l'atelier des chefs cookery school, st paul's - review

I’ve often fantasized I’d take quite well to the life of a baker. Commuting in the quiet of the night, surrounded by warm ovens and glorious smells. I’d sport a tall and floppy white chefs hat like in Ratatouille, have incredible forearms, and my working day would be over by sunrise. Not to mention all that bread.

When it comes to what I could feasibly go without for the rest of my life when faced with the ‘would you rather’ conundrum, bread does not feature. The usual suspects - alcohol, pasta, potatoes, meat – are all possibilities (if it really came down to it). But bread, never. The Turkish blood in me would boil in protest.

I would go so far as to say it is near impossible to avoid bread at a Turkish meal; it’s just as well they do it so well. Bread is considered sacred in Turkey and should someone come across a piece on the ground, it is picked up and placed somewhere elevated. There is even a saying there, ‘if you step on bread, you will turn to stone’.

Fear of physical metamorphosis aside, any opportunity to hone my bread making skills is gratefully received. L’atelier des Chefs is a cookery school in London with a selection of interactive cooking classes ranging from 30 minutes up to 4 hours and covering global cuisines, food trends and favourite recipes. They have two locations - Oxford Circus and St Paul’s - with the latter hosting a half day bread making master class for myself and seven other students with chef Daniel Stevens commandeering the ship.

The first half of the session saw us making wholemeal fruit scones of two different sizes and rather glorious flat breads to accompany a yoghurt, herb and olive oil dip - all of which we devoured for a late lunch. The latter half involved rye mix loaves allowed to rise in proving baskets, a fougasse type bread achieved by snipping baguette shaped dough and splaying the segments to resemble ears of wheat, and small but perfectly formed sugared doughnuts straight out of the fryer and filled with a tart lemon curd rustled up by one of the attendees. The day saw Daniel talking us through the science behind bread making while we got our hands dirty; the process of proving, the reasons for kneading, the effect of yeast and different types of flour, the necessary ratios of ingredients in loaves, and a particular focus on shaping bread prior to proving and baking - possibly the most important skill to master in bread making according to Chef.

All the dough we used included a ladle of a one year old funky and vigorous sourdough starter, wafting all manner of acidic yeasty aromas up our noses - a sign of its prime and adding unrivalled flavour and depth to your bread. We were informed this was a mere juvenile in the world of starters, with many years under the belt being a common occurrence amongst bakers - as long as you keep feeding it (with flour and water), it keeps on living.

I fondly recall a scene from Anthony Bourdain’s book Kitchen Confidential where his resident and somewhat mentally unhinged bread maker calls him up in the middle of the night screaming down the phone, whilst simultaneously intimately entertaining a lady, ‘FEED MY BITCH, DON’T FORGET TO FEED MY BITCH’, referring to his starter in the restaurant kitchen. He apparently made the best bread Tony ever tasted.

The class was full of ‘I did not know that’ tips, a lot of patience from Daniel, and closed with us popping exquisite hot and fresh doughnuts into our mouths and leaving with more bread than any normal person could possibly consume before it going stale - thank goodness for freezers.

The cost of this four hour Bread Masterclass is £99 per person - good value considering the fundamental skills you will be leaving with that will stand you in good stead for life. I am no novice when it comes to baking bread, but I too learnt a great deal from the day. They also do gift cards, and Christmas is just around the corner..

Afiyet olsun.

Note: I was invited as a guest to review this class

school of wok cookery school, covent garden - review

‘Teach a girl to make Chinese steamed buns..’ could be the start to so many great sentences. Pursuits that end in wowing friends with dim sum dinner parties, eating nothing but steamed buns for the rest of your life, and ditching the day job to buy a small cart and compete against the old timers selling them on Newport Court in Chinatown.

Many would argue only one of these to be a realistic aspiration (present company included). But on walking out of School of Wok after six hours of cooking, kneading, rolling, stuffing, pleating and folding, with aching feet, pumped forearms, flour in my hair, and a new appreciation for my favourite dim sum, it felt like they were all possible.

School of Wok is an Oriental and Asian cookery school situated in Covent Garden. Founded and commandeered by Head Chef Jeremy Pang, the school hosts a variety of hands-on classes and corporate events taught by a number of chefs, covering cuisines including Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Thai and Japanese. Classes range from one hour quick-fire wok lessons to multi-day intensive courses for professionals and topics involve a manner of subjects from knife skills to wine tasting, and street food to sushi making.

After obtaining a university degree in biochemical engineering, entertaining some years in marketing, studying at the world famous Le Cordon Bleu and a stint as a travel journalist around South East Asia, in 2009 Pang followed his dream of opening a cookery school. Initially starting out as lessons taught in people’s homes, School of Wok moved to the centrally located bricks and mortar complete with two state of the art kitchens 18 months ago. 

Lessons teaching skills and techniques that simply do not translate through the written word are of particular interest to me. Videos will go some way in achieving this, but there is no replacing an expert overseeing your work and the back-and-forth of questions and guidance. The full day ‘Steamed Bun Fun’ course taught me things I genuinely don’t believe I could have learnt to the same degree, off my own back.

The morning agenda ensured we worked up the appetite for lunch. Meats that required a long and low cook to enjoy with buns at the end of the day were addressed first following very simple recipes. Seven of us were split into two groups; rich and savoury braised pork belly in fermented tofu, and an Iranian influenced shoulder of lamb with pomegranate, quince and jasmine tea were both prepared and dispatched to the ovens.

Hirata buns (the type found at Yum Bun) are sandwich-like in design, folded in half and destined to be stuffed with a filling. Components consisted of a starter dough to which additional dough was formed and added. The mass was kneaded, rested, manipulated into cylinders, portioned into ping-pong sized balls, rolled into ovals, folded in half over oiled chopsticks, placed in bamboo steamers and left over hot water until they were risen and spongy.

To slather over them, mayonnaise was made in pairs and flavoured with sesame, lime, garlic and ginger. One half of each team gradually added oil to egg yolk while the other whisked with fever, the thought of an imminent lunch counteracting the lactic acid pain (alternation was imperative).

Jeremy pitched in by rustling up the meat component; slithers of chicken thigh marinated in liquid smoke, sesame oil and soy were coated in corn flour and deep fried. Excess oil was drained and they were then swiftly tossed in a hot wok with garlic and chillies. We eagerly stuffed them into our sweet buns and topped them with a cucumber and carrot pickle.

Post-lunch proceedings saw us taking the skill level up a deep notch. We were to make two closed buns requiring two types of fold, one more difficult than the other; custard buns and char siu bao (that puffed up pillow of porky goodness I adore). 

Fillings for both were ready to use to allow dedicated concentration to the rolling and folding techniques needed to make these a success. The char siu (barbecued pork) comprised of belly cooked in sugar, soy and spices had been finely chopped into a huge soupy bowl of dark and sticky meat. Custard choices were two: coconut, and a beetroot cocoa nib filling - both frozen to allow for easier handling.

We rustled up the dough for both and attempted mastering the precise circular rolling and intricate pleats required for the pork buns; several attempts were made with faux fillings before Jeremy let us lose on the pork. The custard buns were a lot easier; with some swift rotational hand movements the nuggets of frozen custard were soon encased in uniform smooth dough.

Most of us were still full from our lunchtime hiratas and after a well deserved glass of wine, departed with doggy bags crammed with our labours of love; the three types of buns, the slow cooked meats emerging from the oven soft and flaking from the bone, and a pack of all the recipes used that day.

The cost of this full day course which includes lunch and an early dinner is no small change at £150, the higher end of their offerings. But if thought of as an investment in culinary skills and expertise you would be hard pressed to come across elsewhere, it is certainly a treat to consider. 

On the tube home I found my fingers dancing on my lap as they manipulated an imaginary bao. My final thoughts before bed that evening were ‘how the hell do chefs works on their feet all hours of the day?’ and ‘I am determined to own those char siu pleats’. As Jeremy advised, I’ll be throwing together makeshift dough from flour and water and practising in front of the TV until I do.

A huge thanks to Jeremy for exercising such patience, sharing a wealth of knowledge and expertise and for making the day a great experience - it comes highly recommended.

Afiyet olsun.

Note: I was invited as a guest to School of Wok