Saturday, 10 March, 2018
There are two kinds of people – those who eat to live (I was one of these until I was perhaps 19) and those who live to eat (this is me now).
My mother was a good-enough cook. There was nothing fancy in her repertoire. She made an amazing roast beef and yorkshire pudding, although looking back I imagine the beef would be too well-done for me now. There were old British favourites, such as pease pudding cooked with boiled gammon, meat pies, sausages (usually with liver and bacon) in a tomato onion gravy…and the Jewish favourites of chicken soup with lokshen (noodles) and cold things like pickled or salted herring.
When I was 14 I went with my sister on a holiday experience with a French family. Only French was spoken. I wasn’t keen on the food, which came in courses and was ridiculously formal. In my later teens I travelled alone a bit, in London and in Liverpool, and tried a bunch of things, now familiar but then exotic – pasta and pizza come to mind. Then when I was 19 I went back to France – to visit my cousin in Paris – at 19 she was already married with a baby – and really discovered food. I no longer remember what we ate but it intrigued me. There was such a mix of simple flavours but nothing was accidental.
That’s when I learned to cook.
In Toronto I found cooking classes that fulfilled everything on my wishlist. Each person with their own cooking station, each person preparing their own food, enough to taste, enough to take home for at least one amazing meal, a great chef-teacher, great back up and help from their assistant, a stool for when my legs got tired, interesting and varied menus… This was the Calphalon brand. I attended as many as I could afford. While the quality changed over the years, I kept going back. And then they closed. No class since has been as good.
In London I haven’t found the same but Atelier des Chefs isn’t bad. The main differences are: No individual cooking stations, much of the preparation done as a team, no guarantee you can eat your own food. All minuses in my opinion but I’m trying to enjoy this experience on its own merits.
I had the slowest bus in the East going to the class and thought I’d be extremely late. Just getting out of my neighbourhood took half an hour, whereas it usually takes five to ten minutes. We crept along but got there in the end.
I wasn’t very late but I had missed the general introduction and handwashing time. I put on my plastic apron and joined the group – there were 11 of us and our Chef’s name was Al.
Our menu for today would be:
– Fresh pasta dough
– Goats’ Cheese and Walnut Tortellini and Ravioli
– Fresh Tagliatelle,Red Pepper Pesto and Rocket
– Salsa verde
Finally I know how to make pasta! I’ll buy a pasta machine and go for it. And experiment. They adjusted the red pesto for me since – peppers! 🙁
And as I came out of the class and turned onto the main street, St Pauls was right there and looking good in the twilight and the view was still good at my bus stop to go home.
Not a master yet but pasta chef hat on! (Ask me for recipes or I’ll cook some for you next time we meet…)
Looks good. I’ll save my carbs for a half portion at the next opportunity.
the plate of pasta above is a half portion! there should be twice the amount of tagliatelle, two tortellini, and two ravioli. i could barely get through this half plate – was stuffed for hours and hours. but yes, i’ll cook some for you for sure
I miss Calphalon! Loved the class we shared. Kept wanting to go back for another class and that ridiculously expensive piano wire whisk – and never did.
I, too, liked how they separated out the food you made versus the rest of the class. It’s a shame this isn’t the norm.
Enjoyed learning more here about your history with food exploration as you grew up. So different from my experience! Although I must admit that I didn’t learn to like Asian food until I went away to college (although we went to Chinese restaurants while I was young, I’ve never been a fan of Moo Goo Gai Pan and things my folks would order – my brother and I would eat the spareribs) and found an amazing Polynesian restaurant. And no sushi until my first real job, at a Japanese company!
am forever searching, allison. i think there are a few in toronto but difficult to find. have you looked at depanneur? they have wonderful things listed but i’ve only ever tried their lovely food delivery. now, in torino i wanted to book a class but didn’t get to one in the end – she didn’t even let you cook much, said that she did it because you’d not know what it was supposed to be like. that’s italy for ya! fabulous class in lyon one year. learned so much and ate dinner hours and hours later – i would go back in a heartbeat in fact, i may just do this if i return to torino – it’s only two hours away