@Shelovescake

Inspiring, daunting, intense yet light. Week two had lots of different things going on eliciting a range of feelings.

A highlight of the week was a careers day organised for us by Leith’s List Connect careers service. All of us felt nervous about the ‘room of opportunities’; fearing voicing our ill-formed plans of what we want to do post-Leith’s bubble to potential employers. Following an insightful talk from Hello Fresh, I felt spurred on to venture towards the employer stands. I was inspired by the ladies from Nourish Hub: a social enterprise which brings food and company to anyone needing subsidised sustenance of mind, body and soul. Every day the Hub creates a 3 course lunch from ingredients that would otherwise go to waste, for a minimum donation of £3. They also offer cooking workshops for children and adults teaching important skills for life. My interest was also piqued by a talk from ex-Leith’s student/teacher, Megan Coker, who now works for Dinner Ladies. What began as a supper club founded by two women is now a well-established large caterer of dinners and events in venues such as the Apothecaries’ Hall in the City of London. Key take-aways from the day: get the CV updated to be relevant for my new world and start reaching out for work experience.

Our cooking sessions this week were very much focused on nailing specific skills, some of which were revisions of technique from foundation term being taken to the next level. Monday was Hollandaise sauce. A similar sort of technique to mayonnaise by hand i.e. continuous whisking with one hand whilst slowly dripping in fat with the other in order to create an emulsion. As per usual Leith’s teaching methods, we were starting with the by hand rather than machine method, known as sabayon. Egg yolks (flavoured with a reduction of bay, mace and peppercorn) are whisked over a Bain marie until thickened. The Bain marie can’t get too hot or you’ll have scrambled egg; not hot enough and nothing will happen. Once thickened, the eggs are removed from the heat and melted butter (don’t ask how much!) is slowly drizzled in to make, what is known as, an unstable emulsion (unlike mayonnaise which is stable). It can hold for around half an hour before starting to separate so long as it’s kept warm. That left just enough time to poach some eggs, snip some chives and toast a muffin. It would have made the perfect lunch but alas we were afternoon kitchen and most of it ended up in the bin 😦

Some serious patisserie was on the menu later in the week. Practicing pate sucree and lining small fluted tart cases; a chocolate mousse using the pate a bombe method; a thin and crispy chocolate tuile biscuit; and lightly poached blood oranges to cut through the richness. The pate sucree tart cases remained unfilled but made the perfect biscuit accompaniment to a cup of tea so didn’t go to waste. We were also taught Paris Brest and chocolate truffles which we’ll attempt later this term.

Friday was our first go at a soufflé: twice-baked goat’s cheese and thyme. Light, yet rich and flavoursome served with a fresh and crunchy apple, walnut and chicory salad. This, followed by the mousse, made for a crowd-pleasing start to the weekend.

At the weekend it was my birthday, and we had great fun making pasta and turning it into ravioli with a ricotta, lemon and nutmeg filling. Other foodie highlights were the Lamingtons from the local New Zealand bakery and toasted banana bread with cinnamon butter for breakfast.