Friday 29 March 2013

Cooking at The Bertinet Kitchen

Again, this is something that I should have written up ages ago whilst it was still fresh in my mind, but hey ho, better late than never.

























I was very generously given (as an early Christmas present) a days cooking class at the  The Bertinet Kitchen Cookery School in Bath. This charming little school has been made famous by Richard BertinetBBC Food Champion of the Year 2010 and author of cook-books 'Dough', 'Crust', and 'Cook'. He seems to be the man-of-the-moment when it comes to making bread, and so unsurprisingly it is near impossible to book onto one of his bread-making courses. I had guessed this might be the case and, regardless, I was more than happy to book onto day three of Yolande Stanley's Patisserie Masterclass - Petits Fours.  

However, I was quite disappointed when the class first started because half the reason I had chosen Petits Fours (aside from my chronic sweet-tooth and my love for all things miniature) was that I wanted to perfect my macaroons - but apparently, this was no dice as they offer a separate course specifically for macaroons... should have done my homework.

Second off, as it was late November, we did Christmas-y inspired petits fours, which, whilst they were pretty, tasty and topical, they were not the classic petits fours that I had in mind. It was more cinnamon-y biscuits than the mini cakes and eclairs that I was hoping for. They definitely made sweet little edible gifts that would be perfect for giving to friends - but that wasn't really what I wanted, and when you're spending £195 I couldn't help but feel slightly resentful!
Having said all that,  I'm still inclined to think that any dissatisfaction I felt was mainly due to an unlucky choice on my part, rather than a true reflection of The Bertinet Kitchen - about which I actually only have good things to say. The Kitchen is tasteful and modern, the staff are very friendly (Yolande was particularly engaging), and I would like to give it another try doing a different course/class.
 

Despite not being particularly enthused by the selected recipes, I absolutely love learning new techniques, and I often find that when you do a cookery class it's not so much about which recipes you learn, but about the small tips that you pick up throughout the day that make the biggest difference to your cooking. So for that reason alone I think cookery classes are always worthwhile, as there will inevitably be some little gem of advice that will stick with you.
Also, if nothing else, you certainly get your monies worth in food throughout the day! There was scrummy breakfast on arrival, plus at least two coffee breaks accompanied with delicious cakes and treats from the in-house bakery/shop, and then a late (5 o'clock!) lunch at the end of the day, where everyone sits down together and enjoys a delicious two courses (mixed salads and charcuterie, followed by salmon linguine) and a well deserved glass of wine - I'd go back just for that!
We made:
 Linzer Biscuits 
Raspberry Pistachio Financiers (definitely my favourite, they look so pretty and are probably the only thing I would really make again)
Orange and Sesame Tuiles
Chocolate Caramelized Nuts
Cinnamon Stars

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