COOKING FOR BLOKES™ INTRO
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4780382.stm Gift package: Cooking for blokes™ & Gourmet for blokes™ |
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Workshop dates:Sun 28 Feb/Sat 20 Mar/Sat 23 Apr/Sat 15 May/Sat 19 Jun/Sat 24 Jul/Sat 28 Aug/Sat 2 Oct/Sat 6 Nov
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GOURMET FOR BLOKES™ - PREVIOUSLY COOKING FOR BLOKES™ INTERMEDIATE
We now offer another level that
goes into further advanced food preparation, techniques and recipes which include sushi making, advanced classic sauce prepations, ballotines, fresh artisan pasta, food presentions techniques and much more.
£173pm/£211 full day. (£93am option not available on this workshop)
Workshop dates: Sun 21 Mar/Sun 16 May/Sun 25 Jul/Sun 3 Oct/Sun 21 Nov
Gift package: Cooking for blokes™ & Gourmet for blokes™
full day workshops £400!
PIZZA, PASTA & ANTI PESTO - removing the mystery to this popular cuisine
Pizza and pasta are both comfort foods that many of us enjoy. However, what is presented to us on supermarket shelves and some high street establishments are versions which have an identity of their own, which of course has its place and the benefit of convenience.
Those who have been to Italy have no doubt experienced real mozzarella and the unique difference in flavours, textures in the other ingredients often combined with both these foods. The combination of essential techniques and fundamental ingredients is what makes the flavours so important including the most simplistic component yet the one so often overlooked; water !
On this creative workshop, we unfold the essentials and secrets of fresh pasta making as well as a variety of flat (including pizza style) breads. Once you have mastered the structure of making the correct dough, it opens boundless options, possibilities and variations.
We aim to push the boundaries further; traditional breads are baked, pasta is boiled and both are commonly served with complemeting savoury flavours. However, we unveil creative yet authentic advanced concepts that will astound family and friends including an original and early method of pasta making using a chitarra; pasta guitar! The recipes and techniques can be applied and adapted to enjoy as part of a weekend gourmet experience or put together mid week when time is restricted.
o complement the above, we also spend time to create anti pesto’s, sauces and side dishes to make a complete meal. A workshop well investing in if you are passionate about real pizza and pasta
costs £217 (full day option only available) Workshop dates:Sat 13 Mar/Sun 27 Jun//Sun 11 Jul/Sun 24 Oct
THE MEDICI COLLECTION- workshop size limited to 4 people
Venice has remained by many a point of fascination as early as Roman times. Over the centuries, this small peninsula was invaded, visited, enjoyed by the Saracens, Moors and lived through tugs of war between Byzantium and German Emperors. The magical gateway prospered and grew on the backs of the spice trade, the battles against the Turks and an established administration army centre. With this background and culture the rise of aristocracy grew which attracted artists, merchants, musicians and those interested in a certain lifestyle and understanding of quality. Beyond the mist and history, today it still attracts a similar traveller. Most of us are familiar with the iconic gondolas, the picturesque fading city and one of the most chic carnivals in the world. Café society in Venice dates back to 17the century and indeed some of the most important historical European cafes can be found today in Venice like Florians opened in 1720. The workshop celebrates this rich cultured past, its history of flavours and fight for such a prominence.
This workshop pays homage to some of the old and traditional artisans foods. we bring alive some of the traditional techniques like pasta making using the original pasta Citarro (pasta guitar) and uphold other such Venetian traditions.
We unfold some of the finest ingredients and flavours Northern Italy offers both from times of old and present; when in season, genuine white truffles with the prized Venetian champagne equivalent, coffee sauce and other exquisite ingredients directly off the spice route. If it’s a luxury experience you are seeking, this workshop guarantees just that; the same experience why people made the journey in times of old and why people continue to travel to Venice today. costs £347pm/£472 full day workshops/dining guests £51
Workshop dates: Sun 18 Apr/Sun 27/Sun 1 Aug/Sun 27 Sep/Sun 7 Nov
GLAD TO GLUTEN AND DAIRY FREE WORKSHOP
Do you suspect you have a gluten, wheat or dairy food intolerance?
Have you been advised to reduce, or eliminate wheat or dairy for health
reasons?
Even if you just instinctively feel, you function better with less wheat
and/ or dairy, this workshop is for you.
Do you need inspiration and confidence, for producing tasty alternatives,
for meals and treats?
This one- day workshop has been created with you in mind.
£250 private workshop 10.00-17.30
Call us to book your date.
WORLD PETIT GOURMET
This 3 part evening workshop comprising currently two seperate experiences that are inspiring, entertaining and educational.
Our presenter demonstrates some light recipes from around the globe imparting consumer, kitchen skills, culinary and cultural background l information. After this, attendees recreate the recipes in groups of 2 guided by the studio chef.
We focus on unfolding interesting and new flavours and cuisines and often this means reapplying ingredients that one may already be familiar with albeit in a very sophisticated and different way.
Once cooked, the group come together and enjoy their cuisine with a glass of wine.
Note, there is no formal restaurant experience attached to this short workshop as offered with our other afternoon or full day workshops.
£93 evening workshops 18.30-21.30.
Workshop dates Fri 16 Apr/Fri 21 May/Fri 2 Jul/Fri 24 Sep/Fri 5Nov
THE BOOK OF SAUCES
The function of a sauce has never be underestimated since Roman times; it is the thread that combines all elements on a platter together more often to com
plement ingredients but sometimes to contradict in order to emphasise or highlight other flavour elements.This hands on workshop focuses on how to take control of this all important yet so often overlooked component by demonstrating structures and from this, how many applications can be layered with flavours to suit mood, season, key ingredients or simply create your own signature concept by expanding one’s imagination. Once key techniques are mastered, this opens doors to a world of flavours and advanced food concepts.
This workshop introduces the classics as this is important in order to get a thorough grounding and understanding of sauce evolution and then moves into new world sauces embracing flavours and other ingredients from around the globe and sometimes fusing or lightly blending these with the classic masters. There is no evening dine connected with this workshop but sampling during the course of the day. £180 10.00-18.00 day workshop.
Workshop dates:Sat 3 Apr/Sat17 Jul/Fri 15 Oct
CHILDREN´S CUISINE
With
the mass of children’s publicity from Barbie dolls to colourful
sugar loaded fun sized packs it is little wonder that children’s
eating habits and expectations have dramatically changed in just one generation.
This hands on workshop day focuses on practical balanced foods taking the BOREdom out of so called healthy foods but recreating children's most favourite foods albeit replacing the essential ingredients with nutritious ingredients. We all know that children rebel at "healthy foods" so we take a more practical and realistic approach which have found a winning formula that works with both young children and teenagers alike.
Please email us for your date bookings - flexible dates available especially during term time.
£93.00 per child, 4 minimum/6 maximum per group. 10.00-13.30 7-10 age group
£93.00 per child, 4 minimum/6 maximum per group. 10.00-13.30 11-17 age group
THALI, MEZZE AND TAPAS
This style of eating and enjoying a collection of small dishes be it peasant
or gourmet, hot or cold, spicy or sweet exists around the globe and is
often connected to a regular social past time. This
workshop celebrates the best of this global fayre and keeping in with
the tradition of Hampstead Cuisine School, the emphasis is foods one
would not normally encounter on a regular restaurant menu; it is a collection
of recipes from Chico’s world travel experiences. It is an ideal
opportunity to for one to quickly become familiar with a wide collection
of new ingredients and techniques. This course covers a wide range of
foods suitable for both midweek easy dining through to weekend gourmet
celebrated with two evening champagne soirees in our restaurant room
and the diverse range of dishes cooked in the day. £93am/£173pm/£211full day workshops.
Workshop dates: further dates coming
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THE OLIVE OIL STORY
£93 evening workshops 18.30-21.30.
Workshop dates Fri 29 Oct
AL FRESCO WITH FRANCESCO OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
Mediterranean foods attracts most of us as it has such a diverse range
of flavours, ingredients and a cuisine that most of us can directly or
indirectly relate to and this workshop exemplifies the Mediterranean
way of life. The recipe collection chosen for this course have been carefully
selected as many people are already familiar with the preparation of
home made sauces, dried pasta, pestos and other fundamental ingredients
within a Mediterranean store cupboard.
Instead, this hands on workshop aims to introduce new ideas and concepts
choosing real foods off the beaten track and away from restaurant menus.
Some of the ingredients that some people may not have experienced include
mostarda di frutta, dried mushrooms, citrus oils, lavender, chick pea flour
and sumak. Given the diversity of this style of cuisine, it will cover
a range of foods for both everyday low fat eating to five star gourmet
dinner soirees. £93am/£173pm/£211full day workshops.
Workshop dates:Sun 9 May/Sun 12 Sep/Sat 13 Nov
Watch and dine:
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MOROCCAN & LEBANESE SOUKS, SCENTS AND SPICE
When we venture a walk through the North African souks, one gets a impression
as if time has stood still and sometimes, this can come as a culture shock. Centuries ago, the North African boarder was one country known
as Maghreb which appropriately translates as the
land of the setting sun and indeed this impression reflects the cuisine. Most of our Maghreb
and Lebanese culinary experience has been restricted to classic foods
found typically on restaurant and hotel menus. Once off the beaten track,
the culinary horizon expands and this workshop expands on such fayre.
Often, the recipes are centuries old. Foods from this region that we
enjoy sub consciously on our high streets today have often a long and
intricate history; the story of bread and olives for instance is a classic.
Some of the ingredients explored include the myriad olive assortments,
rose petals, dried limes and pomegranate seeds and more from the land
of the setting sun. £93am/£173pm/£211 full day/£68 watch&dine
Workshop dates:Sun 23 May/ Sun 17 Oct
Watch & dine dates:
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THE COLOURS, SCENTS AND FLAVOURS OF MUMBAI AND BEYOND
In the same way we do not talk about a uniform European cuisine,
there is no such uniform Indian cuisine as many may perceive. The country
comprises 35 states each one bearing its own cultural and gastronomic identity.
Indeed, it is true that many of the Indian curries found on England’s
menus that have now become part of the Nation’s official dishes are
not original but have been developed and adapted though time and generations.
This day will explain the differences between the country’s gastronomic
division and application of spices and interestingly the thought process
and function behind individual ingredients like turmeric with its antiseptic
qualities and chilies being applied for more than just a heightened sensation!
If you are a curryholic then this will open doors to an authentic understanding
of Indian cuisine.
£93am/£173pm/211full day workshops/£68 watch&dine.
Workshop dates:
Sun 21 Feb/Sat 6 Jun/Sun 21 Aug
Watch & dine dates:
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GLAMOUR AND FINE DINING CUISINE - Workshop limited to 4 students only
Now that we are travelling more than any other time before, we
enjoy and appreciate those special luxurious moments away that stay in
our minds as souvenirs. Somehow, foods often taste so very different too;
tomatoes, mozzarella cheese as an example or even home made pasta . This
course capitalises the best of quality ingredient selections available
and then applied in a very sophisticated way to create that luxurious finish
on the platter. Ingredients used on this workshop include baby asparagus,
wild German mushrooms, buffalo mozzarella, and exquisite vinegars from the Rhinegau region costing in excess of the value of Don Perignon. With
coaching and insight from our chef, he teaches how to apply and deliver
foods to create that 5 star gourmet taste, experience and effect. This
course is a must for anyone who enjoys dining an hosting parties; indeed
the school infrastructure allows you to invite guests to the private Handel
Baroque restaurant for a dinner soiree experience.
£234pm/£254 full day/£93 watch&dine Workshop dates:Sat 20 Feb/Sat 6 Mar/Sat 8 May/Sun 13 Jun/Sat 31 Jul/Sun 5 Aug/Sat 23 Octf
Watch & dine dates:
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FUSION IMAGINAIRE
We enjoy our cosmopolitan society, selection of international foods throughout the year together with the growing culture of more creative cuisine so this day embraces the best of these qualities. Using strong and established food structures and advanced food concepts, it creatively combines ingredients that normally one would not apply.
One can liken it to an artist who paints using solely his imagination
and abandoning traditional structures to produce an outstanding work of
art. So if you like the idea of a risotto with a Moroccan promise or Linguine
with a Thai twist of lime then this will excite your taste buds and no
doubt friends and family alike. £183pm/£227full day/evening dine guests £36/£68 watch and dine Workshop dates:Sun 15 Nov
Watch & dine dates:Sun 2 May/Sat 3 Jul/Sat 19 Sep
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FIERY
PEPPERS AND LIME DOWN COCONUT GROVE
Thai, Malay and Singapore cuisine remain some of the most celebrated foods in the Far East and here the application of more unusual ingredients will be demonstrated but more importantly be explained.
If you are already familiar with foods from this region but are looking
for dishes off the normal restaurant menus with a more home cuisine feel
and emphasis then this will interest you. It is an opportunity to get your
hands on some of those more unusual ingredients you may have seen in specialist
shops or top supermarket shelves but never felt confident to try. These include lime leaves, galangal, lemon grass, holy basil, cassia bark, nori. £93am/£173pm/£211full day workshops. £68 watch&dine.
Workshop dates:Sat 27 Mar/Sat 26 Jun/Sun 10 Jul/Sat 18 Sep
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THAI ORCHARD
Thai cuisine remains increasingly popular with our nation’s favourites styles of cuisine as it plays on a symphony of flavours from soothing and mild to piquant and fiery. In the same way, an artist carefully chooses his selection of colours and tones to create a spectacle on canvass, the art of Thai foods shares some of the same principals of blending to create something to excite the taste buds on a plate. Some of the ingredients include tamarind, date syrup, holy basil, Thai limes and leaves, galangal and green papaya.
This workshop focuses on creating a menu for the day where the class creates
a complete feast guided through individual/group tuition and interactive
demonstrations. The workshop will uncover and introduce a wide range of
Far Eastern spices, herbs and ingredients. £93am/£173pm/£211full day workshops. Workshop dates: Sat 17 Apr/Sat 22 May/Sat 14 Aug/Sat 9 Oct/Sat 27 Nov
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CRUISING THE COTE D´AZUR COAST
Gastronomy and café life is one of Côte d'Azur’s great institutions and when in Provence we throw back the blue shutters, the scent and sight of rosemary and lavender wafts in. We can start to understand why Van Gogh spent more than 150 paintings worth of time here.
The cobbled streets lined with chic cafes and exquisite delicatessen shops leading up to the picturesque coloured markets of Provence makes this the perfect picture postcard gastronomic holiday experience. This cooking is perfumed with fragrances coming from the rolling hills; thyme, oregano, lavender, sarriette, rosemary, and farigoulette infused with the garlic, olive oil, basil, onion which embellish the vegetables gorged with sun: tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, sweet peppers. The Provencal cooking is simply sunny gastronomy and treated almost as a second religion.
This workshop aims to get an understanding of this sophisticated culture
and explores foods from Provence and Côte d'Azur coastal region.
Recipes include cooking with traditional lavender, pistou (the Provencal
equivalent to pesto), socca, and a local tepenade delicacy that has been
invented more than a Century ago by Monsieur Meynier of Marseille. £93am/£173pm/£211full day/£68 watch&dine.
Workshop dates: Sun 7 Mar/Sun 14 Mar/Sat 5 Jun/Sun 29 Aug/Sun 14 Nov
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CREDIT CRISIS; COOKING WITH HIGH NUTRITION AND ECONOMY
We have all seen food and lifestyle price surge from month to month with ever increasing special offers, BOGOF bargains and voucher codes in our inbox to compete in the current economic situation. Despite this, one thing we cannot ignore is the growing rice at the total checkout. The average £50 consumer checkout simply does not buy what it used to as recent as recent as 2 years ago.
Help is at hand; this workshop focuses on 2 key elements, high nutrition and a low budget. We reflect how to use nutritious ingredients to produce wholesome foods suitable for both mid week when time maybe short to weekend and more relaxed situations. We demonstrate that just by purchasing ingredients with a lower value does not mean inferior, low end supermarket budget ranges, reduced in any form of nutrition or just plain boring. If anything it opens doors to more creative cuisine and often reapplying ingredients that one already be familiar with albeit in a very different way or introducing new foods into daily lifestyle. Each recipe reviewed has a updated average price. To keep the cost of this workshop low, there is no diing experience inlcuded.
£153pm/£190 full dayWorkshop dates: Bespoke workshop- call for booking your course.
EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES
This day celebrates traditional Christmas festivities and highlights some
of the best in festive foods from Europe. Also, en route local festive
folk tales and fables. December 2010
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FRANKFURT CHRISTMAS MARKET AND
MORE EXPERIENCE
~ Koeniglich Kochen mit Mozart, Musik und Kaffee und Kuchen
If you have visited any of the German Christmas markets then you will have
experienced the very special festive spirit, atmosphere and probably 
the
traditional gluwein and stollen.
Here is a great little escape for anyone who would like to experience first hand this special central European festive spirit and culture. Hosted by Chico Francesco, you will leave late afternoon for Frankfurt and collected from the airport and driven to your hotel. Later in the evening champagne greeted by Prinz von Hohenzollern and enjoy dinner comprising some traditional quality German cuisine and Rhineland wines at one of the small private châteaux belonging to Prinz von Hohenzollern.
The following day takes an excursion to a very special and unique vineyard that produces high quality grapes not for wine production but fine vinegars. These exclusive vinegars are so unique and that they are treated as an aperitif. The afternoon demonstrations commence reflecting typical German, Austrian, French, and Swiss culture and fine fayre including chanterelle and other seasonal wild mushrooms, cooking with wines and apples which is both typical and traditional for the Hessen region and some vinegars purchased earlier in the day. Dinner will again be shared in the châteaux. The next day demonstrations continue. A light lunch will be served and finally the traditional German Kaffee und Kuchen before being flying back home. £1750 (including flight/transfers/hotel) Dec 15-18 2010
HAMPSTEAD FESTIVE KAFFE UND KUCHEN EVENT
To celebrate the festive season, we open our doors to the Hampstead community to come and share and enjoy a special treat. This event allows you to come and see our cuisine school, ask any questions, meet the team, see some food demonstrations and enjoy typical German Kaffe und Kuchen hospitality which is an institution in itself in Germany. Christmas season is celebrated in more ways with such events like this compared to England.
The school patron’s royal dessert is served on this day as a special celebration which remains a family secret for many years but enjoyed by many thousands in Germany. It will be the first time available in this country. £7.50 1½ hours December 2010
