Food: Rick Stein's Cookery School
A traditional fishing port once raided by Vikings in 981, Padstow is now a peaceful fishing village raided only by tourists, many of whom are here to sample the culinary delights of chef Rick Stein
Rick Stein has been busy. He's cooked for everyone, from the Queen and Prince Philip to Margaret Thatcher. Author of over 20 bestselling cookbooks, Stein has also presented and produced a host of TV shows, travelled the world, discovered freshly caught swimmer crabs in Cambodia and careened across Spain in a clapped-out camper van in search of a cider sauce. His UK base, Padstow, has colloquially earned the nickname Padstein, a nod to the many local bars and restaurants bearing the Stein name. Last year, his first restaurant in the village, The Seafood Restaurant, celebrated its 40th birthday. Over the years, Stein has changed his formula very little, and his fresh, simply cooked seafood still reigns king.
In 2000, Stein progressed from cooking for guests to teaching guests to cook, with the opening of The Rick Stein Cookery School. Overlooking the Camel Estuary in North Cornwall, the school offers over 30 courses and lectures. The school's head chef Nick Evans has worked with Stein since 2001, and possesses both the skill and patience needed for his role as teacher. Housed in a light-filled second-floor building, the school is modern with individual cooking stations for eight pairs, a demonstration area and a long dining table.
As would be expected, the courses are mostly fish-focussed. "Simply Fish" is a one-day course, during which students make a gurgling bouillabaisse, pan-fried gurnard with sage and garlic butter and a variety of other delightsful dishes. Alternatively, "British Seafood" teaches quintessential dishes such as marigold-yellow smoked salmon kedgeree and traditional fish pie. For the more daring, the school also offers a range of more specialised classes, from Mediterranean street food to Spanish tapas, and even an Indian seafood class, featuring a traditional Keralan seafood biryani and a fragrant Mangalore lobster.
The cooking, smoking, dressing, chopping and boiling that takes place means students walk away not only with a new artillery of recipes in their back pocket, but an impressive set of new kitchen skills. Some recipes call for filleting and deboning a fish, jointing an entire chicken, shelling and deveining jumbo prawns, descaling and smoking a fillet of salmon - it's a full kitchen crash course.
Of course, the real test of any cooking course or recipe takes place after its been taken out of the oven. Stein has no shortage of experience - he's tried and tested his many recipes, and it shows. The food students learn to make is simple, warming and homey - the kind you want to curl up with at home on a winter night.
Half-day courses from £98; one-day courses from £198
rickstein.com
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