I was lucky (and quick) enough to secure a spot for the first Bécasse Creative class at the Quarter-Twenty-One Cookery School. It sure wasn’t cheap ($250pp) but it was definitely worth it! Why?

1.  There were only 12 participants. This intimacy allowed us to ask lots of questions and make the most of our time with Justin North (chef and owner of Bécasse), Libby Travers (manager of the cooking school and resourceful cook) and David Jouy (restaurant manager at Bécasse).

Justin North in the kitchen of the Quarter Twenty One Cookery School

2. The concept behind the class was clever and insightful. We started with an unprepared ingredient, i.e. prawns, waygu beef, flounder and gradually progressed to a sophisticated dish by adding increasingly strong flavours. We don’t often enough taste plain ingredients…the prawns on offer that night didn’t need any seasoning aside from a touch of salt. I cannot emphasize enough how lucky we are in Australia to have access to some extraordinary produce.

3. We got to taste a number of mouthwatering dishes and their matching wines while listening to Justin North speak about the food philosophy behind Bécasse. Here are just a few examples of what was served:

Petits fours (clockwise): Fried sourdough with lardo, fried tapioca crackers and whipped smoked butter with black olive.

“Purity” – Soy and sake flounder with tendon, clam and edible flowers

“Zen Still Life” – Japanese inspired dessert with black sesame sponge, nashi pear, plum and shiso sorbet, green tea espuma, apple crisps and snow pea shoots.

In summary, I highly recommend this class to anyone with an interest in the creative process behind dishes/menus served in top restaurants. This is not the type of class that you’ll leave with recipes easy to replicate at home. Instead, you might leave with a new found appreciation of some rare or under-used products/cuts and a new inpirational approach to creating dishes at home.

If you’d like to know more about what was said during the class, here is a great recollection of the first Bécasse Creative class by food blog “Grab your Fork”: http://grabyourfork.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/becasse-creative-with-justin-north-at.html

The next Becasse Creative cooking class is on the 8th of May 2012. To see the complete Quarter Twenty One Cookery School program, go to: http://www.quartertwentyone.com.au/

Quarter Twenty One Cookery School
Level 5, Westfield Sydney
Corner Pitt Street Mall and Market Street, Sydney