Cooking workshop for absolute beginners

Well, that was fun! I just took 3 absolute beginner cooks and 1 limited-repertoire cook shopping and then cooking. It was the first time I have taught a class like this (previously I have taught sushi-making and medieval cooking) and I think it went pretty well.

Our menu for the day was:

- honey, mustard and prosciutto palmiers
- and, since we had the pastry... pesto palmiers, and pesto and cheese twists
- San choi bau
- Toblerone Chocolate Mousse

I will type in the recipes soon I promise (I have them in electronic form from making the class notes, but they are on a different computer). As well as slicing and dicing techniques, I taught them in passing how to choose ripe pineapples and good apples, neither of which were on the menu, but we happened to walk past while shopping. We julienned, whipped, rolled and stirfried; the perfect recipe for a fun afternoon.

Two out of the four participants asked me if I had ever considered teaching cooking for a living, which I took as a real compliment, and everyone commented on how enthusiastic and passionate I am about cooking. I am absolutely chuffed!

There are things I will change for next time, but mostly only small tweaks.

San choi bau