I’ve never been into the whole housewife lifestyle – cleaning and chores aren’t for me. Yet I’ve always enjoyed cooking and baking, which means that I cook 99% of the meals in our household. I do it purely for enjoyment, but of course there are times when I can’t be bothered, or I have run out of recipe ideas. Luckily for me I was contacted by The Underground Cookery School to attend one of their classes, where I would be cooking a 3-course meal (sea bream starter, chicken main, and roulade dessert) with some fellow bloggers and writers. I was eager to learn some new skills, and pick up a few recipes whilst I was at it.
The classes are literally held underground, in the basement of a rather unsuspecting building. Walking into the school I was impressed at the clean cut look of the kitchen and the large, inviting dining table. There were some familiar faces in attendance, and some lovely new ones also. We were all handed a glass of prosecco, canapés and an apron – a brief summary of what to expect from the night. After catching up with everyone we were handed our first task for the night – shelling broad beans. It may not sound very glamorous, but in the kitchen everyone has to chip in! Soon after we were split into two groups to start on the Strawberry Meringue Roulade. Luckily Ashleigh-Jayne was in my group – a self-confessed meringue connoisseur. After prepping our meringue we moved onto filleting our fish and preparing our chicken. Now I’d never done either of these things before, but as a sometimes meat-eater I think it’s important to be more hands on with your food, and understand how it is prepared. So I got stuck in, with a lot more enthusiasm than you’d expect from someone who was just handed a dead fish/whole chicken. I won’t go into details as I know some of my readers will be veggie/vegan etc. and I don’t want to cause any upset. After we’d washed our hands (very thoroughly) we went back to our meringue and prepared our cream, which we then smothered on top of the meringue and covered with strawberries, before carefully rolling to complete our roulade.
The cooking part of the class may have been fun, but the real entertainment came when we sat down to eat! My favourite dish of the night had to be the sea bream, with the roulade coming a close second. In fact they were all delicious! We were served by the chefs, and were given a complimentary wine to go with our courses. Conversation flowed, alongside the wine, thanks to the lovely company I shared. Food is fun, but it’s really made by the company you share it with. So a big shout-out goes to Lily, Charlie, Jesse, Lucy, Cassie and Plum! Also, thank you to Anneliese for hosting us, and the wonderful chefs of The Underground Cookery School. I had a night to remember, and I will certainly be trying out some of the skills I learnt, in my own kitchen!
Find out more at The Underground Cookery School.
