On The Menu This Month: October

The autumn leaves are falling in Wendell Park right in time for the start of the school year at Leiths. And just two weeks into this year’s Culinary Diploma, our students will have found out there is nothing our teachers love more than things running to schedule.

The Foundation Term, the first of the three that make up the Diploma, is as dizzying as it is delicious; new faces, new flavours and a whole lot of eggs. Honestly, if this term had a motto it would be ‘you’ve gotta break a lot of eggs before you make, well… literally anything.’ You start with the humble French omelette and graduate onwards to arm-aching handmade mayonnaise and crème anglaise (custard’s French cousin). Then you’re making egg pasta or choux pastry by hand before learning to whisk egg whites to snowy peaks. So, when you’re asked to bake a raspberry soufflé that rises as tall as a chef’s hat in the Advanced Term, all that core understanding is firmly tucked away in the back pocket of your chef’s trousers.

That being said, having flicked through this term’s recipes there are plenty, old and new, without an egg in sight. I’m coveting the snazzy, Instagrammable “sriracha butter chicken”, the “grilled plaice with seaweed butter” and the plate of steamed purple sprouting broccoli with a lick-the-plate clean dressing of “anchovy, caper and pine nut burnt butter”. Woof to all three.

Jointing a chicken and filleting a fish will soon be second nature for our students. But out of the kitchen and into the classroom, students will be learning not just from our in-house team of teachers (who really do know their Roscoff onions) but also from the legendary queen of beans – Jenny Chandler. To this day, Chandler’s Greek-style baked butter bean recipe is one I still cook for clients and friends alike. Chandler’s demonstration is understated and focuses on how to get the best out of incredibly humble ingredients. It’s a good reflection of the Foundation Term overall. A long way off from prising lobster meat from the shell or writing ‘Opera’ in melted chocolate (yes this really does happen later in the year). But the brick-by-brick consolidation of skills which will stick with you for life and allow you to attempt any number of culinary challenges down the line.