On The Menu This Month: November

At Leiths, you wouldn’t believe it’s November outside. With a list of challenges as long as a Japanese radish, it’s hotting up in our Diploma kitchens this month. And so follows the grand tradition of the teachers nudging students to find their ‘sixth gear’.

Let me give you some visuals. Gutting and grilling a mackerel with aplomb, neatly julienning a Granny Smith for a remoulade and then scoring five out of five is big ‘sixth gear’ energy. Pan frying a duck breast to pink perfection, lining a tart case with buttery pastry in one majestic swoop and then seasoning your shimmering port sauce is, you guessed it, very ‘sixth gear’. The aim, as the Foundation Term progresses, is to crank up the heat – but not so much that your pastry starts sweating too.

November is also the month of ‘sentences that you’ll only ever hear at cookery school’. ‘Fish pie to be prepared under assessment conditions’ emphatically being one of them. Or ‘a morning of wine tasting for the exam at the end of the term’. The latter refers to the preparation (my favourite kind of preparation) for their WSET exam later in the month. Our Diploma students also have a mock theory test to have a think about too.

Thankfully, Leiths believes in balance and there is time to just relax and simply be inspired by our three extraordinary guest teachers – Ursula Ferringo, Marie Mitchell and Olia Hercules. Ursula cooks joyous Italian fare for sharing and, from memory, believes kneading dough is its own kind of gentle therapy. She has written many, many wonderful books. Marie, author of Caribbean cookbook ‘Kin’ and a Leiths short course grad, returns to the school to teach about recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. Olia is an award-winning Ukrainian food author and Diploma alumna. She co-founded Cook for Ukraine which has raised over two million pounds for UNICEF’s UK Ukraine Appeal. But, for our students, I imagine she will discuss ferments and family with as much impact too. Indeed, her deep love for Ukraine radiates through her cooking and writing.

From grape varieties to family histories, from Shiraz to sauerkraut, there is so much to feast upon this month. With the ‘sixth gear’ season in full flow, our students are fully immersed in Diploma-land with only hazy memories of life before Leiths.