living NEWS

ELLE BELLE IN THE KITCHEN

22 Oct 2012
Comments: 1
2864 Views
1

It is no secret that I can’t cook, or bake, for that matter. Clueless is how I roll in the kitchen. My boyfriend, however, knows his way around a kitchen and when he has the time and the inclination to cook it’s a nice change from Monks Chinese and Mr Chang take-outs. For his birthday, I decided to spoil him with a four-week cooking course for two at Sense of Taste in Cape Town. I thought this move was genius since this would encourage his love for cooking (an out for me) or perhaps ignite mine (which is non-existent).

So last week we had the first of four cooking classes with chef Peter Ayub.

Deirdre-035-(4)

When we got there, David had to tell me to calm down as, when I was dressed and ready in my apron, I began nudging him with ‘do you think we’ll be the best in the class?’ He immediately told me to calm down. (It was half an hour before the class started; I am just a little competitive by nature.) As the class kicked off, I soon realised that this was a cooking course to enjoy, time out from a busy week and the opportunity to have fun, learn and be creative in the kitchen, not a competition. Chef Peter is very relaxed, humble, fun and casual, something I didn’t expect for someone who has cooked for Beyoncé and Jay-Z and Kim and Khloe Kardashian. In fact, he’s so relaxed that the evening kicked off with wine and Windhoek draught on tap. We introduced ourselves, chatted and asked questions before chef Peter began demonstrating each course (making it look like a piece of cake, of course) and casually ended each demonstration with a ‘now, plate up’.

Cooking-at-Sense-Of-Taste

It was so refreshing to meet new people and learn from a chef who is not about showing off or showing us his skills but about teaching the basics of cooking. In one lesson we made a salmon rose and beetroot salad with crème fraîiche tartar sauce, a Turkish chicken börek with sumac yogurt dressing and saffron oil and a chicken roulade. It was definitely a challenge for me with a lot to take in but I learnt a lot about food and about cooking. I would seriously recommend this course to anyone wanting to learn about cooking and hungry for it.

The first lesson introduced us to the correct knife-handling techniques and chopping styles.

We learnt how to cut a chicken and chop an onion. (Who knew there was a ‘correct way’ but yes, there is.)

Salmon rose and beetroot salad with crème fraîiche tartar sauce

Salmon-Rose

Salmon-dish  Salmon-Dish1

Ingredients  Spinach

SOT

We got to eat all the food we made. This is a definite value for money experience as you get an apron, all the ingredients, drinks and the best possible cooking knowledge you can dream of!

Turkish chicken börek with sumac yogurt dressing and saffron oil

Class-One

Sense-Of-Taste

To be honest, a rookie like me couldn’t take it all in – this is serious information overload but your recipes are sent to your inbox after each class.

One class down and three to go! So far, so good, and the fact that we were the first to arrive and last to leave is proof of just how much we enjoyed it.

Watch this space – I’ll be updating you on each lesson here. Move over Heston, we’re tackling seafood in class two, Italian style in class three and meat and sushi in class four!

Book at senseoftaste.co.za or e-mail debbie@senseoftaste.co.za for more information.

Comments

Leave a comment
*
*

*

Rusty on 10/23/2012: Looks amazing Jen!