Culinary celebrations

Rick Stein’s Cookery School continues to cook up a storm as it marks its 20th anniversary.

It was two decades ago that Rick Stein’s Cookery School was launched, showcasing Rick’s famous recipes and how to cook like the seafood master. The cookery school has always shared Rick’s ethos of using the freshest seafood, often caught from the very estuary that students look out over from the school’s window. Speaking to Rick, he couldn’t be prouder of the school’s chefs and students: “This year we celebrate our 20th anniversary. I started it to give the chefs at The Seafood Restaurant a bit more intensive training in preparing and cooking fish and shellfish. To keep the lecturers, all chefs from the restaurant, gainfully employed I ran a few courses for aspiring cooks. It was an instant success with the public and now it’s hard to find slots for the chefs, but the principle remains the same – teaching by chefs who really know what they’re doing.”

Course content varies and there really is something for everyone, from half days and full days, to longer two and four-day courses. If you fancy just dipping your toes in the culinary waters then there are also one-dish workshops, tasting evenings and, for the entertainers at heart, ‘cook your own dinner’ evenings.

One-dish workshops are the perfect way to spend an evening in Padstow. Here you can sit back and watch the chefs demonstrate how to cook one of Rick’s favourite dishes and then develop your own cookery skills and techniques whilst you recreate the dish. You’ll then get to enjoy the fruits of your labour with a glass of good wine whilst overlooking the beautiful Camel Estuary.

The school’s four-day course is the culmination of Rick’s 40-year passion for fresh fish, simply cooked. All guests are invited to join the team on the Sunday for a complimentary Prosecco and canapé reception, before being immersed into a culinary adventure, cooking the best seafood in Cornwall. This course offers the perfect balance of demonstrations by the chefs alongside hands-on cooking, with plenty of time for tasters and lunch. You will also enjoy a not-to-be-missed morning sea fishing trip from Padstow harbour.

If you want to don your apron and cook your own dinner, the school offers a brilliant dinner party with a twist! Experience a hands-on evening, with a glass of wine and canapés of course, before watching two chef demonstrations, replicating the dishes, then sitting down to enjoy the dishes you’ve prepared. If you really don’t feel like doing any of the hard work in the kitchen, then why not try a tasting evening? Sit back and relax with a glass or two of wine and tasters of the three dishes demonstrated by Stein’s chefs.

And for the ultimate in luxury why not book you and a loved one onto an exclusive ‘cook and stay’ break, combining an overnight stay
and breakfast in one of Stein’s beautiful guest rooms, a one-day course at Rick Stein’s Cookery School, plus a cookery school 20th anniversary apron to take home.

Local suppliers are regularly invited to the school to showcase their products, with the chef team creating some incredible dishes from their produce before your very eyes. And it’s not just local suppliers that are supported, the cookery school is regularly home to Rick Stein’s apprentice chefs, where they have the opportunity to learn and develop their skills whilst on placement in the restaurants. The school also regularly hosts local primary schools where pupils can learn more about seafood and healthy eating.

To mark the special 2020 celebrations, the school has launched a not-to-be-missed course including six favourite dishes from the last 20 years. At £198 per person, dates are filling fast, so if you would like to experience this incredible opportunity to cook with experts don’t delay – book now for the next course on 12th September 2020!

There will also be a very special 20th anniversary break later in the year filled with celebratory dinners, cookery courses and Champagne breakfasts with the team, Rick, Jill, Jack and Charlie Stein. As part of the weekend, you’ll enjoy welcome drinks and canapés with Jill Stein and the cookery school team, dinner at The Seafood Restaurant, and a one-day classic seafood cookery course, where you’ll learn how to cook a selection of classic dishes, including lobster thermidor and tronçon of turbot with hollandaise, with plenty of tasters and a glass or two of good wine along the way. A demo from Rick Stein, and a special five-course dinner with Jack and Charlie will be the pièce de résistance, rounding off
the celebrations.

Whatever your culinary aspiration, be sure to join the cookery school team this year and relish in the wonderful tastes of the sea.

Commemorative apron

As a celebration of  20 years of the cookery school in Padstow, a special commemorative Rick Stein apron has been designed. It would make the perfect gift for anyone that has been to the school before, would love to but hasnít had the chance, or simply a home cook that loves Rickís ethos of fresh fish, simply cooked. Available to purchase via
www.rickstein.com

Read the book, take the course!

To complement the launch of Rickís new book Secret France, a brand-new course has been developed to take the students through a fish and shellfish journey that incorporates classic seafood, street and seasonal cookery. Secret France by Rick Stein: RRP £26, published by
BBC Books. Signed copies available to buy at www.rickstein.com

Rick Stein’s Cookery School

01841 532700

www.rickstein.com