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Back to school?

BFF and I finally got ourselves organised and, a year after getting the vouchers, finally made our way to the Nottingham School of Cookery for the Magic of the Mediterranean day. We had struggled to find combination of days we were free and courses we were interested in, and this was the best combination.

The day is there to inspire you into how to ” bring ‘sunshine’ into your cooking” with dishes from France, Italy, Spain, Sicily and Morocco on the billing. We also got Turkish meatballs and hummus on the day, and never sure which country lays claim to hummus! Not to mention that all the washing up, weighing up and mise en place was going to be done for us. Finally, I would have an Adam, in the style of Raymond Blanc!

The building isn’t exactly what we were expecting, as it’s in a former car showroom. Of course, it means there is plenty of space, and I am sure it makes it quite ideal for all the filming that goes on there. Claire Tuttey is a clear and engaging course leader, and ably assisted by Ben Mason, who was definitely the Jamie Oliver to her Delia.

I’m going to start with the good, in that BFF and I had a great day out together. And if you’re looking for a generalist course and something to give you some ideas for new supper dishes, then this is probably for you. And I recognise that BFF and I are a tough crowd to play to. But I don’t care how tough the crowd is, some basic spelling mistakes in the recipes are really unforgivable.

I knew that I was going to find it tough when feta, chorizo and felafel were all misspelt on the front page. Don’t even get me onto “stiring”.

As an aside, one of the other course members asking me when the baby was due didn’t really put me in a better frame of mind. I was rather amazed that someone had got to late 50s without knowing that was a question you don’t ask unless you’re on really safe ground!

I spent a very long time boning chicken thighs for a tagine, whereas I would have just thrown them in, and the meat would have fallen off the bone when it was cooked, not to mention added in extra flavour. There were a whole load of dishes going on, and with 6 of us attending you got plenty of coaching if you wanted it. It was great to sit down to lunch and experience all the dishes, although no one ate very much of any one dish as there was so much to go at.

Now, I have no idea of the etiquette or norms of cookery courses. In some ways, it might have been better to have given us nothing to take away, but we ended up with a few odd bits. And as we drove home, we remembered more dishes had been made, that had loads left, and that were still there. The meatballs. The hummus, which we never even got to taste. The Iberian fritters. The two versions of cous cous. My lovely chicken tagine.

But hey, at least someone must have eaten well last night!

The school is well established, so there must be plenty of people who have been and enjoyed these courses. As I said, if you’re looking for a generalist approach then this is a good school for this. But to my mind, if you wanted to learn about Indian, this would be like Delia teaching you Indian, rather than Atul Kochhar.

Now I know, you get what you pay for, and this day was £125. But when I can go for a day at The School of Artisan Food, which is what I really hanker after, for £95 including lunch, then I know where I would go to. And learning bread with Richard Bertinet is only £145.

If you’re thinking about a course for a foodie then do a bit of homework, and think about the kind of level they are already at, and ask questions about the course. And maybe book for them to go with a friend. If I hadn’t gone with BFF it wouldn’t have been half as much fun!

Fabulous photo by Gary Birnie over on Flickr.

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