The flight wasn’t too bad only 10 or eleven hours and I was on my adventures again, with 29 colleagues, all top performers, and the destination was Mexico.
The Banyan Tree at Mayakoba on the Maya Riviera is a luxury hotel, everyone gets a villa with private pool, lots of outside seating to chill and listen to the birds talking to each other, it was paradise. Each villa gets a bicycle for each occupant, or alternatively pick up the phone and an eco friendly buggy will come and pick you up!
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,
These trips are full on, the itinerary is jam packed and on this one, I had added a couple of extra’s, a cookery course that I have already posted about, and a trip to the ancient site at Tulum, an important historical port which was on my bucket list, and now ticked off.
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- Amazing Fresh Fruit
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- Mexican Breakfast
Breakfast at the Banyan Tree was nuts but in a positive way as the choice was endless. I opted to go local and was glad I did, a cookery station prepared various options each morning, if you wanted Sausage, Bacon and Eggs that was available on the buffet station. The fruit was delicious, fresh, nicely prepared and extremely tasty with lots of variety. Unusual, but very good was the Bacon Wrapped…………Banana with the Eggs. Nice!
The first activity was ATV’s (All Terrain Vehicles), followed by some history on the Mayan Civilisation and a dip in a Cenote. The morning flew by and it as soon time for lunch, hurray.
Lunch was at La Fondita, part of the Mayakoba complex where we were staying and was to be a real treat. We were presented with numerous ‘Tostadas’ laden with delicious toppings such as Ceviche Mixto (Mixed Seafood, Tomato, Onion, Avocado, and Black Habanero Salsa) and Atún con Chicharrón (Tuna, Habanero, Avocado, Lime, Red Onion, Crispy Pork Rinds) which was particularly good and I managed more than one! There were Meat, Chicken and Vegetarian options and they were all FAB.
A ‘nice swim at my villa’ was just what was needed after the mornings activity as I had not dipped completely in the Cenote, but just dangled my feet. Those little fish that nibble your toes in the various resorts around the Med were a natural phenomena in the pool of water so I got my feet tickled by their nibbling instead! The evenings activity was to be a ‘meal in a cave’ and ‘Chaak’ the Water God was one of the statues that were to great us as we walked up to our evening venue, Rio Secreto.
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 main course was fine but for me the standout dishes were the starter, a Tamale, filled with Cream Cheese and served with a mild Pepper Sauce and the take on a Cheesecake which was delightful, a crisp shell with a sweet cheese filling, very tasty and a beautiful light finish. Time for bed, #Stuffed.
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 Rosa Negra, a ‘hip’ goto restaurant with a reputation for food and entertainment.
They must have been having a very off night, there are loads of reviews saying this is the best restaurant in Cancun, oh dear! The beetroot starter was MASSIVE, way too big, ugly in fact. It was completely un-balanced and from what I saw, most plates where sent back with at least 1/2 the food uneaten. The concept was fine, but reduce the Beetroot by 2/3’s and increase the Goats Cheese Mouse by 400% and you would have a fantastic dish. The fish was style over substance, apparently there was Hoisin Sauce but the Salty Soy was so strong you could not taste it. The Carrot Cake was sweet, sweet, too sweet, much too sweet! Sorry this was my worst meal of the whole trip which was a shame as a little attention to detail and it could have been amazing, I guess the head chef had a night off!
The following morning was our last before moving on to Tulum, breakfast was a delicious Blue Corn Quesadilla stuffed with Courgette Flowers and Oaxaca cheese, yumm. After a few hours on a 44 Foot luxury Catamaran and a light lunch we were ready for dinner again! This time it was ‘CATCH’ in Playa del Carmen.
Catch was amazing, the food was amazing, the views over the town were also very good, fireworks kicking off as we ate course after course after course! Standout dishes were the ‘Hellfire Rolls’ (spicy Tuna Two ways, Green Apple and Balsamic), ‘Catch Ceviche’ (Crab, Caribbean Lobster, Shrimp, Scallop, Mango and Orange Ponzu), ‘Wagyu Short Rib Taco’s (Huitlacoche Aioli, Guacamole, Mango & Serrano Relish), in fact, it was all bloody delicious! Next Stop Tulum.
What can I say about Tulum………traffic jams, slow traffic, building, Taboo Beach Club, Casa Malca and some historic ruins (about 30 of them just down from Mayakoba) 🙂 Its a hip place and our stop before reaching our hotel was the beach club. It was slow, lazy, relaxing and just the thing after a few busy days. Lunch was fantastic, probably the best Seabass (Branzino) I have ever eaten, it was beautiful. The Ceviche starter was delish as was the Ricotta Orange Cheesecake.
We all relaxed for a few hours, taking in the atmosphere, the DJ was amazing and the Saxophone player, walking around and amongst the guests was extremely good, it was a really delightful afternoon and it was soon time to book into our hotel, Pablo Escobars’ old hideaway, now a boutique hotel Casa Malca, about 20 mins away
Almost done, phew, I’m nearly full up. Casa Malca has a style of its own, eclectic, eccentric and hip. Previously Pablo Escobars hideaway it’s now a boutique hotel owned by an America art dealer which makes for some interesting items spread around the property. This was our last location before flying back to the UK.
Evening dinner was very pleasant, the restaurant has a new chef and the food was exemplary if not that Mexican. After getting up early to go to the ruins and feeling somewhat hungry (I have no idea why, after the previous few days), breakfast called and a interesting cup of tea (which was very nice) and a freshly cooked Omelette, which was the tastiest I have ever eaten and beautifully presented. This was not quite the finale to this epic adventure. We had one last stop for lunch at Mina, another Beach Club, Burritos and Pizza which were nicely cooked, the kitchen very open plan.
…………………………..Until next time…………….L8ers……………………
I should quickly mention that on our return journey we spent a few hours at a school for disadvantaged children, donating a load of food for breakfast, for some the only meal they get each day. We also played and watched them smile with beams of happiness, that we would spend time with them, it was a wonderful end to the trip.
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.
It was 03:45 and I was awake with excitement as I was about to start another cooking vacation at The French House Party, the plane to Toulouse was due to depart at 07:35 and I had a taxi to take me to the airport arriving at 04:30!
As well as structured tuition there are a variety of trips organised depending on the time of the year, our 1st was to be to Domaine La Louvière, a vineyard in the Malpère region at the foot of the Pyrenees and what a lovely trip it was to be. The soil is a challenge in this region and the word Malpère means ‘poor stone’, a reference to the poor agricultural ground that Is required to produce grapes, in fact it has its advantages but requires a lot of manual labour to produce the best results.
I think the the brand is awesome! Gem Harris, the Australian general manager explained the philosophy of the organic vineyard and wine production, and the brand which stems from the wolves which used to gather at the foothills of the Pyrenees, watching ready for the hunt. Each wine has its own special identity, the eye catching graphics produced by an Austrian lady which I think are just brilliant and very unique. We tasted several of the wines on offer of course and had a tour of the productions facility which was very modern and clean.
Interesting was the use ‘Bat Huts’ to encourage bats to nest around the vineyard, they are great at keeping the insect population naturally low without having to use non-organic practises. If you subscribe to ‘Naked Wines’ in the U.K. these delicious wines are likely to become available in the near future.
On arrival back at Domaine St. Raymond we were treated to a delicious 3 course meal and a cheese course, well we are in France!
It’s been a while, too long in fact since I have donned a Chef’s apron and spent time learning some new skills and techniques of the culinary kind so the opportunity to spend a day with the Masterchef 2011 winner, Tim Anderson was too good an opportunity to miss!
The Bertinet Cookery School is in Bath, I have been visiting frequently over the last few years and been fortunate to spend some with some fantastic chefs. On the train journey in I searched YouTube for evidence of Tims’ cooking, other than the Masterchef series where I had seem him win in 2011, and found a few videos to watch and get into the mood.
There were 9 of us cooking and I teamed up with David and Jamal as we set to the various recipes that were given to us at the start of the session. We were going to cook some of the food in Tims’ new book 
So how about ‘Noodles in a Bun’! 
Tim gave us lots of anecdotes and talked of his many travels to the ‘bonkers’ city that is Tokyo which was fascinating, explaining how things work so 
It was a very ‘hands-on’ day, lots of prep getting dishes to a point of readiness and then cooking at the last minute. One interesting dish out of the menu used Salmon ‘scraps’ cooked into fried Rice, a great way of ‘eeking’ the last inch of flavour out of waste that would normally be thrown away. Tim showed us what to do before we all set about doing our own.
The sessions are always relaxed at the cookery school, but each ‘team’ creates a bond, shares life experiences and its amazing how you very quickly forget about the week before or think about the week ahead, there is a ‘bubble’ that you enter and its surprisingly relaxing, even though you are all busy, working together preparing great food.
We were progressing really well so our chef tutor Tim decided to go ‘off piste’ and chuck in an extra dish which he demonstrated to us. 
Another ‘treat’ was a cocktail using a Japanese ingredient, 
So, another fantastic day with a great bunch of people all sharing a love of food. The Bertinet Cookery school is extremely well organised, properly equipped and always uses top quality ingredients. Tim Anderson was brilliant, made everyone real relaxed and showed an extensive knowledge of Japans food culture, another day I won’t forget, and new skills to practise in the future.
Julian Rolfe 