immediate response was “Yes Please”. I knew of Anjum, I had one of her earlier cookery books, and had seen some of her television series so I felt sure it was going to be good, this was to be her eighth book and as they say, practise makes perfect ;-).
I don’t know why I ended up looking at my regular Cookery School’s web page later that day, Richard Bertinet In Bath but there it was before me, “A Day with Anjum Anand, I Love India”.
Minutes later the course was booked and would be taking place a couple of weeks after my annual cookery trip to France, talk about overloaded with cooking!!!
I’m very familiar with the setup at Richard’s School, this would be my six course, having spent days with the likes of Mark Hix, Dhruv Baker, José Pizzaro and Omar Allibhoy as well as the master Bread Maker himself Richard, you are always guaranteed high quality chefs, a relaxed atmosphere, great support from the team of lovely ladies that organise and clean (esp. newby Charlotte), and teaming up with like minded enthusiasts all ages, and from all walks of life who want to learn new skills. After the usual Tea, Coffee and Toast (Richards Bread is just fab) with home made conserves we were introduced to the menu we were going to prepare, in 2 groups of 4 people. Anjum explained that we were going to be all hands-on, no demonstrations as she would be working with us, explaining the necessary techniques on the way which sounded just perfect, and just ask questions if you are not sure.
The starter was to be ‘Goan’ Prawn & Coconut Cakes with Tangy Coriander Chutney, for main course we would prepare ‘Kutch’ Chicken Biryani with a Spinach and Dill Raita and Four Seed Tomato Spiced Okra, dessert being Chilled Mango, Coconut and Pearl Pudding.
Goa /ˈɡoʊ.ə/ is a state in India within the coastal region known as the Konkan in Western India. It is bounded by Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the east and south, with the Arabian Sea forming its Western coast. It is India’s smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Goa has highest GDP per capita among all Indian states………………….
Kutch, is a region in the extreme west of the western Indian state of Gujarat, can be traced back to prehistorical times. There are several sites related to Indus valley civilisation in the region and it is mentioned in Hindu mythology. In historical times, Kutch is mentioned in Greek writings during the time of Alexander The Great.
Biryani is an Urdu word derived from the Persian language, which was used as an official language in different parts of medieval India, by various Islamic dynasties. One theory is that it originates from “birinj”, the Persian word for rice. Another theory is that it derives from “biryan” or “beriyan” (to fry or roast).
So take what looks like a simple description of food and start to interpret the description, next minute you are in a time warp back to 5th Century India and ancient dynasties that evolved over time, as did their cuisine, taking influence from food 4000 years ago, food is not boring if you take a little time to get under the skin of its origins! Click on the various links in the text above to explore for yourself.
So we started to prepare the Goan Prawns and accompanying Chutney, this is where being with the author of the book really helps, as it’s very difficult to explain texture, smell and flavour in a book, preparing it with the cook in the room and you start to pick up all the important hints and tips to get the best out of the recipe. This was a case in point with the texture required for the Prawn Cakes which needed blending, but not to extinction!!!! The correct balance of ‘glue’ to texture would provide the desired effect and so we took a step by step approach so we could see what was required.
There is only one book (that I am aware of), that takes this issue full on and that’s Marcus Wareings’ “How to Cook The Perfect”, which goes a good way towards addressing the challenge of subtle technique, and is highly recommended.
So how big do you need to make these savoury Goan delights, well that would depend on whether making for an hors d’oeuvre, starter or main course, if you cannot get Panko breadcrumbs are white breadcrumbs ok, the questions kept coming, all relevant and important to the person asking them, and useful for the rest of the budding cooks.
As we carried on with our preparation more questions followed, the subjective issue of herb quantities for the Chutney, to join the Goan Prawn Cakes we were making a Tangy Coriander Chutney, the ‘Tang’ provided by Lemon, with some texture from Pistachios, with Mint and Garlic to add to the flavoursome accompaniment. The consensus was that at the end of the day, everyones palate is different and adjust to what YOU like but we all agreed testing the Chutney without having some Goan Cake at the same time was the only way to ensure the flavour profile was appropriate. 
Shock, Horror, OMG, its delicious, we made that!!
There was happiness and surprises as we progressed to the more complicated dishes. Food from this continent is more familiar to me having had the pleasure of spending a day with Dhruv Baker, but also a couple of days with a cook from Pakistan, Sumayya Usmani where I had learned to cook a Biryani amongst other dishes of the region. But there is more than one Biryani!
I love Biryani but here in the U.K. we have a little problem, I am yet to have eaten a Biryani in a restaurant or takeaway, nope, definitely not a proper Biryani, not one that even comes close. Today we MADE A BIRYANI, a proper one, from the Kutch region of India, a result.
Kutch district (also spelled as Kachchh) is a district of Gujarat state in western India. Covering an area of 45,674 km², it is the largest district of India. The population of Kutch is 2,092,371. And THEY know how to make a proper Biryani.
It’s a complex dish with several stages like making a marinade, frying some dry spices, making crispy onions (not burn’t) from scratch (you can cheat, but won’t have the fragrant oil left over!), preparing the rice etc. It was great fun as we all did our bit to contribute towards the final dish.
Anjum is an absolutely lovely lady, patient calm, full of enthusiasm and abound with knowledge about the food and region, her life story is really interesting and forms the start of her book I love India where the recipes for the cookery session came from. She was really happy to answer all the questions we threw at her, at times it must have seemed like a ‘barrage’ during a 17th century attack on a ‘Fortified Castle’, relentless!!
We had prepped the Goan Prawn cakes and were leaving the breadcrumbs to the last minute, the Coriander Chutney was done, Crispy Onions done, I was on Rice duty and that was good to go too, the morning was rushing by and we needed a break.
Those that have been to Richard’s School will know about the late morning break, those of you that don’t, pick a course, book it and find out for yourself as it’s part of the experience, ’nuff said.
After refreshments we carried on finishing the various dishes, the Biryani needed layering, Rice, then the Chicken that we had pre-cooked in the marinade, then more Rice. During the morning each of us had learned so many techniques, like how to tell when Garlic is properly cooked, how to make the perfect Rice, seasoning, these are the things that are so difficult to explain in a book as they involve smell, taste and texture.
So what about dessert. Charlotte, one of the lovely ‘BackStage Girls’ as they are know who clean, make tea, prepare as necessary mentioned ‘Frogspawn’ a couple of times!!!
Pearl Pudding was the description in the recipe notes we were given, ah, Tapioca ‘Pearls’, aka Frogspawn for those that remember from their school days. We were given another idea which I am not going to mention, book some time with Anjum to find out more. We prepped Mango cubes, made a Mango and Coconut Cream heavy ‘soup’, with the consistency of Double Cream, boiled the ‘Frogspawn’ and soon everything was done and we were sitting down to a very enjoyable lunch.
The Goan Prawn Cakes and Tangy Coriander Chutney were outstanding, really tasty and the Tang of the Chutney went very well indeed. I reckon (only a personal opinion), this could be served with the addition of a Kachumber, a salad of Onion, Tomato and Cucumber (with a Tamarind Dressing), which would be a perfect match and make a lovely lunch or light supper.
It was so nice to be eating a proper Biryani again, light, fragrant with textures and pings of flavour from the addition of Currants and Almonds fried in Ghee, and the Fried Onions I had prepared earlier. It was bl@@dy tasty as they would say in Australia!
As I was travelling to the venue in Bath, I was searching YouTube for any Videos of Anjum and came across a hilarious live recording from an Australian breakfast show a few months back, 3 women who seemed to be clueless about Semolina and the difference between YoGhuurt (not a typo, they make it sound like that), and Milk, it was really funny. Anjum was getting it from every direction and still managed to do a great job. We discussed the experience in the morning which was really enlightening, thanks Anjum.
Time for Dessert, And an apology!
We were all so busy commenting on the starter and main, asking Anjum so many questions and having a great foodie conversation I forgot to take a picture of the dessert. We could not get ‘proper’ Mango’s and those we had didn’t have the best flavour, although the result actually tasted Ok.
There was no consensus on the Tapioca pearls, I was a bit contentious and suggested using Maftoul or Moghrabieh from the Middle East, larger sphericals and used for savoury dishes I reckon they would work really well, so something I am going to try in the future as an experiment.
So another days cooking at Bertinet’s with the lovely Anjum Anand, a brilliant day as usual, learnt loads, cooked lots, ate a bit too it was great fun and I cannot wait until next time. If you see one of Anjum’s course I would highly recommend them. Usual rules apply, I paid full price for this course and all views are my own. I have not been coerced in any way.
……………………………….Until Next Time…………..L8ers…………………………….
The weather is getting better and better (and hotter), it’s breakfast on Wednesday and we are all still talking about the previous nights amazing dinner and the theatre involved in its delivery.
The story goes that a Monk called 
We were going to visit a small local family producer in Limoux that makes the two varieties of wine, 
Behind the simple (but very thick) walls of 
I recently learnt how to temper Chocolate the modern way using ‘
Once the process has been completed which took quite a while as, despite the thick walls the room was still too warm, you can use the Chocolate to fill moulds and Jean-Claude started with small simple shapes.
After dipping some Marzipan to make some traditional treats we were shown how to deal with moulds, which is not as easy as you might think. Done properly you will end up with a glossy sheen and no ‘bloom’, or white markings which is the Cocoa Butter that has not been tempered properly.
It was unfortunately time to move on so we all clambered into the mini-bus again and headed to the small village of 
As we headed down a steep windy road (there are quite a few of those around here!), we turned a sharp corner and before us was a significant building, an ex textile factory nestling against the backdrop of the Montagne Noire, the ‘Black Mountain’ with the River Orbiel running alongside.
Jean-Marc Boyer achieved his Michelin Star in 2007 after years of training in some of the best 2* and 3* restaurants in France, and has continued to receive the accolade on an annual basis to this day, as well as the restaurant he also runs a Bistro, 
The 
The starter was simply delicious, perfectly prepared and beautifully presented. VERY fresh Asparagus, served in a lovely light, crispy Puff Pastry case (Jean-Marc does not buy Pastry, it was home-made and FULL of buttery richness), the sauce was Mustard and Citrus, Lemon in the Sauce but with some strategically placed Orange confit tricked the palate, damn it was really so good. SIMPLE done Brilliantly!
The mains arrived next, 
Finally dessert, and there were two of them. Firstly, an imaginative crispy pastry base, with a Strawberry Soufflé filling, never had this before and it was very good indeed, offset by a home-made caramel Ice-cream. A lightly macerated Strawberry ‘Stew’ with more home made ice-cream finished the meal off, a very satisfying finish to a really good day.
C’est Tout, that’s it. Another adventure over, more foodie friends made. Vasily, the Russian from Switzerland who was a Cheese addict and made us all laugh in so many ways, Paul and Sue from the U.S., our political commentators ably joined by Marc, the ex Chef, Journalist and Travel Writer. And the adorable Ali and Sue, keen foodies who had met on a previous cooking vacation, kept in touch and carried on the tradition.
I’ve been to Carcassonne before, a couple of years ago when I was last a guest at The French House Party. It’s a magical place Carcassonne, having a similar feel to Tallin in Estonia (highly recommended too, had a day trip there on a cruise a few years back). Narrow cobbled streets, Coffee shops to sit outside and watch the world go by, we arrived late in the afternoon when the majority of the crowds had gone home, it gets very busy here!
How can I describe La Table De Franck Putelat…………Bloody Brilliant! The whole experience is just so different.
Hmmmm, a little Appetizer was passed to each of us the waiter then described what was in our hands…………..Duck Foie Gras Lollipops with a Grapefruit Emulsion….. Gulp! How they made the Emulsion stick in such a uniform way was mind-blowing, it tasted pretty damn good too!
Ah, I am sure I didn’t have these the other day!…… Tapioca Crisps perfumed with Aioli, Tapenade and Mushroom Cream, crispy and very very tasty, my mouth was already salivating after the previous tastes and textures. The others in our group were also amazed at these little tasty delights.
‘What’s this’ we all declared as a bowl of ‘Smoking Something’ was placed before us! Dry Ice used to great effect, the delights were Cromesquis of Pig Feet (errkk)! Crispy Morsels that had a lovely light crunchy coating they are like a Croquette, and a soft melting pork centre with some lemon jelly they were so so good, and this was just another appetiser!
Bread is the life blood of France, just ask my occasional Tutor and owner of 
My Choice was the Spelt Bread which had a great crust, and the Thyme Bread which was like a Croissant but shaped like a traditional Beehive they were both really delicious. There are little ‘nods’ to the surroundings and very obvious was the ‘chain mail’ place mat, and wooden butter knife being linked to the Knights that used to occupy the City.
The ‘Theatre’ carried on, not a dish with a block of butter, or the usual ‘curls’ they have a paddle like wooden butter dish, with ordinary and one laced with Seaweed to provide the salt component, very tasty on the home-made bread.
The last delight before the 1st course was ready, came in a beautifully designed porcelain Chicken Foot, a perfectly cooked Egg, covered in a rich and decadent Mushroom Cream with a bit of Truffle for added decadence! Boy it was so tasty, and we had only completed the appetisers, that set the bar high for the remainder of the meal.
So onto the starter, let’s see if the food was as good as last time. Duck Foie Gras Rougié, Palourdes Cranquettes de Méditerranée, Pistils de Safran à Gégé. It was a full (and I mean FULL) flavoured broth with seared Foie Gras, beautiful Clams and an assortment of vegetable brunois (chopped really small)!
The main course soon arrived and was equally as tasty. I don’t think I have EVER had a fillet of Cod so perfectly cooked! It fell apart, melted in the mouth, was so light and flaky, no rough or slighty stringy edges it was PERFECT. The flavour of the vegetables and broth were perfect with subtle flavours and did not overpower the fish, it was just fab, and all of us had come to pretty much the same conclusion (until the next day, more of that later)!
It maybe a personal thing but the thing most people rememeber about a restaurant is the dessert, it’s the last thing they eat before departing and will have (In good restaurants), a significant visual impact as we knew from our own efforts over the last couple of days. Our dessert had visual impact, lots of it! Pavlova ananas, infusé aux bais sancho, sorbet céleri branche. It was a Pineapple Pavola (deconstructed), infused with Sancho Berries (Japanese pepper) and Celery Sorbet (and some White Chocolate).
The service had been exemplary all night, each dish being described as it was delivered to the table, the final little teaser being little crisp tarts with a fresh Raspberry filling, and some light jelly delights, I cannot remember what they were but I think coconut from memory, we had eaten so many tasty flavours it was still delicious.
All of a sudden, our waiter came to the table, picked up the flower pot which the delights were resting and threw it onto the table, more theatre the pot was made of Chocolate smashed into pieces and threw more hand made delights all over the table, we all burst into laughter not having experienced such fun as the Chocolate cracked, and various delights were exposed…….!!
Things were going to be very complex as we were given an insight into the desserts we were making. Fraisier, Financiers with Rocket Chlorophyll and Mint Syrup, Fried Cherries with Liquorice Syrup, Crème Brûlée with Praline, Eclair St Honoré (not the James Martin version) and ‘LePuits d’Amour’, Peanut, Banana and Lime Dessert etc etc….! I have just checked my blood sugar level and all is ok, I am only going to sample things!
The above picture is the start of 
The finished result was sublime, there was a subtle Banana flavour in the background, the Lime was probably the most prominent but to be honest it was just delicious. There were lost of processes going on each of us doing ‘our bit’, like a brigade in a professional restaurant it was hectic but really good fun.
The Fraisier also has several stages, make a ‘biscuit’ or dacquoise base piped into a metal ring, line the edge with Strawberries, add some Créme Diplomat, a Fruit Pureé, some more Créme Diplomat, smooth the top, make some Strawberry ‘powder’, a Sorbet etc……
Our Chef/Travel Writer buddie Mark was celebrating his birthday so this was a surprise celebration cake to honour the day, it was very well received (and VERY tasty). Happy birthday Mark.
The Eclairs are cut, not in half but 2/3rds the remaining lid being the last 1/3rd (but they were not going to be used at lids, more later).
I mentioned the Choux ‘lids’ earlier, we used them to ‘punch’ small discs of pastry, four per cake, they form part of the decoration and some random texture on top of the ‘Chantilly Cream’, which is piped on the 
Vasily was in charge of the blow lamp, he is a lovely guy living in Switzerland but originally from Russia. He had a great sense of humour as do all the guests and mucked in and joked with the international cooking expedition! We made some small Lemon Tarts with a Meringue top, which he coloured with precision. (He is not trying to colour his fingers!!).
The final result looked like it came out of a professional pastry shop in London, Paul from America had done a fab job with the lemon cream which was nicely sharp, to offset the sweet crown of Meringue. Some grated Lemon zest finished things of nicely.
Let’s extract Chlorophyll from Rocket for a Financier, sounds like a good idea, never done that before!!!!
‘Master Chef’ Vasily was in charge of the piping this time (I was glueing the Puff Pastry to the Choux Bun bases with the dangerous Caramel), others were preparing the Mango and Caramel Creams, it was all hands to the pump.
Before baking, the Meringue Logs were sprinkled with Coconut Powder and when cooked and cooled, layered with the Caramel Cream, then some Mango Cream, then another ‘log’ and repeated. Some added a third layer and used some of the Caramel to coat the sides, sprinkling crumbled Meringue like a pebbled wall, it was going a bit freestyle as people gained their confidence, I simply sprinkled some Meringue dust on the top of mine!
As the various desserts was put together by each member of the group the work surface looked like the back of a Patisserie, lining up with plates of colourful delights.
It’s late and I have been having some great interaction with my new ‘buddie’ Marc. Today has been full on as usual, with a significant amount of cooking, processes, prepping food and spending a lot of time reducing sauces! The ‘international’ group is getting on really well, joking laughing and generally making fun at every opportunity!
I am starting with what was probably the least squeamish (and easiest) thing to do, prepping the Squid. Removing the membrane that covers the white ‘flesh’. Getting rid of the ‘beak’, the hard bony mouth that is inedible, sorting out the tentacles and then dealing with the body, it only takes a short while and all is done.
The Brioche style buns for the Haddock Burgers needed a couple of proving stages, they were buttery and rich, with a pillowy light texture, well worth the effort. Topped with sesame and poppy-seed to add both texture and flavour.
The duck was interesting, but in a really positive way coooking wise. I am not sure what happened but I just got on with it, maybe I have learnt enough but it came natural seperating the various components and in seconds the Breast, Thigh Wings etc. were done in the right way and lay before me, job done! Sorry Duck……
Oh, we had Bream to sort out too, another moment of hmmm, I think I know how to deal with this. It seems the past investment in cookery courses has finally payed off and confidence is growing and growing all the time.
The Haddock Burger (we had Haddock Fillets so no preparation needed), had a Onion relish to provide acidity, dressed leaves, baked Tomato and Lime cream, it was very tasty and very well-balanced. we all munched away commenting on our own personal tastes, all positive. The gang of seven is working like a well oiled engine, despite the language challenges which make translating ‘work orders’ from Robert even more interesting, he has the patience of a French Saint!
We made some extremely complex sauces during the day. Hard frying the Duck carcass, adding Onion, Carrot and Celery followed by White Wine and Water and reducing by over 50% to provide a really full flavoured base, full of all the richness that the remaining Duck scraps could release. 
These stocks, if done properly do take time but the investment is well worth while in both depth and layers of flavour, it’s what the professionals do. When at home I usually have days where i make a bulk load, and make up 1 pint freezer bags full, ready for when I need them.
Whilst the stock was doing its stuff in a separate pan we were getting a ‘spice base’ ready, Acacia Honey was cooked until a light to medium brown, then adding Sherry Vinegar, Orange and Grapefruit pieces, Fresh Ginger, Five Spice, Cinnamon, White Pepper and the Coriander and finally topped up with the reduced Duck Stock, then reduce even further.
The Squid did not escape either, Shallots, Fish Stock (from the Bream carcasses), Noilly-Prat and Lemon juice were reduced. Then Tomato skins and seeds etc. were added from Tomatoes we had turned into a concasse, then some crushed Garlic, Tomato Concentrate and Ground Almonds were added as the reducing continued, with Squid Ink being the final ingredient, Phewwwww!
The Squid dish was very complicated, but seriously tasty. Lots of processes the end result was well worth the effort. We determined that about 70% of the time in preparation was in the stock’s and sauces, which were rich and umptious.
Little goes to waste on these classes, making the most of all the ingredients is quite an important ethos to get into, stretching as far as using the some of the skins we removed from the Tomatoes to make an EXTREMELY tasty edible garnish, crispy Tomato Skins!
We made what was a simple pepper suace to go with the Bream, accompaniement was lightly fried Courgette Julienne, it was a lovely plate of food. As we sit down to each meal, after several hours tuition and cooking there is always wine on the table, Red, White and Rosé to wash things down. Fresh bread of numerous types is also plentiful, useful for mopping up those sauces that required so much effort to make!
About 70% of an Artichoke is thown away during preparation, removing the leaves, cutting off the top and getting rid of the furry center they are an aquired taste, one that seems really enjoyable to me, probably in part due to the number of times I have visited France now. They are a bit fiddly and have to be left in acidulated water until needed as they dis-colour very quickly.
I woke up this morning feeling really good, the sun was shining and despite a late(ish) night there was a sense of excitement in my bones. The itinerary at The French House Party is full on, lots to pack in over a few days so the time is used wisely.
Wandering around the many food stands was a delight, fresh artisan Goats cheese, stunning proper Bread that had come fresh out of the oven that morning, 
There was also a marinated variety, dowsed in Olive Oil and 
The market is considerably ‘savoury’ but also caters for the sweet tooth, which is a bit of a challenge for me but one of my new American serious foodie buddies (he is a chef and food traveller/journalist) said the Nougat was really good (that’s not quite accurate but you get my drift). #awesome
Back in the mini bus we headed back to foodie ‘HQ’ to start the next cooking session, our ‘light lunch’. As we got ready the kitchen was prepared for us. This lunch was interesting, Sliced Potato, Herb Pesto (Rocket and Spinach), Roasted Tomato (only lightly) Salmon and White Cheese, followed by an Apricot Tart. By the way, our tutor Robert Abraham is an absolutely bl@@dy awesome cook with a lifetime of experience. He is VERY patient and open to ‘suggestions’ if they make sense. He puts a LOT of effort into the menus to ensure students learn as many techniques as possible.
The starter was extremely tasty, the Pesto had lost a little bit of its freshness (and vibrant colour) but that happpens sometimes, it was still so tasty though, quite rich and took about an hour to prepare. The white Cheese might be difficut to get in the U.K., it’s a bit like a Cream Cheese but a bit more runny. Drops of Sesame Oil on the Asparagus added another dimension.
Some of the tastiest food can be quite simplistic as in the case of the dessert, until I wanted to add a minor addition! A Simple flaky pastry, loaded with pitted fresh Apricots purchased earlier that day and sprinkled with Demerara Sugar. Nope, I wanted to try an experiment and add a savoury note, some Lemon Thyme. So we went 50/50 to compare the difference. (I obviously liked the addition of the Thyme but could had done with some more as the Apricots were very good and had a strong flavour).
After a break we were back in the kitchen, I said this course was full on! So here we go, Tandoori Style Roast Langoustines with baby Leeks.
Looks simple huh, hell no! There are a load of processes that go into making this dish, book the course to find out as I am not going to tell you, only that the result had everyone going oh, and ah. It was damn good. Yes, damn good.
We all agreed this dish was ‘bl@@dy rich’ but also ‘Bl@@dy Tasty’, it was awesome. This is my interpretation of the plating with a ‘Ying and Yang’ Carrot puree, the three Carrot Tronçon were cooked under a cartouche in Carrot juice, Orange Juice and another ‘secret’ ingredient! There is Pigeon Breast on Foie Gras, Pigeon Leg on Shallot Confit and the two sauces are Carrot and reduced Pigeon jus with some ‘special’ ingredients.
Anyone can cook a Chocolate Soufflé if they know the process. We used a Crème ‘Pat’ and Meringue mixture to great effect and the results were light, fluffy, silky and delicious.
So another adventerous day at The French House Party. It’s only day 2 and much has been learnt, the world has been put to rights multiple times, new cooking techniques have been learnt, we have all probably gained at least an ounce in weight!
The Domaine Le Fort was a surprise on the 1st day, having had a light but very tasty lunch we had some time to unwind after our journey or the offer a a quick tasting, so off we went!!
I Love Gewurztraminer, but sometimes it can be a little too sweet the and Lychee fragrance which it is renowned for, a little too overpowering. This one was was just amazing, and thats with a capital A. and the price only 6 Euro’s. If I had driven, then a couple of cases would have ended up in the boot of the car.
Arriving back at the house we donned aprons and dived into the kitchen to prepare some canapés which was to be our formal introduction to Robert, our first tutor for the next few days. 
The ‘Cheese Marshmallows’ were interesting and divided the group, with some saying ok, others bland, I think they were begging for some texture, others a hot sauce or even more cheese! We also prepared a salad of Prawns, Avocado, Lemon Juice and Herbs, some Cheese Straws and a ‘Cookie’ also made with Prawns Olives and Cheese which were very tasty.
The debate carried on into the evening with respect to the Cheese Marshmallows, we sat down for a 4 course dinner prepared by Robert, with matching local wines. Curried Mussel Soup, Bass with Mango, Lamb and a dessert of Cherries with Brioche Pain Perdu, all very tasty, you can see some of the dishes above.
Having recently attended a Chocolate School with the very talented Mark Tilling, I was encouraged to ‘stretch’ myself a little bit and broaden my skills beyond making a properly tempered bar of Chocolate!
As my regular readers will know, I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes last year so I have made subtle changes to my diet, no Sugar in Tea is the main one, and Desserts are an occasional treat, which to be honest is the way it has always been, I don’t have a really sweet tooth. So I was looking to stretch myself again and decided to have a go at a ‘Dome’ cake, they look a bit challenging and having tried one of William Curley’s from his Boutique in Richmond a while back, if I was 50% as good it would be a result.
If you have warm hands I would wash them under cold water, we want to grate all the Butter into the Flour which has been sieved with the Baking Powder and Sugar. Do it in stages so you can lift the flour with your hands and coats the butter so they become like breadcrumbs, as in the picture. Someone in the house had used the Brittany Salted Butter I had planned to include so had a ‘lightly’ Salted Butter and just added a little extra.
Stick it into the fridge wrapped in clingfilm overnight, or for at least 4 hours. You can then gently roll it to a thickness of 3-4mm and cut with a 6mm round cutter and place on a lined baking tray. This is where I made my 1st mistake, it needs to go back into the fridge to firm up and I used a fluted cutter that was slightly bigger.
We need to cook the Mango after it has been peeled and sliced. Mine took about 40 minutes on a low heat, I added a dash of Water half way through to stop the Mango sticking and burning on the base. We do this because Mango is quite fibrous and we want to break it down as much as possible. Brûlée’s should be smooth and silky so we will be sieving the final product anyway, but it’s worth going through this stage to get a much flavour as possible.
Once the Mango is cooked it needs some serious blitzing. We have a ‘Ninja’ which made the Mango into a puree in no time at all. Brûlée means burnt or scorched Cream so we have to heat the Cream, Mango and Sugar up to a point that it has just boiled and started to rise up the sides of the pan, then take it off the heat.
Then, pop in the fridge to set. After an hour or two, pop into the Freezer, we need them frozen to get their White Chocolate and Lime coating before going into the Coconut Mousse.
These are the Sable Bréton after 18 mins at 180 degrees, golden and delicious they need to cool right down and go into an air tight tin as we won’t need them for a day or so.
So we have our Frozen Brûlée. You could miss this next step but I wanted to add another textural component into the dish along with a subtle surprise of citrus in the form of Lime.
The tempering process used provides the textural ‘snap’ that would not happen if you just ‘melted and poured’. Traditionally quite complex tempering has been simplified by the use of something called MyCryo, which is readily available online and is in reality powdered Cocoa Butter.
As you can see from the notes above, for White Chocolate we need to heat to 40-45 degrees, err on caution and keep to the lower end. Use a Metal bowl over hot water, a Digital Thermometer is needed to do this properly, again easily available online for a few pounds.
The Gelatin Sheets I used from Sous Chef are 23cm x 7 cm and weigh 2.5 grms (approx). Each sheet can set 100ml of fluid into a soft texture, but are affected by milk products, sugar (sets firmer) and alcohol (too strong sets looser).
The Dome Cakes need a glaze, a shiny coating to finish them off. I looked at several, White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Cocoa based but opted for a recipe in 
Let’s sort out the Sablé Breton next. Take a good handful of Pistachio Nuts and blitz them in a blender, not too fine as we want a bit of texture. I use Pistachios a lot, in Middle Eastern Cooking and find the ones in the shops are ‘ok’ but usually have a brown skin which will not look (or taste) nice. They are also quite expensive so I made an investment and purchased a Kilo of skinned Iranian Pistachios as in the picture above, again from Sous Chef who are a very good online supplier.
This bit was challenging as I had never done it before. The glaze needs to be at about 70 deg F (runny but not hot). Take the domes out of the Freezer, de-mould and place flat side down on a cooling rack over a baking tray. I had a sheet of baking paper underneath to capture the excess. Gently pour over, I started at the middle and used a gentle circular motion slowly moving to the outside. Put back into the Freezer for 5-10 minutes. Repeat the the process and back into the Freezer. Almost done!!!
To serve I put a bit of the leftover glaze in the middle of the Sablé Breton and using a small offset stepped palette knife gently placed the dome on top. Then Enjoy.
I was watching Masterchef (UK) the other night after a long day at work. It’s a usual routine for me, GBBO Créme del a Créme, Rick Stein, anything but the soaps which I started to turn off over 20 years ago as they were just too depressing!
This was a VERY popular course, over twenty of us paired up around the numerous workstations, the Season Cookery School is extremely well equipped and Jackie gave everyone time and attention as we worked our way through the various dishes.
I have cooked both Malaysian and Thai food before, you will find numerous recipes on this blog but I am still glad I invested the money to attend as I learnt so much more around technique which was one of the reasons for booking in the first place.
You can see that each person has a good amount of workspace with a shared Induction Hob and Oven, Knives are VERY sharp, supplied by 
The Rendang was started at the beginning of the day as it had to cook for several hours, and two variants were prepared. One with Beef for the meat eaters and the other with 
We had our Jackfruit in cans, it looks a little bit like Pineapple and when we got to taste the Rendang Curry it had a very subtle fruity taste but also savoury at the same time, it was quite delicious and something I will be looking out for in the future.
Jackie was great fun and very engaging, her life story is fascinating starting in the NHS and then deciding to ‘chuck it all in’ and move into the food industry via some serious trips abroad with the family. Some of the stories she told were really very funny and she was able to cook and talk at the same time which is actually quite difficult if you watch Saturday Kitchen, and see some of the presenters falter!
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As usual, there were a number of ‘helpers’ clearing stuff away and making sure we had everything we needed, and Sylvain who runs the Season School was an active participant also getting stuck in when needed.
I had an amazing day with Jackie, Sylvian and the rest of the ‘pupils’ it was hard work, great fun and highly recommended.
The weather was miserable as I jumped onboard the train to Bath Spa station, on arrival the sun was shinning out of The Bertinet Cookery School as Spanish Chef Supremo Omar Allibhoy was in town, teaching 12 eager cookery enthusiasts and I was on the list!
We were going to prepare several dishes from different parts of Spain and at the end sit down on the communal table and ‘feast’, which is always a pleasant and fitting end to several hours graft in the kitchen! On the menu was Gazpacho de Sandia (chilled Watermelon soup), Higaditos al Jerez Dulce (Chicken Livers with Sweet Sherry and Spices), Arroz Melosos de Seta (Paella with Mushrooms and Cod), 
Blimey, apart from the really tasty and slightly un-familiar menu some new techniques to get to grips with, we started on the Mallorcan dessert. An enriched dough was made using an ‘industrial’ grade mixer purely due to the quantity we were making, you could do this in a Kenwood or Kitchen Aid quite easily. We had to get the gluten working hard so this was not a 5 minute process, once done (about 10-15 minutes), the dough was left to rest whilst we worked on the other dishes.
As we followed through the menu, Omar spent lots of time explaining some of the interesting facts about Spanish Cuisine, it’s ‘subtle’ not in your face and I personally think it’s a shame that a vast number of tourists only seem to focus on fast food chains and ‘British fry up’s’, Spain has so much more to offer if you make a little effort.
The 
We had some prepared Stock on the hob which was going to be used to make the Paella dish. This was not a traditional ‘dry’ Paella so familiar to tourists but a ‘sloppy’ one even beyond the wetness of a Risotto.
So, we are making a dessert and then add 
Who loves Chicken Livers? Surprisingly Omar put his hand up as he asked the question. Fine in Parfait and pâté but cooked, nope, except this way. This was to be an appetizer to get the taste buds singing before the Gazpacho. Marinated in some ‘special’ ingredients you can find the recipe in Omar’s new book 
Rather than just show and tell, Omar was also hands-on, assisting and guiding all 12 of us during the 5-6 hours of cooking we were to complete before sitting down and eating our efforts. He was very enthusiastic and great fun, telling us more about his experiences in the restaurant industry and giving us hints and tips as we prepared each dish.
You have to stretch the Ensaidmada before ‘gently’ coiling and allowing to prove for a couple of hours, traditionally this would be done overnight to develop more flavour but our time was limited. Once risen it goes into a hot oven until a deep brown, not the light golden colour we are normally used to when baking.
Ignore the ‘rustic’ look of the Chicken Livers, they were to die for, absolutely delightful, tangy, sweet and soft. We served them on some toasted Sour Dough and decided to crack open the wine at the same time as dinner was nearly ready and quick taster of these would get us over the line.
The Ensaidmada’s were ready in about 19 minutes at 190deg, the top one is the savoury version, you can seen small pieces of Sobrasada speckled on the surface. The Gazpacho was probably the easiest dish we made, assemble the ingredients and whizz in a blender. Adding Melon was unusual but it was not long before we sat done and started tasting, chatting and talking about the techniques we had learnt and discussing food in general.
The Gazpacho was delicious, it was quite hot in the cookery school so a cool refreshing slightly sweet starter did the job perfectly. Bomba Rice is very picky, you HAVE to get the timings correct otherwise you end up with over cooked grains that are like sludge. Shortly after finishing our starter the Arroz Melosos De Seta was ready for the final ingredient to be added, Salt Cod. This only needed a few minutes and we were ready to serve.
You can see the slightly ‘sloppy’ nature of the dish in the picture above. It is supposed to be like this, wetter than a Risotto it did taste subtle and was also delicious, the Paprika creating warmth and smokiness, the mushrooms meatiness and the Rice had textures but probably not the al dente described in Italian Cuisine, it was slightly beyond that stage.
Once the Ensaidmada is cooked both versions are given a good coating of Icing sugar. The savoury version might be considered a bit like the Moroccan Pastilla dish, Pigeon Pie with Cinnamon and Icing Sugar in Filo Pastry, but in this case we are using Sobrasada which is a cured spicy Pork. It was unusually delicious again, difficult to describe unless you can taste it yourself.
