@Shelovescake

I woke up at 4am on Monday morning. My brain immediately kicked into gear and I started testing myself on grape growing regions and facts. Chardonnay – Burgundy; Sauvignon Blanc – Loire Valley; Pinot Noir – thin skinned and difficult to grow. Yes, the wine exam loomed large for later that day. Thankfully I had learned pretty much everything covered in the exam. The only thing I wasn’t sure of was the correct chilling temperate for dessert wine. Personally, I like to chill the balls off it but that isn’t necessarily what the WSET advises. To celebrate our hard work, three of us went for a delicious lunch at The Elder Press Cafe by the river in Hammersmith. A run in the sunshine, a few theory notes written and that was Monday done!

Tuesday began with a meditative kitchen session making tortellini. We were told that the shape famously resembles the navel of Venus. An infatuated innkeeper apparently created it after spying on her in her room. Having made a golden dough, enriched with egg yolks; and a filling of ricotta, parmesan, lemon and nutmeg, we began the careful creation of the belly button pasta. Piping the filling into the centre of a pasta circle, folding it over, crimping to remove any air; creating a divot in the soft filling and then bringing together the two edges to sit atop each other and sealing with water. Stunning! Alongside the tortellini we also assembled and cooked a Madeira jus ahead of our venison assessment on Friday.

In the afternoon, a small group of us went to the City Harvest depot to kick off our charity cook project. The depot is huge and houses an enormous amount of food (fresh and store cupboard) that would otherwise go to waste. The charity rescues surplus food from farms, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers and then delivers it to organisations who feed those facing food poverty. Our task was to each lead a small group of fellow students to produce 50 portions of food using the ingredients available in the depot that afternoon. There were vast quantities of root veg, onions and porridge oats, together with cauliflowers and cabbages as big as your head. Our collective creative juices began to flow. The root veg and oats combo gave me the idea of a savoury crumble. I then stumbled upon a pallet of ‘smoky flavoured sprinkles’ which became the genius flavour bomb addition to the crumble topping. I also grabbed a stack of tinned tomatoes and a dozen red pepper and ricotta pesto jars. We loaded up the palettes of our selected goodies and headed back to school to await the delivery. In the meantime, we prepared a high level plan for the following day’s cook to ensure we had priorities and a sequence to lead our team members.

We arrived the following morning to a palpably different vibe in the kitchens: classic 90s tunes blasting from a speaker, a highly relaxed atmosphere and copious quantities of veg and fruit piled high. We got organised and awaited the assignment of our team members. My team grew from 3 to 7 as we endeavoured to wade through the task of peeling and chopping seven crates of onions, carrots, parsnips and celeriac. It took two hours to achieve and then into the oven they all went to roast along with some fresh herbs I had picked from my garden. The next job was the sauce in which the veg would nestle. We emptied the contents of the tins of tomatoes and jars of pesto into two big double-handed saucepans. We let it come up to a simmer before adding several handfuls of nutritious red lentils. It bubbled away becoming rich and concentrated whilst we escaped for a quick lunch. Finally we prepared the crumble topping of oats, flour, butter and, of course, the smoky flavoured sprinkles. The vast veg took some time to cook but finally we were ready to assemble the three component parts. We realised quite quickly that the veg and crumble were in greater supply than the sauce so we ended up making 50 portions of savoury crumble and 31 portions of root veg gratin. Altogether as a group, we made over 350 portions of food that day. A huge and heartwarming achievement. We were pooped and proud! A well-earned day off on Thursday which I used to complete and submit the Confederation of Hospitality & Tourism coursework on nutrition and sustainability for the upcoming deadline.

Nerves were in abundance on Friday morning. Our fourth and final ‘continuous’ practical assessment. A venison steak cooked rare, pommes Anna, spring greens cooked to chef’s choice and a Madeira jus with plenty of flavour, shine and clarity required. I started with the pommes Anna – melting the clarified butter and tackling the death trap that is the mandolin to slice the potatoes. Lots of seasoning and nutmeg and then layering the coated slices neatly in a small frying pan. The melted butter sets up really quickly so it had solidified before I’d even got going. I smeared it round the edge of the pan in an effort to ensure a clean exit from the pan later. The Madeira jus tasted ok but needed reducing to intensify the flavour plus some butter, lemon juice, salt and double cream to achieve a balanced finish. First time cooking venison and it seemed straightforward: temper, sear on all sides for a few minutes, baste in butter and thyme, and rest for at least 8 minutes. Venison is the only meat we have cooked to rare rather than medium rare so lengthy tempering and resting were even more important than ever. The pommes Anna nearly skidded off the plate as I inverted the pan. Thankfully no real crisis and more importantly the top was beautifully golden with caramelisation.

Just one week to go of the Intermediate curriculum before our theory exam and final practical assessment. My thoughts are wondering to the possibility of an advanced patisserie course in an effort to remain in a learning environment where I can continue to extend my skills and challenge myself. Or maybe I am just procrastinating the inevitable moment when I have to make a decision about what I am going to do with myself once I have finished at Leith’s. Watch this space!