Cook
in
France
Tel: 0033 (0)553 302405 Bombel, 24290, St Amand de Coly, Sarlat, Dordogne, France (GPS: N45° 01.915/E001° 15.295)
Food Heroes: Rick Stein
It's not often you get the chance to meet one of your food heroes. Our chef spills the beans on his admiration for the great man...
But to impress a great chef like Rick Stein with your own original dish and have him say "Wow"? Well, that's exactly what happened when I entered a cooking competition called "Impress Rick Stein with an Original Fish Dish"...
The dish was Chargrilled Seabass with a Pernod Vinaigrette and it won me the £5000 First prize at Rick Stein Seafood Restaurant in Padstow.
Simple ingredients and unfussy presentation...
In all modesty, I think the thing that actually impressed Rick the most was the simplicity of the dish: simple ingredients, a really fresh piece of fish and an unfussy presentation.
But this wasn't the first time I had met Rick Stein - he was my first judge on MasterChef and he helped propel me to the next round.
As a result of our meeting he invited me to cook at his Seafood Restaurant in Padstow where I was slotted in to one of the fastest learning curves I have ever experienced.
I will be forever grateful to Rick for giving me the chance to realise a dream many people can only, well...dream about! But, despite his natural generosity it is, above all, Rick's simple cut-to-the-chase, sympathetic take on fish and seafood that makes him one of my food heroes. He believes that if you muck about with fish too much you destroy its subtlety and delicacy.
A French Odyssey...
Before setting out on our own French Odyssey - the search for a cooking school in France - Rick invited me to help out at his, then new, Rick Stein Cookery School (whilst there, I was asked to help cook for his sister's 50th birthday bash - what a night that was!).
So impressive was the setup that we partly structured Cookinfrance on his model.
All this goes some way to illustrate the enormous influence Rick Stein has had, not only on my cooking, but on me and my family's future.
So, Rick Stein then...
Always charming and erudite (with a sometimes impressive temper, no doubt born of his struggle for perfection), happy to give freely of his immense experience and a chap very much of the people (witness his near God-like stature among a plethora of TV chefs). Frighteningly eclectic, Rick Stein has appeared on numerous television and radio programmes enunciating on a range of subjects from poetry to politics, law and order to travel.
A great chef, and a pretty great bloke as well.
Food hero, Rick Stein!
Prices
Prices start at just £120/175€ per person.
You can choose from our flexible range of one-day, two-day or three-day cooking courses, or come for our great value five-day/six-night cooking holiday.
You can choose from our flexible range of one-day, two-day or three-day cooking courses, or come for our great value five-day/six-night cooking holiday.
Courses and holidays can be residential or non-residential - it's your choice. Non-cooking friends/partners welcome.
A cooking holiday can be cheaper than you think - find out how much our great value cooking holidays actually cost - you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Our chef on the Masterchef set, with his very own food hero Rick Stein
What will you be learning?
Here at Cookinfrance you'll be preparing, cooking and, of course, eating dishes from France, the Med and the Pacific Rim.
Among other things, you'll:
learn how to cook pastries, breads and soups
select and prepare the best fish and shellfish
butcher common joints of meat
cook classic French and Italian sauces
construct modern dressings
master the art of stylish modern food presentation
Among other things, you'll:
You'll leave here with these three things, and more...
We guarantee you'll leave here with at least three things:
A battery of new and indispensable cooking skills
Bucket-loads of kitchen confidence
Bags of fond memories of a fun relaxed cooking holiday
Want to be sure? Then read our great testimonials
Want to be sure? Then read our great testimonials
