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A London Blogger Social at The Cookery School

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Over canapés at The Cookery School on London’s Little Portland Street, I said to Jorge: “Can making your own pasta really make such a difference? Seems like a lot of effort to put in when you can buy a bag for a few pounds in Waitrose.”

Cookery School London

Turns out, it definitely does.

Cookery School London

Cookery School London

Cookery School London

Last week, we were invited by Chris and the Cookery School to learn how to make tagliatelle from scratch. About 25 bloggers and travel writers gathered in their pristine basement kitchen tucked away from the rush hour of Oxford Street around the corner.

Cookery School London

Rosalind, the charismatic owner of the Cookery School, gathered us around and started teaching – something that is obviously a real passion for her. She runs the place with a dedicated staff (including John who helped with the demonstrations and gave our group a few pasta-making challenges) and they value organic ingredients and sustainability – all good stuff.

Cookery School London

Our menu for the night was tagliatelle with asparagus and wild garlic leaves, seasonal leaf salad, tiramisu, wine and coffee and tea with chocolate nut clusters. We’d end the evening with a sit down dinner, served up restaurant style with tablecloths and all by the Cookery School staff.

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But first, we had to make it!

Cookery School London

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Cookery School London

Cookery School London

Split into teams of six, we set out feeding the pasta dough through the machine, stretching it thinner and thinner until it was so long that four of us needed to support it as it came through. I’m still not sure I’d want to attempt it on my own, but it was great fun with a group and the results were delicious – definitely not something you could grab off the shelf in Waitrose.

Cookery School London

Cookery School London

There was also garlic and garlic leaf chopping and asparagus slicing to be done for the main dish which was topped off with parmesan at the table.

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Cookery School London

The cooks gave us a hand with final preparations and we set about the task of making tiramisu for dessert, carefully dipping just-baked Spanish fingers in espresso and rum, layering with cream and topping off with a dusting of chocolate. Important lesson: Double cream quickly turns to a chunk of butter and buttermilk if you mix it too much, which two of the groups (including ours) managed to do.
Cookery School London

 

Cookery School London

It turned out to be one of my favourite blogger events in London so far. The Cookery School staff were amazing and obviously enjoy their work.

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Cookery School London Cookery School London

And of course the blogger community in London never fails to be fascinating. Among others, we met Kerry Christiana, the humble travel writer extraordinaire who has written 12 books for Lonely Planet; blogger and PR guru Belen who has Vogue España on her CV and writes Londres 101 about London in Spanish; and Cassie who was an absolute joy to chat with and runs the popular blog A Girl Has To Eat which is full of fabulous restaurant reviews and much inspiration.

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London Cookery School

We were sent off home with big goodie bags full of the products they use at The Cookery School. I hope to go back soon for one of their classes! Thanks again to The Cookery School, Chris and all of the bloggers we met for a memorable night out.

Cookery School London

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9 Comments

  • Reply
    Jean Sanders
    May 19, 2014 at 11:45 am

    Wonderful photos and commentary on an enviable event! Skills developed, bonds forged, and dinner! Yumsters!

    • Reply
      littleobservationist
      May 19, 2014 at 11:47 am

      Thanks Jean! It was definitely one to remember and I hope one day I will be able to re-create the deliciousness of the handmade pasta at home 🙂

  • Reply
    Diana Mieczan
    May 19, 2014 at 4:54 pm

    Sounds and looks awesome! It’s so my kind of event and I bet everything tasted amazing. Btw: homemade pasta is really the best! I try making it from time to time…I love it! xoxo

    • Reply
      littleobservationist
      May 19, 2014 at 7:09 pm

      Oh wow, you have patience if you make this on your own at home! I’d like to think I’d attempt it often if I splurged on a pasta maker but sadly I have a feeling it might be one of those things you use like crazy for a month and then it ends up in the back of a cupboard… I’m impressed you use yours regularly!

  • Reply
    Katie
    May 19, 2014 at 5:57 pm

    What an amazing class! That menu! Oh my! Absolutely delicious sounding!!

    • Reply
      littleobservationist
      May 19, 2014 at 7:07 pm

      It definitely was – both amazing and delicious. You would have loved it 🙂

  • Reply
    Mandy
    May 20, 2014 at 4:13 pm

    That sounds like a LOT of fun Steph! I agree, fresh, homemade pasta is superb.

  • Reply
    melissa blake
    May 20, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    That looks like it was so much fun!

  • Reply
    Cookery School | Hunt for Design
    May 28, 2014 at 8:49 am

    […] those amazing knives and my improved chopping skills, this was the result. (Little Observationist‘s […]

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