MENU dorset issue 25 MENU25.dorset pdf issue 25.final | Page 41

Some of the many dishes you
can learn to cook at
The Kitchen.
I also do lots of foraging so it’s
great being down here to meet
the locals. Just looking straight
outside now there are loads
of gorse flowers and I can use
them to make jams and flavour
honey. There are mushrooms,
nettles, wild garlic, sweet
cicely, ground ivy which I
use for flavouring with lamb.
You’ve got a lot of old English
herbs like wood haven, whose
roots taste of cloves, and Jack
by the hedge which is mustard,
garlic and the roots taste of
horseradish. It’s all around us.
What kind of cuisine do
you enjoy?
I do butchery and fish, and my
wife went to school in Florence
so we love Italian. When I was
working with Raymond Blanc,
he’d send me off to train at
places like Nobu so I picked up
little tips and tricks for Asian
cuisine too.
Who will enjoy your courses?
My courses at The Kitchen
will all be about tips, tips,
tips – aimed at those cooking
at home. I’ve focused more
on simple techniques this
time. When you teach a class,
you’ve got a foodie, someone
with fingers like sausages,
a know-it-all, and someone
who might admit to being
clueless. It’s about bringing
it all together and making
it fun. It’s therapeutic too. I
worked with Help for Heroes at
Catterick with soldiers who had
PTSD and physical injuries.
Cooking was a great way to
focus them and everything else
disappeared.
Your inspiration?
Raymond Blanc; I admire
his self-taught approach and
creativity...from doing the high
art stuff right down to the basics.
I also worked at Bibendum with
Simon Hopkinson which was
fantastic. And Giorgio Locatelli
learning good Italian. It’s trying
to mix the high art and the
simple.
There are courses for
Xxxx
xx plus
children
and xx teens
xxxxxx
classes Xxx
where
parents can
cook Xxxxxxxx
with their kids.
www.menu-dorset.co.uk
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