Restaurant Critic Attends Cooking School to Improve Culinary Skills
London, UK - Ben McCormack, a seasoned restaurant critic with 26 years of experience, recently embarked on a week-long cooking course at Leith’s School of Food and Wine in west London. Despite his extensive career in food writing, McCormack admitted to having limited cooking skills, relying mostly on beans on toast since his university days.
Course Details: - What: Key Cooking Skills Course. - Where: Leith's School of Food and Wine, West London. - When: McCormack and his partner James took a week off work for the course. - Who: Ben McCormack, James, and seven other students under headteacher Hannah Maclennan.
Leith’s School of Food and Wine, established by Prue Leith in 1975, has trained notable alumni like chef-patron Henry Harris and food writer Lorraine Pascale. McCormack and his partner James joined the course to overcome their reliance on dining out and to tackle professional embarrassment McCormack felt due to his lack of cooking skills.
Course Highlights: - Monday: Participants learned to joint a chicken and prepare sesame and soy-glazed chicken, and a more complex chilli con carne. - Tuesday: The focus was on bread-making, though McCormack’s attempt was unsuccessful due to a salt-sugar mix-up. - Wednesday: The class made choux pastry for profiteroles, teaching the essentials of pastry work. - Thursday: Students made lemon and poppy seed cake, enhancing their baking skills. - Friday: The final day involved cooking a roast duck breast with bramble sauce, dauphinoise potatoes, and green beans, along with pesto-topped mini cheese biscuits.
Conclusion: The course, costing £1,025, culminated with a certificate and a glass of Prosecco for each participant. McCormack found the week valuable not only for the cooking skills acquired but also for the personal satisfaction of being able to prepare and serve a meal confidently. Despite recognizing that mastery in cooking requires time and practice, McCormack saw a transformation in his culinary abilities, ready to integrate the new recipes into his home cooking repertoire.