Hands-on cooking class: am

am_klutz

Hands-on cooking class

Mar 21, 2011 23:58

My masterpiece - snow cod fish!

I don't know if it is a true sign of age that B.T and I have gotten progressively (more) domesticated over the last year or so. I was interested in cooking at a young age but stopped for awhile and I guess, now that I have someone to cook for and one that shares the same interest, I have been on a cooking roll. I like experimenting on my own but it's also helpful to gather some cool tips from professional chefs themselves.

Last year, we attended a cooking demo class at ToTT and it was a lot of fun watching a professional chef in action. This time around, we attended a hands-on session which we both enjoyed a lot.

We learnt how to create a simple heirloom tomato salad spiced up with the use of a siphon to create an avocado espuma, did a main dish of snow cod and watch the chef create ice cream - fresh! Our favorite part was the actual hands-on where we had access to the wonderful array of equipment at the studio including temperature thermometers to monitor the temperature of the oil. Most of the ingredients were semi-prepared i.e. we didn't need to cry peeling onions and merely chopped/minced them. We also didn't need to worry about washing up as there were assistants to help clear up the dirty utensils. Bliss. Now if only I had an elf at home to assist me while I cook!

For the hands-on part, we had to cook our own fish. We tried to remember what he said and he'll walk around to guide and help as well. My cod fish turned out nicely which made me very happy and tasted good. The only problem was that I was saving the fish to enjoy it later that evening as I was still rather full, but forgot to bring the box back -_- *sobs.

It was also interesting learning cooking tips from the chef -

1) When you break an asparagus, it automatically breaks at the point which separates the good part from the bad!

2) When cooking fish like cod, always cook it skin facing downwards, do not move it around and do not flip it! Omg. I've been doing it all wrongly! We were taught to use our fingers to press firmly on the fish so that we'll know when it's cooked! We were all a bit cowardly and started yelping whenever the oil splattered around -_-

I think these are some interesting tips that you can't learn from recipe books so it's definitely a nice takeway from the class. I also like the fact that they are generous with the ingredients and everyone will have a full portion of each course - salad, mains, dessert. So it's almost like paying for a meal at a restaurant except that you have a lot more fun by cooking it yourself, learning cool stuff and getting to play with all the cool equipment.

If you are keen to join in a class at ToTT, do check out their variety of hands-on/demo classes, details available online here. ToTT invites professional renowned chefs to teach at ToTT and impart precious knowledge to the students. You can choose to watch a demo class and get to taste yummy full sized samples - i.e. come with an empty stomach, OR, do a hands-on class like we did, cook some of your food, enjoy it in class or bring them home in boxes. I'm currently eyeing the macarons class and another class or two!

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