Battle of the Chefs by Sarah Mayoh
Who would have thought that the humble (and often detested) brussel sprout had the potential to become a heavily showcased ingredient in a cooking competition? Not Deb Foreman, from the Australian Culinary Federation, who is running the Battle of the Chef’s competition as part of Tasting Australia 2012.
With the recent success of its national apprentice competition, it was a natural progression for the ACF to allow the big boys to also compete on an even playing field. For the first annual Battle of the Chefs event, 26 male competitors will be whittled down to up to eight finalists for the showdown on April 27. Competitors were given oyster blade as the main ingredient for their recipes, plus a pantry list of 50 ingredients. Incredibly, all 50 items were used in some way, shape, or form in the submitted recipes.
Oyster blade, an unassuming beef cut usually reserved for slow cooking, provided a challenge for the chefs within the two-hour time constraint. Each chef produced a unique take on how to transform the meat, from roulades to a pie, and even an Ethiopian dish. Crisp brussel sprouts featured on a number of plates, served wilted, roasted, shaved and au natural. Blood-red beetroot was also a favourite, pureed, as a carpaccio and as a basis for sauces.
For the final on April 27, contestants will each be given an identical mystery box with all of the allowed ingredients. These competitors should heed the words of guest judge Matthew Kemp, from Montpellier Public House in Sydney, who said “Look at a dish, and take two (ingredients) off”. Competitors will have one hour to write their menu, and produce one dish to dazzle the judges, and hopefully be the ultimate victor of this battle.
L-Plates – Learn from the Masters: Finger Food, by Suzanne Le Page
Chef Genevieve Harris, teaching a group of novices to make Moroccan finger food, said about one of the dishes, “The product is greater than the sum of its parts.” This could equally be applied to the group of enthusiastic students at her L-Plate Session held on Thursday, April 27 at Regency TAFE as part of Tasting Australia.
The students quickly bonded at their preparation tables and worked as cooperative teams to produce successful and very tasty dishes.
This was partly due to the chef, a cheerful dynamo, who described the ingredients such as “gorgeous flathead … a beautiful fish” and who patiently explained basic kitchen skills and techniques, such as the correct way to slice onions, peel ginger, safely carry a knife through the kitchen and roasting spices. These details were carefully noted by the students.
Even when the level of conversation and laughter rose well above that acceptable in any commercial kitchen, and particularly in the highly respected Regency TAFE kitchens, she merely banged her wooden spoon on an oven until she could be heard.
Where did these excited trainee cooks come from? There were a surprising number of doctors, nurses and medical administrators and a couple of accountants. The solitary male among the women was an IT consultant during the day, but a dedicated amateur cook the rest of the time. A lady who was a writer, lawyer and expert in workplace bullying was an interesting addition to the group. A Year 12 home economics teacher was more experienced in cooking, as was the owner of a catering business called Girls with Nothing Better to Do, but both participated enthusiastically. A mother and daughter worked together on one table, and described themselves as food addicts. All participants were equally enthusiastic about food, its preparation and consumption.
As the smells of cooking spices filled the kitchen, all were looking forward to the reward of tasting the delicious dishes. Each was pronounced delicious, and the participants all looked especially proud of themselves.
Harvest Kitchen, by Megan Saw
Tasting Australia’s L-Plate classes are teaching students about sustainability, not just cooking skills. The first information given to participants of the Harvest Kitchen class, held at TAFESA’s Regency Campus, was about the kitchen waste disposal – green waste (food scraps) in one bin, recycling in another and rubbish in the last.
This L-Plate class was primarily about using local ingredients and preserving fruit and vegetables that grow in surplus at certain times of the year, making an effort to avoid being wasteful, which is a message that TAFESA has taken on board in a big way.
Commercial Cookery and Patisserie lecturer Paul Epay explained the changes the campus has implemented over the past two years, saying it all comes down to minimising their impact on the environment and cutting costs. Green waste from the campus is collected free of charge by their waste disposal contractor, who turns it into compost for sale, with the profits covering the cost of the service.
Participants in the L-Plate classes were surprised by the level of commitment to the recycling program but TAFE commercial cookery student David Ferguson highlighted the benefits that come with planning rubbish disposal in any kitchen, domestic or commercial. “It’s not all about the end product,” he said. “You have to think about what you’re doing with your food scraps, whether you want to utilise them or add to landfill.”
Such words gave participants more to think about than the recipes they were cooking with. These changes are fairly time-consuming in a faculty as big as the Regency campus, but it is slowly achieving the goal of minimising waste, as well as educating participants of the L-Plate classes, who not only took home what they’d cooked but also left with new ideas on how to reduce the impact their cooking has on the environment.
Follow The Kneader with Paul Triglau by Melissa Barnett
Baking in general – and bread making in particular – has experienced a renaissance in recent years according to Paul Triglau, artisan baker at TAFESA.
People who are tired of the sliced, white puff bread on offer at supermarkets and chain-store bakeries are leading a quiet revolt at classes such as Follow the Kneader, organised as part of Tasting Australia’s L-Plates Sessions. This proved immensely popular, although the smell of fresh baked bread alone would be enough to lure you to one of these classes.
Triglau is a man passionate about his daily bread and keen to pass on his extensive bread-making knowledge, such as the arcane secret of creating the perfect sourdough levain or starter. Using a simple formula of flour and water, the levain is left for four to six days and fed twice daily until it rises. There are two main types of levain – stiff or liquid. Both can be left in the fridge for months once they have been started. When required, the starter is brought out and fed again for a few days, making it ready again for bread making. Triglau prefers stiff levain for bread making, as it is easier to work with and is less exuberant than the liquid levain.
The rest of the class was spent learning how to use the levain to create baguettes, crunchy ciabatta, pizza bases and Turkish bread.
Trigau says that sourdough is one of the most versatile bread mixes, easy to lift, fold and generally work with. He suggests that the best flours to use are rye and wholemeal, and preferably organic. And what is his secret to the best made bread? “Keep it warm and slow,” says Triglau.
L-Plates Classes: Finger Food with Genevieve Harris, by Nikkita Wood
“If you only take one thing away with you today, let it be this: grind and roast you own spices!” Genevieve Harris announces this to 16 eager participants in her L-Plates class within the Tasting Australia program. There are 25 different L-Plates sessions on Thursday April 26 and Friday April 27, all held at TAFE SA’s Regency International Centre. There’s a wide range of different people attending from teenagers to grandmas (and token males) with a love of cooking as their common interest.
Genevieve’s menu comprises Moroccan spiced flathead skewers; broad bean, parsley and walnut omelette; cinnamon and sugar spiced chicken pastries; and date, pistachio and coconut truffles. The class feels like organised chaos until everyone finds their place working in teams. Wafts of frying onions, toasted spices, orange blossom and baking pastry fill the kitchen and tummies rumble.
Genevieve bustles around the kitchen, and her vibrant personality and energy is contagious. With more than 30 years’ experience as a chef in Adelaide, Sydney and Bali, she passes on plenty of useful tips and knowledge onto her attentive subjects. Simple things such as knife handling and dicing onions are invaluable to these home cooks when shown how to do it correctly.
The participants in the class have travelled from all over to be here, from Alice Springs and Strathalbyn, proving that foodie tourism is alive and well.
After a busy three hours, the preparation and cooking is finished and it’s finally time for course participants to try the fruits of their labour. They leave full, happy, with new friends and more ideas for their next cocktail party. Some will even be returning tomorrow to try their hand at terrine making or perfecting the macaron.
Battle of the Chefs: Judge’s Criticisms, by Steven Wiltshire
One would assume that professional chefs know kitchen fundamentals: hygiene, food safety, kitchen craft and appropriate use of seasoning. However, after the first round of the Battle of the Chefs competition, run by the Australian Culinary Foundation as an event within Tasting Australia, event judges were almost unanimous in their comments to competitors that these basics were found to be lacking in their performance.
To an outsider, such criticism is surprising. It seems incredible that chefs working in the kitchens of restaurants that may serve hundreds of meals each day have to be reminded of basic hygiene practices and kitchen skills. Paul Moore from the Australian Culinary Federation says chefs do know those fundamentals but often forget them when exposed to a different type of pressure than that of the ordinary working kitchen.
He says the pressure of competition often gets to students and makes them do things they would not normally do. Under this pressure, students often forget the judging criteria, and it soon shows that a competitor from a lax working environment behaves very differently to a competitor from a strict working environment. Both may be capable of producing excellent food – but one does it more elegantly than the other.
Several competition judges say they have seen a gradual decline of the culinary arts. Culinary school basics form the foundation of these skills, but do not – and cannot – provide a thorough working education. It takes time and experience to achieve this, and students’ expectations of instant chef stardom must be tempered.
Still, it would be good to see students emerge from their years of culinary school training to become chefs with a command of kitchen craft and hygiene that can withstand the pressures of professional and competitive cooking.
L-Plates: Pasta Pronto by Brett Tizard
Relax and enjoy. It’s great advice at any time but for 14 brave souls in the commercial kitchens at the Regency International Centre, chef Adam Swanson's advice was spot on. Worried faces looked a little less anxious as Adam’s beaming smile began to work its magic and they worked their way through four delicious pasta recipes in three hours.
Beginning with a simple orecchiette with broccoli, Adam spiced his conversations with hints and tips as he worked through produce-filled benches, surrounded by eager students. Boiling pots and saucepans were clanging on stovetops. And then the magic began, as ingredients were transformed into meals. Dishes to share with friends and family appeared before the student's eyes.
The smiles on the students’ faces were transformed as they worked on a four-cheese pasta – rich, creamy and luxuriant. This was a real dinner party dish, the rich sauce covering delicate bowtie pasta, best served as an entree for special occasions.
As Adam moved around the class, he provided a guiding hand where needed and shared his stories about growing up around food, his plans for the future, new recipes at his restaurant and a new book for the end of the year.
Spaghetti with amatriciana sugo proved to be a winning warmer with just a kick of chilli to work through the winter cold. He completed the session with an anchovy and breadcrumb linguine, with the importance of simple fresh flavours shining through.
So did the smile give the students confidence? Tomorrow, Joe will cook the meals he learnt today for 16 family members, while the Home Economics teachers from Craigmore High School are looking to incorporate the dishes into their classes and the group from the Dalrymple Hotel in Stansbury are talking about watching winter storms over the ocean and eating amatriciana sugo with a robust red.
Battle of the Chefs: Seasoning, by Lizzie Moult
“Don’t forget the salt,” says Mathew Kemp, a UK guest chef at Tasting Australia, who offered this assessment to the contestants of Battle of the Chefs at Regency College yesterday.
This competition, run by the Australian Culinary Federation, places great importance on seasoning. With 40 per cent of the marks going to taste, seasoning is essential to flavouring a dish, and judge’s comments were surprising as the chefs in this competition are qualified. Kemp joked that “sometimes we forget to season” but noted that its absence resulted in plates lacking flavour.
Oyster blade was the core ingredient, and many contestants produced dishes where they seasoned only the main component, leaving the vegetables and purees lifeless. The judges seemed a little disappointed, as this is a competition designed to find the best chef in Australia.
Having previously been a competition participant since 1999, and taking a few titles, Darren Ho is one of the judges this year. With enthusiasm he speaks of seasoning at the end of cooking, by adding “salt first, sugar to make it richer, acid to lighten the texture,” then finally that “bitter is to hold the flavour.” Emphasising the importance of tasting throughout the whole cooking process, he says this ensures “hitting all the notes,” with the last sensation of umami bringing balance.
Andrea Civello presented a dish, traditionally from Sicily, with a unique method of seasoning by adding only a small amount of salt to the start of long cooking, checking the flavours by tasting and adjusting. Italians are all about flavour, he said, so it is an important element not to miss.
Other contestants simply said food has to be “delicious”, “seasoned lightly” and that it is an “important element of cooking” – but most agree that seasoning is to be left at the end of cooking.
Battle of the Chefs and the Art of Fine Cuisine, by Susan Lang-Lemckert
Tasting Australia 2012 offers plenty to pique the other senses – most notably the eyes. Indeed, the initial heat of Battle of the Chefs, a key component of Tasting Australia that pits chef against chef for a prestigious national title, proved a delicious visual treat for those who witnessed the heats on Thursday April 26.
Provided with many pedestrian ingredients, including beefsteak, leek and potatoes, the chefs created a suite of dishes as impressive as they were diverse. Intensely hued vegetables, jus and rich oils, and the variegated shades of steak seared to perfection brought the serving plates to life, with one particularly creative entry resting atop a tablet of dark stone.
Being a fan of abstract art, I was immediately drawn to the entry prepared by Adelaide chef Ayhan Erkoc, who is enjoying increasing renown for cuisine presentation. Ayhan’s written description of his Battle of the Chefs creation – “Oyster blade, onion, potato, spinach, leek” – gave little away, allowing the visual spectacle of this random-by-design presentation to speak eloquently for itself.
“Visual appeal is very important,” he says. “And I keep it simple. I don’t try to force the food to look good. I take a more free-flowing approach, and let the ingredients tell me where they should go.”
A veritable artisan with food, Ayhan, who runs Celsius Restaurant and Bar in Gouger Street, Adelaide, draws great satisfaction from expressing himself through creative presentation. “I’m terrible at painting,” he says, “but food works well for me. Food is my medium.”
Battle of the Chefs Competition: Day 1 by Liz Nicholson
While sporting athletes around the world prepare for the London Olympic Games, chefs representing Australia are preparing for the Culinary Olympics, to be held from October 5 to 10, 2012 in Erfurt, Germany. Taken just as seriously as preparations for the Olympic Games, the chefs on the Australian Culinary Olympic Teams are practicing, training and honing their skills to hopefully bring back repeat gold medals.
While there are opportunities to train as a team, members are encouraged to enter national and international competitions for extra practice and to gain feedback from experienced Judges. One national competition is the Australian Culinary Federation Chef of the Year, or the Battle of the Chefs, currently being presented as part of Tasting Australia. This competition has attracted 26 chefs from around the country (including members of the Australian Junior and Senior Culinary Olympic Teams), competing over three days for the prestigious title of the Chef of the Year.
Among the judges are two-time member of the Australian Culinary Olympic Team, Neil Abrahams (Executive Chef, Royal Canberra Golf Club), and guest judge Matthew Kemp, of The Montpellier Public House in Sydney and one of Tasting Australia’s celebrity chefs. Neil emphasised the huge amount of hours that are spent on the lead up to the Culinary Olympics and the need for constant practice through competitions.
This advice is definitely being heard by Battle of the Chef competitor Stewart Wesson of Culinetic in South Australia and member of the Australian Junior Culinary Olympic Team 2012. Stewart entered the Battle of the Chefs to gain more experience in focusing in the kitchen under competition conditions. His aim is to win the competition, but also to learn from feedback from the judges.
Ayhan Erkoc at Battle of the Chefs, by Tania Paola
Ayhan Erkoc has already collected some prestigious awards, including Restaurant and Catering SA’s 2011 Chef of the Year and Best Contemporary Australian Restaurant for Celsius Restaurant, which he opened almost two years’ ago. He was therefore a notable participant in the Australian Culinary Foundation’s Battle of the Chefs at Regency TAFE.
Ayhan, who is generous with his time and humble by nature, says his entry in the competition’s Restaurant/Fine Dining Category was based on seasonal ingredients. Leeks, spinach, potato and onion are all from his family’s farm at Murray Bridge, which supplies much of the produce for his restaurant. Sometimes even too much, as his brother recently turned up with six boxes each carrying 20 kilograms of apples – and Ayhan says apples abound on the restaurant menu this week.
Often his kitchen at Celsius runs on the mystery box method, showcasing whatever is in season. Quinces, beetroot and (obviously) apples are favourites at the moment.
The time constraints of running a business and working a 75-hour week prevent him from entering many competitions, but The Battle of the Chefs appealed to him because it is an opportunity to be judged against his peers on a wider scale.
I complimented him on his entry, which has a fresh and relaxed, beautifully artistic look to it. Simply called “Oyster blade, onion, potato, spinach, leek”, it pays homage to the simple, fresh ingredients.
With such artistic flair, Ayhan confesses that he did study art at school but there was no set plating for his competition entry. “If it feels right, I go with it,” he says. “I never force it or stack the plate.”
Battle of the Chefs by Kate Yates
Aspiring young chefs from across Australia gathered in the kitchens at the Regency International Centre on Thursday for round one of the inaugural Battle of the Chefs competition. The rules of engagement were to demonstrate their technique, knowledge and cooking prowess to the assembled group of judges from the Australian Culinary Federation and celebrity UK chef Matthew Kemp.
The chefs were judged on two key aspects of cooking, efficiency in kitchen and tasting. ACF’s Deb Foreman emphasised the need for seasoning, stating the golden rule being to “present food the way they want it to taste”.
The competitors produced an array of dishes which displayed technical excellence using traditional methods and the simplicity of seasonal ingredients cooked with care, through to “trickery” that delights and challenges the diner (a method popularised by Heston Blumental).
One competitor who stood out from the crowd, Jason Schillinger of Rendezvous Hotel in Perth, says his dish came from months spent developing, practising, tasting and refining. His head chef even pulled the dish apart to suggest new ways to present the components. Jason presented beef oyster blade as a trio of reverse roulades, along with meat balls poached in a syrupy sherry balsamic and bundled into candied beetroot carpaccio, with carrot mousse, turned potato and herbed ricotta.
Beetroot, sometimes considered a heavy earthy root vegetable, was crafted as delicate, velvety purses of goodness, crisp in texture and full of intrigue. The reverse roulade was “a twist on tradition, added to give colour contrast on the plate and to challenge the tastebuds,” Jason explained.
If beauty is the eye of the beholder, the colour, pattern and composition of Jason’s dish was like jewels shining from the plate.
The competition final is on Friday April 27, in what will be a battle royale.
Harvest Kitchen by Angela Malberg
Rebecca Stubbs, executive chef The Retreat of Chapel Hill has her dream job. Cooking whatever she wants whenever she wants running seasonal cooking classes, Rebecca gets her kicks out of helping people enjoy food and seeing someone cook something when they didn’t think they could cook.
The harvest kitchen is for Rebecca a place to experience the joy of the seasons and try new ways with a glut of produce, which she presented to an expectant group at Tasting Australia’s L-Plates on Thursday. Participants cooked candied figs, quince paste and pumpkin chutney to make the most of and enjoy the bounty.
Lisa, the home cook was there to give it a go. Undaunted by the clang of stainless steel and the roar of the commercial exhaust fans, Lisa stirred a pot of bubbly golden syrup oblivious to the fact that the sugar for the quince paste was measured incorrectly but loving the interactions and the hands on.
Julia the jam maker wanted new ideas. Never having made chutney before she was surprised and delighted as pumpkin and spices were transformed into a thick dark lava of sweet vinegary richness. She patiently tended candied figs until the mountain of sugar dissolved, providing a complex blend of exotic vanilla and star anise to the perfume and palate.
Alan a “spectator of cooking shows” was dragged by his partner to do rather than watch for a change. Working outside of his comfort zone, Alan felt inspired by the golden brown crusts of spiced apple bread and fig and walnut loaf that he kneaded and nurtured into shape. Chewy nutty sweetness allowed him to slip “I might try cooking a little more at home”.
Wafts of homely warmth signalled the bread was baked and the tasting could begin. Rebecca provided soft rind cheeses to complete a bountiful meal, delivering her perfect vision of the harvest kitchen.
Battle of the Chefs by John Tomich
Is less more? This statement is often heard on TV’s Masterchef shows and was repeated on the inaugural day of the Battle of the Chefs competition held at Regency TAFE. Too many flavours or textures may not harmonise and look too busy, but does this rule of the kitchen always hold?
Twenty four young chefs were put to the test at the competition, run by the Australian Culinary Federation as part of Tasting Australia 2012 at TAFE Regency Park. With an intense desire to please the gathered judges, they set about challenging this hypothesis – especially Jason Schillinger. His presentation dish was a picture of colour, contrast, capability and conversation.
Small stacks of oyster blade were encased by a “roulade in reverse” consisting of spinach leaves softened by a hint of caramelised onion, contrasting green with the medium rare pink meat. This visual highlight was surrounded by parcels of candied beetroot carpaccio, which enclosed meatballs poached in sherry balsamic, and held with a purse string of chives – like jewels in a saccule. The lush velvety burgundy colour of the beetroot, reminiscent of a Damascone red rose, was an outstanding centrepiece to the plate. And the crunch of the beetroot carpaccio provided texture to compare with the tender meet. These were projected onto a background of carrot mousse, providing a visual backbone to the display, and herbed medallions of ricotta that complimented the multi levels of flavour of the dish. This centrepiece was encircled by meticulously placed “posts” of beetroot jus that symbolised the concept of a paddock to the plate.
The enticing colours of the meat together with the gorgeous, velvety, burgundy colour of the beetroot, screamed for a glass of pinot noir to compliment and harness the multiple flavours. The boldness of a Gervery-Chambertin would seem exactly right.
Bringing people together – for the love of food, by Bridget McNulty
Excitement built as participants were escorted by Regency TAFE staff to their L-Plates session Pasta Presto – especially for 81-year-old Guiseppe, from Woodville. His family had purchased a voucher for him to attend, as his wife had passed away three years ago and he wanted to learn to cook.
The chef who presented Pasta Presto, an L-Plates cooking session within the Tasting Australia 2012 program, was Adam Swanson from Zucca Restaurant at Glenelg. Adam’s smile and enthusiasm is infectious, and he immediately put his 13 course participants at ease. The session was entirely hands-on and Adam imparted lots of hints and tips. “Keep it simple,” Adam stated. “Don’t smother the pasta in sauce.”
Adam, an ambassador for San Remo Pasta, presented four traditional pasta dishes: orecchiette with broccoli (from Puglia), quattro formaggi sauce with bowtie pasta (from northern Italy), tubular spaghetti with amariciana sugo (from Lazio) and linguine with anchovies and breadcrumbs (from Sicily).
“Pasta has an 850-year history,” Adam stated, explaining that each pasta shape comes from a different region of Italy. Curiously, Adam’s mother used to cook orecchiette with broccoli for him as a child and he turned his nose up at it.
“It’s important not to overcook the pasta,” Adam instructed. “It needs to be al dente.” To achieve this, cook pasta in boiling water for approximately eight minutes, but set the timer for seven minutes, then check it. Add a little oil to separate the pasta after it has been taken it out of the water.
At the end of the session, a round of applause was awarded to Adam. The Italians’ love of food and wine is synonymous for bringing people together.
Battle of the Chefs: Traditions and learning to break the rules, by Victoria Miranda.
Screaming fans, the sweat of an exhausted team member: these are things you’d expect to see at a competition. But tucked into a quiet corner room of the vast Regency TAFE campus in Adelaide, a very different scene is played out at Tasting Australia’s Battle of the Chefs Competition.
Some competitors have spent many months of preparation, refinement and discussion of the meal they are about to do battle with, yet they remain calm and subdued. In a profession seeped in tradition, from the height of your torque to mise en place, the Australian Culinary Federation, host of Battle of the Chefs, is looking to uphold the traditions of an ancient craft. Modern trends may influence the flavour of the day, as a pressure cooker and sous vide machine now sit along side a gas stove, but the basic fundamentals of the craft remain consistent around the world.
By hosting competitions such as Battle of the Chefs, ACF promotes the importance of preparation, hygiene and skill to the leading chefs of tomorrow. Chef Darren Ho, a member of the judging panel, says that a competitor’s hygiene and food preparation skills are an important part of this competition.
With the rejuvenation of 'nose to tail' eating, it is important for the competing chefs to uphold traditional culinary values, such as preparation skills from peeling carrots to using meat off-cuts.
With the onset of reality television shows such as Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules, it is easy to see why cooking fundamentals are important to uphold. When the general public sees the ease of access to a large arrange of fresh produce, it is little wonder that a push towards seasonality and using every part of the fruit, vegetable or animal is occurring.
Follow the Kneader, by Martha French
Little did I know that the baguette which I so casually toss into my shopping basket requires something akin to a chemical engineering degree, a surgeon’s hands and religious patience to produce, something I recently discovered during a course within Tasting Australia’s L-Plates program.
Following the Kneader was presented by Paul Triglau, whose passion for bread making is evident in the way he coaxes and encourages the creamy coloured dough sprawled before him to produce bubblegum-like pockets and a slinky-like elasticity. Paul and his sister Natasha are the driving force behind Paulo’s Artisan Bakery that produces handcrafted, natural sourdough products using 100 per cent organic flour. Paul recently competed in one of the world’s most prestigious artisan baking competitions held in Rimini, Italy, where the Australian team earned a bronze medal.
Paul’s eyes take on an Einstein-like glint as he explains the maths behind producing a levain or mother culture, and his deft, practiced movements are magical to watch as he forms a blob of bouncy dough into an airy ciabatta.
It all looked so easy until we, the students attempted to form this Play Doh for adults into something recognizable; such clumsy attempts but oh, so much fun!
Paul imparted various bits of wisdom that one would never find in a cookbook – such as using a pan of highly heated nuts and bolts and water to create the steam required to produce an ideal crust. We learned the reasoning behind making cuts in the tops of the loaves, and leaving part of the dough resting on the bench while we patiently formed a pizza round. Semolina sprinkled on the pan before placing the baking paper on top ensured that sliding the tray of bread into the oven into a Formula One maneuver.
According to Paul, interest in bread making and baking has increased significantly in recent years and course participants illustrated this – a mixture of people serious about the art of bread making and those who had been given the course as a Christmas gift “just for fun”.
