It was a beautiful morning, I was up and excited for the days tuition and cooking, sleep had been restful, the Harbour Hotels bed and pillows agreed with me, after a cup of tea and shower I walked down to the harbour to look at the day boats before heading to the school, a daily habit.
The communal table at the far end of the ‘kitchen’ was my starting position, welcomed by Phil, ‘what would you like to drink Jules’, I would alternate between Latte and Cappuccino, soon the others would drift in and discuss the previous evenings activities, we were all staying local but in different hotels and guest houses. I still had the previous evenings meal on my mind, it was really good, what were we going to cook today was my next thought.
Nick came over and asked us to the front of the kitchen, ready for the next demonstration, we were going to cook Mussels, hmmmmm, what did I have last night, these were different, no XO, but Garlic, Tomato, Chilli and Parsley, delicious. We were taken through the process, and at the same time questions were asked and stories told about Nicks chef life, interesting and amusing at the same time, he had some great stories to tell which got everyone engaged.
Interesting was the source and reasoning for picking a particular supplier of mussels, West Country Mussels, they are amazing. Grown offshore near Fowey they are very plump, have a thinner shell and much less gritty than the mussels you get rope grown in estuaries and close to the shoreline, they were the same ones I had the previous evening.
After Nick prepared each dish we all got to take a picture of the finished meal, we also got a taster so we could understand what our dish should be like flavour wise, obviously everyone has their own palate so there was always an amount of ‘interpretation’ here and there! Above left is Nicks taster, right is my lunch at the communal table, it was very tasty.
It’s Sunday and earlier today there was an episode of Ricky Stein’s Seaford Odyssey on TV, he was in his original small kitchen at ‘The Seafood”, cooking Lemon Sole with a delicious spiced butter, I know it’s delicious as we all cooked the very same dish last week, on day 2. Learning the 2 common methods of preparing the fish before cooking was fascinating, can you spot the difference in the picture above. There were a couple of amusing stories relating to this, if you want to find out you will need to book the course and learn some fab skills at the same time.
Off we went in our pairs, chatting, chopping, slicing and preparing, deciding which method to go with, it made a difference but ultimately, a delicious grilled flatfish with flavoured butter ended up on the dinner plate, along with crisp glass of Muscadet this time, served by the ever present Phil, who also advised, guided and ‘got stuff ready’, so we could focus on the cooking and make the most of our time.
Excuse my french but Gurnard is a bugger of a fish to prepare, it has an awkward shape and bones in unusual places, Nick sorted one like it was child’s play, the rest of us took a little longer! This was a brilliant dish from ‘Rick Steins India’ book, a Madras Curry base packed with tomatoes, mustard seeds, onion and Tamarind it was a belter. This could easily be prepared using Cod or any other firm white fish, it wasn’t too challenging except the fish preparation, one of the reasons we were all attending the school.
Singapore Chilli Crab was our next adventure, after Nick explained how to tell the difference between male and female we all got a crab to prepare, its not too difficult once you have been shown the good and not so good bits. No part of the crab is poisonous, some parts are just unpleasant so don’t believe all the stories you may have heard about dead mans fingers!
We had all been snacking on demo dishes and eating our own efforts, I was conscious that I was out again that evening so put the breaks on and let my colleague have my efforts, so that I had some space for the special event later on.
The ‘Tuesday demo’ was a delicious looking Indonesian Seaford Curry (£39.95 in the restaurant), served with a Green Bean and Grated Coconut Salad, Crispy Shallots and Garlic. We were shown the various stages and when completed everyone was given a serving, it was very popular.
In the summer, Padstow is heaving with people, this time of year it’s a peaceful idyl, there are a few tourists around but come evening it’s almost empty. I went for my routine stroll, the evening was warm, the forecast rain had not arrived and I sat by the harbour looking at the fishing boats and imagining the horror of being on one, during really rough seas, not something I would want to experience.
St Petroc’s Bistro was my evenings destination, the executive chef Mark O’Hagen and I had a conversation on 10th November 2021, I had suggested adding some black pudding to the pigeon salad dish I had that evening, we had remained in contact ever since.
Starting with service Yaz was going to make sure I had a great evening the menu arriving promptly, along with a ‘Tarquins Rick Stein’ gin and Fevertree Tonic to set the evening going. As the previous evening I had been looking at the menu for weeks before, trying to reduce my options to a point of decision, it was still difficult.
There were appetiser options before starters and something caught my eye, Salt Cod Brandade with Olive Tapenade and Sour Dough toast, that sounded interesting and something I had not eaten before so it went straight to the top of the ‘must have’ list.
What a decision, absolutely delicious…. Notable (I’m fussy), the Sour Dough was perfectly grilled, no soft lazy edges it was brilliantly done, I know its just a bit of bread but when you have a soft Brandade you need the contrast, it was perfect. As for the Brandade it was delicious, meltingly soft, seasoned with a spread of Olive Tapenade it was a perfect way to get the taste buds going, boooom.
For starters I chose the Smoked Salmon with Horseradish Cream and Walnut Bread, another delicious banging dish. Yaz had been the perfect host so far, checking on me occasionally, not imposing, a beautiful balance of service and attention, a credit to St. Petroc’s.
Back to the starter, the Salmon had a delicate smoke, not heavy and intrusive but subtle and sitting in the background, the Horseradish Cream had the right amount of heat, the chives providing a hint of onion, the Walnut Bread was a perfect match, enough Walnut to be noticeable and offer some texture, simple done brilliantly.
It was the main event and Yaz walked up with my Bass, Beure Blanc and Spinach, it looked fab. Bright Yellow butter sauce, obviously using quality eggs again, St.Ewe as I was to find out later in the week and perfectly cooked Bass fillet, crispy skin and soft giving flesh, it was delightful. My chosen wine for the evening was a bottle of Domain Horgelus which was a perfect match, cutting through the rich sauce like hot knife through butter, what a meal.
A busy day in the kitchen prepping, cooking eating and just the best evening, beautiful service from Yaz and Mark, you knocked it out the park (again), thank-you for making my lonesome evening so enjoyable and memorable.
(Just a quick note, I paid full price for this week in Padstow and have received no incentives or persuasion that would affect my comments and reviews, they are all my personal and unbiased experiences)
……………………………………………Until Next Time……………………L8ers………………
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.
The stunning 
There is a SERIOUS amount of cooking on this course and it is excellent value for money, preparing and eating local French traditional cuisine, three courses, with local cheese and copious quantities of wine to wash things down twice a day, and don’t forget the breakfast, you don’t go hungry.
There were 8 of us on the course, here we have left to right Julia (From Tasmania!), Elena and her mum Judith, David (the chef/host) and John, in the kitchen were two friends from St. Petersburg (Russia), the attendees come from all over the world, in this case everyone but Elena had attended at least one previous course, some more than one which demonstrates how good the Gascony Cookery School really is. This was a session on gutting, de-scaling and filleting fish, we were all very comfortable and confident by the end of the week.
We had a comprehensive agenda starting most days with breakfast at 8:30, and cooking starting at 9:00. The times are really important, there was a lot to get through and we could not afford to get behind as we would not have anything to eat.
So would I recommend this school, hell yeah it’s awesome. My second visit was just like the 1st which is difficult to describe as you HAVE to experience it for yourself. Just to be clear, I paid full price and have received no incentives for this review, it’s me, what I think and as good as a description of the experience I can give.
A course like this needs excellent ingredients, seafood HAS to be fresh and ours was no exception. The planning that goes into ensuring the right products are available is not easy, especially when the school location is in the middle of nowhere!
It was not just about preparing Fish and Crustaceans, the stunning Crab Tart required a very delicate 
Just as difficult, I think even more so was the 
Julian Rolfe 