Specialities
Given that this cookery school is set on recording-studio-festooned Covent Garden Street, it’s perhaps appropriate that students here are greeted with a bellowed ‘ARE YOU READY TO WOK?’ on setting foot inside. At first glance you’d be forgiven for thinking you have enrolled on a Jack Black-style musical masterclass, but after a quick introduction to chef Jeremy Pang (Cordon Bleu alumnus and with extensive experience in high-end Chinese restaurants in Manchester and Bath), you quickly get the idea that you’re about to be introduced to simple yet sophisticated Chinese food. Classes are designed for 12 pupils and begin with a journey through traditional Chinese ingredients: dim sum parcels, myriad mushrooms, mooli and more sprouts than you can shake a chopstick at. The popular dim sum course begins with a classic Chinese start to the day, lo bak go (turnip cake), which chef assures his students is a breakfast of champions. It’s probably not one that Jack Black’s mentor Keith Richards would approve of, but its flavour is without question. The dim sum element starts with a clear-as-consommé stock and pre-roasted meat – traditionally dim sum in the Far East is a way to use up yesterday’s meat, much like arancini give an afterlife to an Italian’s leftover risotto. After chopping vegetables to pair with the meat and stock, plenty of time is devoted to the pleating of parcels – a true art form, perfected only with significant practice. The end of the course is marked by eating the fruit of the day’s work, paired with some excellent white wine.
