THE BRIEF
A one-day Thai cookery course - focusing on really fresh flavours and exotic ingredients - held in a stylish Georgian house in Clerkenwell almost equidistant from Angel, King’s Cross and Farringdon.
Teaching is done around a home-made table with enough room for about 10-12 people and benches against the wall. Cooking is done on one-ring gas hotplates on the table and there are two electric ovens and a beast of a vintage Chester range cooker. The kitchen has a homely feel with shelves of Kilner jars full of nuts and spices, a retro fridge and herb window box.
Run by self-taught former furniture maker John Benbow, who is passionate about cooking, my class comprised high-flying professionals and home cooks.
ON THE MENU
Advertisement
The menu, inscribed in lime text on a huge mirror, featured Thai green chicken curry made with freshly ground curry paste, prawn dumplings with green papaya salad, red curry paste beef panaeng, green curry with sea bream and peppercorns and lychee and mussels curry.
QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE
It feels that Thai food has slipped off the radar a bit what with Mexican, Lebanese and Vietnamese food currently hogging the restaurant limelight, but this course reconnected me with the real depth of flavours and the painstaking art of preparing the paste and “cracking” the coconut cream for a true Thai curry.
After espresso and biscotti Benbow started by demystifying trays of exotic ingredients bought at Chinese supermarkets in Soho - we all got to touch and sniff several types of mini aubergines, galangal, lime leaves and tamarind pulp.
Making the curry paste - chopping and pounding the garlic, lemon grass and deseeding about 40 birds eye and 40 green finger chillis - was a labour of love that I’m unlikely to repeat but it was hugely satisfying to have made it just the once. We learnt how it was best to use a couple of scoops of the thick cream that settles on top of a can of coconut milk that has been standing for at least a couple of days, simmering it gently in the wok until the cream started to look oily.
Advertisement
There was a relaxed vibe to the class with enough chopping and blending chores to keep most people busy. Jugs of cucumber water were available and the wine uncorked and offered by lunchtime. Before long we were “cracking” the coconut cream with ease for our second curry paste not allowing it to burn or curdle and finishing off the dish in a clay pot.
During the day Benbow gave us a quick masterclass in filleting sea bream, a lesson in finely slicing raw fruit and vegetables with a mandolin for the salad and other handy kitchen gadgets such as a garlic crusher.
After several hours in the kitchen we retired downstairs for a breather. The mews house has a fascinating interior stuffed with dark wood furniture, mirrors and faux book shelves. We all had our fill and then some, all served with jasmine rice prepared in a rice cooker and complemented by a crisp white Henri Obermeyer 2008 Riesling from Alsace.
TOP TIPS
Nail the Thai curry paste and you’ll have people eating out of your hand for the rest of your years - my tip is to recreate it again at home as soon as you can after the course.
Advertisement
Don’t be shy about grabbing handfuls of strange looking vegetables from Chinese supermarkets.
Allow chunks of braising beef to tenderise and stew in coconut milk in the oven for a couple of hours.
Take some of the heat out of chilli peppers by soaking them in warm salty water for about 10 minutes before use.
COURSE DETAILS
The one-day (11am-4pm) Thai cookery course costs £110 per person including lunch and wine. Evening courses from £85.
Advertisement
Saturday, after-work and express lunchtime courses offer a fresh take on popular modern cuisines such as Italian, Moroccan, Spanish and Southern Indian and are ideal for beginners to improvers. Benbow emails full recipes from the course to all students
Food at 52 Cookery School, 52 Great Percy Street, London WC1X 9QR (+44 (0)7814 027 067 ; www.foodat52.co.uk and www.twitter.com/foodat52)