STAFF REVIEW: INTERNATIONAL COOKERY COURSE

Do you find that you always cook the same food or have limited skills and knowledge in the kitchen? If so, the beginners International Cookery Course is the perfect experience for you! During the two hour lesson, you’ll learn to make delicious Italian dishes, while being guided by expert instructions. Read on to find out more about this excellent course and our visit to Greenwich Pantry.

Once we arrived at Lewisham Railway Station, it was only a five-minute walk to the venue. The overall journey took a lot less time than we’d expected, so we decided to go for a coffee in the local shopping centre, right opposite the venue. When it was time, we headed back to join the other participants taking the International Cooking Class.

As we all walked into the room, we were given a warm welcome by all the team at Greenwich Pantry. We then eagerly gathered around a table laid out with all the cooking utensils and ingredients. Mark started the evening by introducing himself and getting to know everyone in the group, before explaining the dishes and how we’d be preparing them. I was very pleased to hear that we were to make a butternut and sage risotto, followed by an umbrian parmigiana melanzane. I had never made any of these dishes before, and I was ready to get stuck in!

The first stage involved cutting up all the vegetables. Mark was very clear with the instructions and gave an easy demonstration of each cooking technique. When everything was prepped, we took our food over to the hob and started mixing the vegetables with the rice. This needed to be mixed for 30 minutes, while slowly adding the stock. Whilst we did this, we also made a tomato paste to be added to the aubergine parmigiana. Mark was great at making sure we made a lot of food within the two-hours, and at no point was anyone standing around waiting for instructions.

Once everything was ready, we plated up our food and were able to sit down to enjoy the food with the group. The dishes we had created were delicious, and we all couldn’t help but go back for seconds. At the end of the evening, we were given a takeaway pot to take home what was left – not that we saved much!

Overall, the International Cooking Course, in Lewisham, really was a great introduction to two very popular Italian dishes. Throughout the entire evening, we were entertained by the host Mark, and provided with an impressive amount of useful cooking skills and knowledge to take home. Thank you very much to Greenwich Pantry for having us – it truly was a wonderful experience!