Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Learning mexican streetfood at Jamie's

The boyfriend's birthday was in January.
And I'd have the perfect gift for my kitchen-loving guy.

 A Jamie Oliver cookery school gift voucher so that he could select any cooking class he wanted to do in London.
After months of giddy anticipation, last week finally the time had arrived to do our trip over there. 

Laurent selected the Mexican Streetfood class for us to do.
Our location was at Sheperds Bush and the cookery school is situated in one of Jamie's restaurants. We were greeted by one of the staff member's of the restaurant with such politeness. "How may I help you?" He asked. "We're coming for one of the classes" I said.
"Ah you are becoming chefs then" He smiled. "Well, just go straight ahead to the back and you'll find your class there"
"Thanks" The restaurant felt warm and welcoming. It feels like the kind of place where you can easily relax after a day's hard work.
Getting into the back we were greeted by Alice who handed us an apron, pointed out where we could leave our belongings, and asked us whether we wanted some prosecco. Yes, please! 


Chef Jack introduced himself and kicked off the class with telling us what we were going to make that night. Chipotle chicken, homemade tortillas and four different salsas.
I know that Laurent has been wanting to make decent homemade tortillas, so that was an exciting prospect for us. Jack offered us a demonstration on how to properly prepare the rub for our chicken, and got us started on the first salsa. He continued to explain some of the ingredients mixed into the passata and let us have a taste of the chipotle paste. Which I can highly recommend you don't almost eat a teaspoon such as I did, because that stuff is spicy!
Which caused some giggles, and made me think back to my very first experience with wasabi. (That I classically mistook for guacamole the first time I ate it.)
The passata with the ingredients was to be mixed in with the chicken.
He also demonstrated some neat knife skills in cutting up some additional ingredients for our corn salsa and send us to work.
"OK Chefs, it's time to cook. If you have any questions at all let me know," Jack said, and we headed out in couples to our cooking stations. I like the fact that Jack called us chefs. There's something very flattering about it.
Makes you feel like a pro even when you're learning.
We got cracking on the first part of our cooking, preparing everything in order Jack showed us and in no time the place smelled heavenly. 






When we had our chicken and corn salsa going, Jack gave us the second demonstration.
This time on how to prepare our dough for the tortillas prepared with special corn flour Masa Harina and he showed us how to do the other three salsas.
He walked us to preparing the dough, dividing it, and how to use the tortilla press, and frying them up.
When Jack demonstrated the salsas, I actually picked up some cool tricks such as how to make paste out of a garlic glove using your knife.
I also realized that I've been chopping up tomatoes wrong all my life, as Jack told us to put the skin side down because you won't squash the tomato that way. It was that 'aha moment' for me.  I will never forget that now!
He finished up with the demonstration by showing us his end results. The chicken onto the lovely little homemade tortillas and those scrumptious salsas on top. 





Back to work we were. Chef Jack walked around and assisted us with preparing our food.
He gave the class tons of compliments really helped our confidence. I prepared the dough, as Laurent worked on the salsas.
Jack did a final check for me on the getting the consistency of my dough just about right and explained it should feel a little like 'play dough'
Once the tortillas were frying up, we had our food done quite fast and Alice was setting the tables for us to eat.
So, I just proudly wanted to present our end results.
TAAAADAAAA!!





The flavours were a real good thing to feast on. I'm talking big flavours gals & pals. Cilantro, mint, lime, chili. There was spicy, sweet, fresh in the food. It tasted amazing!

The Jamie Oliver cookery school experience was such a fantastic one. It reminds me to do more of the things I love.
If you are ever stuck on what to do in London, and you are a foodie like me, I highly recommend sharpening up those cooking skills over there. If I were to live in London, I am sure that I'd inhabit that place in no time.
The class was so professionally done and good vibes only!
It has that 'Jamie' touch that I'm sure you know what I'm talking about if you've ever watched some of his cooking shows.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this.
I really do hope you leave me some love in the comments.

Love and blessings,

Rose


5 comments:

  1. It's so cool that you guys got to have a hands-on cooking experience out in London! Yum, Mexican street food is DELICIOUS! Salsa makes a big difference in tacos. Love how everything is organized and you got to learn a lot along the way. Thanks for sharing your experience - glad you enjoyed it!

    Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your boyfriend looks so happy! Mexican food is really good. It's one of my favorites. :)

    Brandy | Bran.nu

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is such a fun activity! I reallyl ove mexican food and I would love it if I knew how to cook mexican meals for my fam haha Hope you'll share soem recipe with us! ;)

    Sheena | www.sheenalovessunsets.com

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  4. That must be so much fun and amazing to do! We love street food and mexican one is totally good :) We have to look into it and upgrade our guacamole skills (yeees, the only one we can make haha)

    With love and light ☀

    Patricia & Miguel
    www.freeoversea.com

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