I managed to book a place on the School’s most popular course, the one-day Original Fish and Shellfish course. And so at just before 9am on a chilly Sunday morning, still enjoying the memory of the previous evening’s grilled lobster at the Seafood Restaurant, I found myself donning a smart chef’s jacket and apron and sitting down for a coffee with fifteen other cooks-in-the-making. The school is in a relatively new building just a hundred yards or so along the front from the Seafood Restaurant itself – the building also houses Stein’s Fish & Chips (report coming), Stein’s Deli (lots of yummy things) and other seafaring outlets. The school is on the first floor, and commands a cracking view of the estuary from the long refectory table at one end.Chief instructor Mark took us through a few words about safety and then took us to the demonstration station at the other end of the kitchen. We sat on stools and looked on while he tackled one of the day’s knottier problems – despatching a large stone crab. Ceiling-mounted video cameras helped everyone see the drama on the chopping board. That done, we went back to the cooking stations (two people to a stove), crabs and screwdrivers were produced and off we went! My partner-in-fish for the day John from Truro got us off the mark, and we put the crab on to boil – just 10 minutes is enough. Once the crab was out and cooling we were back with Mark learning about preparing a squid from scratch (including pulling out the amazingly transparent and flexible bone). Back to the kitchens to put everything into practice, this time cooking the squid in a very interesting slow way in a pan inside the oven set to a low 120C with star anise and cinnamon for about 25 minutes.
Now to disembowel the crab! Again, full guidance from Mark, then back to our places where more ingredients had appeared as if by magic (actually down to Bill and the other helpers) where we went from boiled crab to crab cakes in just a few moments. (Crushed cream crackers are the key ingredient, rather to my surprise!). Into the fridge and then back to the squid which was now cooked, so prepare a salad with vermicelli noodles, mushrooms, ginger and other things. And at last – time to eat something! We sat round the table to eat the salad and enjoy the first of what would be (if you wanted) several glasses of sauvignon.The day was very impressive in the way it all fitted together, with alternating demonstration and practice sessions keeping the variety and allowing the various ingredients time to reach the optimum conditions. We went on to fillet fish (red mullet as a round fish, and plaice as a flat fish) and prepare the fillets en papillotte (in a bag) and grilled with various accompaniments. Now it was getting on for 2.30pm, and we all sat back around for a well-earned lunch of plaice and another glass or two. Cheers!
The final part of the day was watching Mark and Bill prepare another kind of dish – a prawn and monkfish caldine (wet curry) with flatbreads and pilao rice. The guys worked splendidly as a double act, inviting people to help with various aspects and chatting away answering whatever questions came up, as well as sharing their thoughts on many aspects of the life of the chef. For some reason we ended up talking a lot about salt (Mark says to use plenty of it – the food tastes of more!). Then finally the curry, rice and everything was served all at once, with enough for some of each all round. Certificates, handshakes, a chance to buy an apron or a knife at the school’s shop and we were done. It’s a grand day out, and you certainly don’t go home hungry. I bought a filleting knife and will definitely be starting to buy whole fish from time to time now – I have enough confidence to give it a try. Well done to Mark, Bill and the boys. Padstow Seafood School,Riverside, Padstow PL28 8BY, Tel: 01841 532700.
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