3 May 2007

Kate goes to cooking class

KATE FRASER has a busy time with classes at Savour New Zealand and with Michael Lee Richards.

Small but well formed

It has been a week of it. Watching how others brown chickens, whip eggs, use food processors, toss frypans, chop herbs and roll pastry might sound like watching paint dry, but trust me, it was hours of drama.

First of my culinary instructors was Michael Lee Richards, with a Saturday morning class-cum-lunch at his Small Kitchen School, at Hillside, in Governors Bay.

The title of the class eludes me, but it could have been called Butter Is Beautiful. Michael Lee Richards is currently taken with Slow Food and all that the movement entails (cooking from scratch, rather than cooking slowly) and seems worried our tastebuds will wither through lack of fat.

"Fat carries taste," he says.

There is no hiding the fact he is using a lot of butter and cream in our morning class. Eight of us are lined up along a massive bench-table affair that possibly once graced a monastery so ecclesiastical are its lines. The kitchen is so large it turns a corner, but even so, it's an up-close class.

Chicken thighs have been browned, an enormous cabbage and a couple of onions have been sliced and shredded and tossed in butter, balsamic is glugalugged over all, and into the slow oven it goes to braise gently for about 90 minutes. Stale croissants are torn apart, prunes are lifted from the whiskey jar, custard is whipped up – with cream – and pudding goes into another slow oven.

These two dishes along with an apple, horseradish and smoked-salmon soup will be for lunch, but first there are canapes. "Wonderful things to serve on a grey day," says the instructor, as he presses a mixture of flour, cheese and eggs onto bread rounds, then drops a batch into hot oil for deepish frying. Croque monsieur (fried sandwiches) have diced, preserved lemon added to layers of cheese and salmon (and butter) before hitting the pan, and in case we're still peckish, delectable little quince paste and cheese tarts are assembled for the oven.

There is an easy rhythm to Michael Lee Richards' cooking and he shares tips and treasured recipes with good humour. One of our number receives salmon in her soup, in spite of a no-fish request, but he can be forgiven; possibly he was distracted by a bottle of oil upending itself on the floor, and a last-minute batch of pastries barely escaping incineration. "The reality of cooking classes," he says.

* Small Kitchen School Saturday morning classes are held regularly. $125 per person includes coffee and cake, in a class of eight, and lunch with wine. Coming classes include Well Preserved (the modern pantry) on May 12. For more details see www.michaelleerichards.com

Large and well formed

So many presenters, so many famous faces, so much food and wine and beer and coffee but not enough time.

Savour New Zealand is a two-day event comprising several one-hour cooking demonstrations, lectures and tastings of cheese, wines and sherry. For the ticket price of $685, attendees got entrance to eight selected classes, one ticket to a cocktail party, coffee and snacks, and lunches with wine on two days. A kitchen shop, foodstore and bookstore were on-site and open over both days.

By 4.30pm on Sunday, English food writer Tamasin Day Lewis had been shrewish about the state of the raspberries she was using in her white chocolate and raspberry tart (odd behaviour from one who espouses in-season food; raspberries in our late April are more a miracle than a given).

Meanwhile, chef Martin Bosley was a little terse about the absence of mascarpone in his tasting plates of a lime-vanilla mascarpone and prawn macaroni dish.

And the endeavours of chef Bruce Aidell and chef Nancy Oakes to entertain via an Abbot and Costello routine caused mutterings among foodies keen to learn how to make sausages.

I'd admired the talents of born-in-Blenheim, now famous-in-Sydney chef Justin North, whose knowledge of food from paddock to plate and culinary magic was extraordinary; Guy Stanaway, of Christchurch, whose classes were noted for his generous sharing of tips of the trade as well as producing smart food; and Central Otago chefs Peter Gawron and Dan Monopoli, whose recipes, dishes and gentlemanly good manners were outstanding.

Tom Parker Bowles had his audiences in the palm of his hand, and his manners and charm remained steadfast throughout the weekend.

I missed the classes of Gabriela Llamas, but reports suggest the sessions were worth every cent. The Spanish wine and sherry classes were awarded the wow factor by attendees. Due in part, said one imbiber, to the excellence of the sherries handed out.

Other reports noted the excellence of the wine – and presenters – of the wine classes.

Best comment of the weekend goes to chef Martin Bosley (co-owner of Wellington's Yacht Club Restaurant): "I'd like all those food experts who tell me how to cook risotto to know that congee is now my new favourite dish."

Then there was the organisation. A brigade of helpers out front and skilled kitchen staff behind the scenes worked valiantly and efficiently. The mood throughout a crowded weekend – marred only by dismal weather – was one of pleasure and goodwill.

And let us hope we don't have to wait until next year's Savour New Zealand for a Friday farmers' market in Cathedral Square. Yes, it rained. No, there wasn't a cast of thousands present, but this is such a good idea it should happen at least once a month. Please.