On 23rd September 2025, I will being a Culinary Diploma at Leith’s School of Food & Wine. I will chart my progress, experiences, stories of success and failure on these pages.
Leith’s Advanced Term – Week 1
Two words to describe advanced term at the end of week one: complexity, refinement. The tone was set by the head of school on our first day back: the final term will require all our energy, commitment and focus if we are to achieve our potential. In the kitchens, the complexity of the recipes has…
Stage at Toklas – Day Three
Henceforth, I shall be finishing all of my dishes with a healthy dribble of extra virgin olive oil. My main take-away from three days at Toklas: extra virgin makes everything shiny and delicious. A case in point: the ricotta and orange cake with is drizzled with both an orange syrup and extra virgin before serving.…
Stage at Toklas – Day Two
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the smell of a walk-in fridge. It’s dead air infused with stored food. A paradoxically stale odour. Working on larder section today, I was in and out of the fridge on repeat, mostly holding my breath. Perhaps I’m not cut out to be a pro kitchen chef.…
Stage at Toklas – Day One
One of the great (and not so great) things about having children is that they provide very effective distraction. In the morning hubbub of multiple breakfast courses and packed lunch prep I didn’t have time to feel nervous about the start of my stage at Toklas. It wasn’t until I was standing in the kitchen,…
Leith’s Intermediate Term – Week 10
The final week of Intermediate term before our exams! No tapering down for us; the week was as full, stretching and inspiring as every other this term. Monday started with a guest dem from Noble Rot Executive Chef, Adam Wood. This is a chef you would want to work for: focused on creating a positive…
Leith’s Intermediate Term – Week 9
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…
Leith’s Intermediate Term – Week 8
Week 8 was a total crowd-pleaser: doughnuts, creme diplomat, jam, puff pastry and sausage rolls. We also had our last three wine lessons before our level 2 exam. The week began with our third formal assessment of the term. This time we had to fillet a whole sea bream, ensuring the skin wasn’t damaged, to…
Leith’s Intermediate Term – Week 7
We are now more than half way through the intermediate term and also the diploma as a whole. The pace and breadth of learning sees each week race by before we’re prepping for the following week’s challenges. I want it all to slow down so the end feels further away! Without doubt, this will go…
Leith’s intermediate term – week 6
Week 6 was short and sweet (and crisp). Just two days in school and three off for half term break. The sweet element came from the delectable pastry wheel, the Paris-Brest. We started on Thursday by making the crème pat base for the mousseline filling and the craquelin to top the choux pastry for a…
Leith’s Intermediate Term – Week 5
Each week I continue to be impressed by the breadth of the curriculum and the high standard of teaching at Leith’s. This week we got to grips with whole pig butchery, learnt about pickles, fermentation and plant-based cooking, came face-to-face with an octopus (which we then ate), and were given an insight of a charity…
Leith’s Intermediate Term – Week 4
Two firsts for intermediate term this week: our first formal assessment and our first all day cook. But before that a welcome change of pace with a home study day. A chance to catch up with admin, do coursework for the Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism, and prepare time plans for the week. For me…
Leith’s Intermediate Term – Week 3
Another week and another looooong list of skills practiced and dishes executed: pate sucree, soufflé by creme pat method, slow egg cooking, fish stock making, liver prep and cook and round fish gutting, filleting and de-boning. Plus a delicious soporific bread dem, offal and fish dems and two afternoon wine sessions covering white, sweet and…
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