Culinary Anthropologist

Summertime Nordic Cuisine for the Home Cook, 29 & 30 June 2012

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 22:57:54 +0000

The world’s best restaurant, Noma in Copenhagen, has propelled new Nordic cuisine into the limelight. Chef René Redzepi’s innovative approach showcases the finest indigenous Nordic ingredients in fresh, light menus. Many of these ingredients also grow in Britain, or can be easily sourced. But with dishes such as edible soil (made from malt and hazelnuts), oyster porridge, veal and blackcurrant cookies, seabuckthorn leather with pickled elderflower, and chicken skin sandwich with lumpfish roe, this is not food most mere mortals can recreate at home.

Step in Mia Kristensen. Mia’s company CPH Good Food offers Nordic cuisine classes in Copenhagen to help home cooks translate the new Nordic diet movement into do-able, delicious and healthy home cooking. Culinary Anthropologist has teamed up with CPH Good Food to offer some special classes to bring new Nordic cuisine and its innovative use of all things seasonal, wild, smoked and preserved to Anna’s home teaching kitchen in London.

At the June classes we're going to cook up a summertime feast together, for which we will hay-smoke cheese, marinate meat in buttermilk for extra juiciness, make wholewheat and rye breads and use a host of fresh seasonal ingredients to create innovative salads and a luscious pudding. We'll kick off with traditional Danish 'klatkager' and there will be crispbread snacks along the way. Forget Ryvita, this is the real deal!

'Klatkager' - pearl barley pancakes with cloudberry jam;
Rye crispbreads with hay-smoked brie, honey & vinegar-baked rhubarb and fresh herbs;
Buttermilk-marinated and herb-crusted roast summer lamb;
Ryebread with seeds and dark beer;
Wheatbread with quick wholegrain starter;
Fluffy butter with crunchy bacon and chervil;
'Summer salad' of smoked creamcheese, cucumber, radish and chives;
Potato salad with strawberries and bitter herbs;
'The world's best' - spongecake with meringue topping, cherries, hazelnuts & cream;
Barley and blackcurrant cookies.

This will be a hands-on class limited to 8 guests.
You can see photos from the (very successful!) previous New Nordic Cuisine classes here.

“I am passionate about Nordic cuisine - its seasonality, lightness of ingredients and symbiotic relationship to nature. Nordic foods contain all five basic tastes and this makes it complete. Many ingredients are found in nature, which encourages wonderful family trips, cooking in nature and of course eating together,” says Mia Kristensen.

A student of Food Science and disciple of the world’s most pre-eminent food nerds, Dr Harold McGee and Professor Peter Barham, Mia will share her knowledge of the whys and wherefores of cooking during our hands-on class, providing an insight into the culinary magic of restaurants like Noma.

Dates: Friday 29th, repeated Saturday 30th June 2012

Time: 10am - around 2pm

Location: London N5 (Arsenal tube 2 mins walk)

Price: £90

To book: Email Anna

Please read the booking terms and conditions before booking your place.

Rhubarb photo by Nanna Albrechtsen.

Summer preserving workshops, Fri 22nd & Sat 23rd June 2012

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:10:11 +0000

In partnership with Riverford, the lovely organic veg box people, I offer seasonal preserving workshops. We cover all the basics of preserving fruits and vegetables and together we make five you can take home.

You'll learn about sterilising jars, using sugar, salt and vinegar correctly as preservatives, reaching ‘setting point’ for jams and jellies, safe bottling and more. Class sizes are kept small and very hands-on. As well as your filled jars, there are recipes and guidance notes to take home.

At the Summer workshops we will make:
Strawberry & rhubarb jam
Bread & butter pickles
Spicy courgette chutney
Bottled brandied cherries
Gooseberry curd

The exact menu may change slightly nearer the time when we know what produce the fields will be yielding!

“I greatly enjoyed the workshop. I thought there was the right combination of instruction, hands on experience and nice people. The lunch provided was delicious.”

Dates: Saturday 23rd June 2012, repeated Friday 22nd and/or Sunday 24th according to demand

Time: 10am - 3pm

Location: London N5

Price: £70 (includes lunch with wine)

To book: email Anna

Please read the booking terms & conditions before booking your place. Thank you.

Cooking Club, Tues 12th & Weds 13th June 2012

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:31:00 +0000

The Cooking Club is a monthly series of classes that you can dip in and out of as you please. At each class we cook a seasonal vegetarian supper, the stars of which are Riverford's beautiful organic vegetables and fruits. This class is perfect for those who want to eat seasonally and are after a little recipe inspiration (as well as a fun night out).

Classes are usually held on the second Tuesday and/or Wednesday of the month, 7pm-10pm. We cook together for a couple of hours - learning different culinary techniques each month - and then sit to enjoy a convivial dinner around the kitchen table with wine.

The menu will feature seasonal produce available from Riverford at the time. Vegetarian.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed these classes. I have learned many new skills and the classes have given me ideas on using seasonal vegetables. I have used many of the recipes again.”

“Thank you for another wonderfully inspiring and enjoyable evening.”

Date: Tuesday 12th June 2012, repeated Wednesday 13th June if demand

Time: 7pm - 10pm

Location: London N5 (Arsenal tube 2 mins walk)

Price: £40 per person per class. Or £35 if you book 3 Cooking Club class places, which could be 3 for you, or you plus 2 friends, or as gifts, or any combination of those options.

To book: Email Anna Please read the booking terms & conditions before booking your place. Thank you.

Early summer minestrone with pesto

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:41:05 +0000

This recipe is adapted from one in The River Café cookbook. It is a fresh green soup, perfect for late spring or early summer. I actually prefer it luke warm to hot, or even chilled.

Rhubarb and yoghurt cake

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:26:06 +0000

This cake is so easy - you can throw it together in ten minutes. It always goes down really well when we make it in cooking classes. Rhubarb, orange and yoghurt make a delicious combination. But you could omit the orange flower water, or substitute rose water, or just use vanilla. Enjoy the cake warm or cold, at tea time or for dessert. It pairs beautifully with a dollop of creamy yoghurt. The recipe is adapted from one by Leanne Kitchen.

Home Bread in a Day, 11th, 12th &13th May 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:59:11 +0000

We will focus on how to fit making your own bread into a busy lifestyle. Who has the time to knead dough after work every day, let alone wait for it to rise twice before you bake it? At this class you will learn cunning techniques and recipes for making your own artisan style bread without using a bread machine.

After this hands-on intensive workshop you will be able to make a range of breads - classic white boules, walnut and olive breads, focaccia, naan and flatbreads - without any of them being a chore. Homemade pizza or pitta on a school night will suddenly become a possibility! You will work with a range of top quality organic and stoneground flours including wholewheat, malted and spelt.

What’s more you will go home with a homemade bread-making kit specially sourced by Anna which will include all the essentials you need to get going immediately, even your own tub of bread dough and wooden peel for loading bread into the oven. Plus of course there will be plenty of the freshly baked bread you have made to take home.

The workshop includes a delicious seasonal lunch showcasing different types of bread. You can view pictures of the previous Home Bread workshops here.

Dates: Friday 11th May 2012, repeated Saturday 12th May, and Sunday 13th May too if demand...

Time: 10am - 4pm

Location: London N5

Price: £95

To book: Email Anna

Please read the booking terms & conditions before booking your place. Thank you.

Cooking Club, Tues 8th & Weds 9th May 2012

Tue, 08 May 2012 13:40:53 +0000

The Cooking Club is a monthly series of classes that you can dip in and out of as you please. At each class we cook a seasonal vegetarian supper, the stars of which are Riverford's beautiful organic vegetables and fruits. This class is perfect for those who want to eat seasonally and are after a little recipe inspiration (as well as a fun night out).

Classes are usually held on the second Tuesday and/or Wednesday of the month, 7pm-10pm. We cook together for a couple of hours - learning different culinary techniques each month - and then sit to enjoy a convivial dinner around the kitchen table with wine.

The menu will feature seasonal produce available from Riverford at the time. Vegetarian.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed these classes. I have learned many new skills and the classes have given me ideas on using seasonal vegetables. I have used many of the recipes again.”

“Thank you for another wonderfully inspiring and enjoyable evening.”

Date: Tuesday 8th May 2012, repeated Wednesday 9th May if demand

Time: 7pm - 10pm

Location: London N5 (Arsenal tube 2 mins walk)

Price: £40 per person per class. Or £35 if you book 3 Cooking Club class places, which could be 3 for you, or you plus 2 friends, or as gifts, or any combination of those options.

To book: Email Anna Please read the booking terms & conditions before booking your place. Thank you.

Spring preserving workshops, Fri 27th & Sat 28th April 2012

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:05:56 +0000

In partnership with Riverford, the lovely organic veg box people, I offer seasonal preserving workshops. We cover all the basics of preserving fruits and vegetables and together we make five you can take home.

You'll learn about sterilising jars, using sugar, salt and vinegar correctly as preservatives, reaching ‘setting point’ for jams and jellies, safe bottling and more. Class sizes are kept small and very hands-on. As well as your filled jars, there are recipes and guidance notes to take home.

At the Spring workshops we will make:

Rhubarb, cranberry & anise chutney
Lebanese pickled beetroots & turnips
Spiced carrot jam
Proper pickled eggs
Bengal ginger & chilli chutney
Wild garlic pesto, if available

The exact menu may change slightly nearer the time when we know what produce the fields will be yielding!

“Thank you for a really inspiring and enjoyable day Spring Preserving. It’s just amazing what was produced and it made for an excellent Mothering Sunday! The atmosphere was so good and you really create a great event. I look forward to the next.”

“I greatly enjoyed the workshop. I thought there was the right combination of instruction, hands on experience and nice people. The lunch provided was delicious.”

Dates: Saturday 28th April 2012, repeated Friday 27th and/or Sunday 29th according to demand

Time: 10am - 3pm

Location: London N5

Price: £70 (includes lunch with wine)

To book: email Anna Please read the booking terms & conditions before booking your place. Thank you.

Secret Kitchen menu, 21st April 2012

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 19:52:16 +0000

an Istrian dinner

Istrian pršut & cheese
Malvazija & Teran wines

Maneštra with elderberry vinegar

Tagliatelle with black truffles

Grilled veal chops, garlicky sausages and lardy potatoes
with ajvar, wild garlic mustard and green salad

Honey & propolis pannacotta with pollen,
hazelnuts & a fig

Mistletoe rakija and coffee

Beetroot crispbreads

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:00:59 +0000

Add dried spices to the dough for more flavours. To stay within the flavours of Nordic cuisine, try caraway seeds, dried dill, dried lemon balm or even small pieces of roasted bacon. Serve these crispbreads with an assortment of cheeses, a fresh herb pesto or with pickled herring, like they do in Sweden.

Recipe from Mia Kristensen of CPH Good Food.

Mackerel escabeche

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:19:24 +0000

This recipe is adapted from one by Thomasina Miers. Escabeche usually refers to a technique of frying fish and then marinating it in a vinegary liquid with onions, spices and herbs. Flavourings vary enormously from country to country; escabeche is popular in Italy, Spain, Latin America and the Philippines.

This dish is a relative of good old fish and chips, which is not as British as one might think. They share origins in a dish beloved of the Shahs of Persia some 1500 years ago - sikbāj - sweet and sour stewed beef. This later made its way around the Arabic world, with fish replacing beef in Christian parts. The amazing history is told by Prof Dan Jurafsky on his blog, 'The Language of Food'.

Dan writes: "The word escabeche came to Spanish from Catalan, which acquired it from its neighbour, Occitan, who got it from the Genoese, who stole it from the Neapolitans, and so on, back eventually east to the Arabic of Baghdad and the Persian of Ctesiphon." And the story continues with the Jews being expelled from Spain and Portugal and going to northern Europe, taking their fish dishes with them. Finally, in England, Belgian frites were married with battered and fried fish doused with vinegar: fish and chips.

Fish in a Day, Fri 23rd & Sat 24th March 2012

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:16:56 +0000

This workshop is a partnership between Culinary Anthropologist and the lovely people at Hubbub, who deliver top quality produce from your local fishmonger, butcher, cheesemonger and deli to your door.

We will focus on preparing and cooking sustainably caught fish and shellfish, such as lemon sole, sardines, mackerel, squid, oysters and mussels.

Anna will show you how to fillet flat and round fish, shuck oysters and prepare other shellfish. Everyone will have a go!

You will then cook your prepared seafood in various ways for a delicious and extensive Mediterranean seafood feast to share with plenty of wine to drink.

The menu will include (subject to availability):
Oysters three ways (including raw and baked)
Mackerel escabeche
Classic moules marinières
Lemon sole en papillote with leeks and dill
Risotto nero with braised and fried squid

You will go home confident to cook more fish and shellfish at home, a pack of all the recipes and a new appreciation of sustainable seafood choices. This is an intensive hands-on class, so come hungry to learn and to feast!

Dates: Friday 23rd & Saturday 24th March 2012

Time: 10am - 3pm

Location: London N5

Price: £95

To book: Email Anna

Please read the booking terms & conditions before booking your place. Thank you.

Fish filleting photo credit Eating East.

Secret Kitchen menu, 16th & 17th March 2012

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 22:30:36 +0000

Nordic inspiration

Beetroot & dill vodka martinis
Malt pizza with home-cured bacon & goat's cheese

Hot-smoked whisky-cured salmon with kale speltcakes
Juniper-cured mackerel with beetroot speltcakes & horseradish
Lightly cured cod with wild garlic pesto & rye toasts

Pork cheeks braised in wheat beer with
speltotto, spinach and baby rootfruits

Danish apple trifle with honey-toasted oats, hazelnuts,
skyr cream, sea buckthorn, heather & blackberry liqueur

Coffee and homemade liqueurs

Cooking Club, Tues 13th & Weds 14th March 2012

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:40:13 +0000

March 2012 Cooking Club: Spring in the air
Lovely new greens will be appearing for use in lighter salads and vibrant dishes. We'll look to the Mediterranean for inspiration to propel us into spring.
(The exact menu will depend on ingredient availability.)

The Cooking Club is a monthly series of classes that you can dip in and out of as you please. At each class we cook a seasonal vegetarian supper, the stars of which are Riverford's beautiful organic vegetables and fruits. This class is perfect for those who want to eat seasonally and are after a little recipe inspiration (as well as a fun night out).

Classes are usually held on the second Tuesday and/or Wednesday of the month, 7pm-10pm. We cook together for a couple of hours - learning different culinary techniques each month - and then sit to enjoy a convivial dinner around the kitchen table with wine.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed these classes. I have learned many new skills and the classes have given me ideas on using seasonal vegetables. I have used many of the recipes again.”

“Thank you for another wonderfully inspiring and enjoyable evening.”

Date: Tuesday 13th March 2012, repeated Wednesday 14th if demand

Time: 7pm - 10pm

Location: London N5 (Arsenal tube 2 mins walk)

Price: £40 per person per class. Or £35 if you book 3 Cooking Club class places, which could be 3 for you, or you plus 2 friends, or as gifts, or any combination of those options.

To book: Email Anna Please read the booking terms & conditions before booking your place. Thank you.

New Nordic Cuisine for the Home Cook, 9th & 10th March 2012

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:12:05 +0000

The world’s best restaurant, Noma in Copenhagen, has propelled new Nordic cuisine into the limelight. Chef René Redzepi’s innovative approach showcases the finest indigenous Nordic ingredients in fresh, light menus. Many of these ingredients also grow in Britain, or can be easily sourced. But with dishes such as edible soil (made from malt and hazelnuts), oyster porridge, veal and blackcurrant cookies, seabuckthorn leather with pickled elderflower, and chicken skin sandwich with lumpfish roe, this is not food most mere mortals can recreate at home.

Step in Mia Kristensen. Mia’s company CPH Good Food offers Nordic cuisine classes in Copenhagen to help home cooks translate the new Nordic diet movement into do-able, delicious and healthy home cooking. Culinary Anthropologist has teamed up with CPH Good Food to offer some special classes to bring new Nordic cuisine and its innovative use of all things seasonal, wild, smoked and preserved to Anna’s home teaching kitchen in London. We're going to cook up a feast together, including making our own bread and pizza, curing our own bacon and hot-smoking salmon - all techniques any home cook can master. See full menu below.

“I am passionate about Nordic cuisine - its seasonality, lightness of ingredients and symbiotic relationship to nature. Nordic foods contain all five basic tastes and this makes it complete. Many ingredients are found in nature, which encourages wonderful family trips, cooking in nature and of course eating together,” says Mia Kristensen.

A student of Food Science and disciple of the world’s most pre-eminent food nerds, Dr Harold McGee and Professor Peter Barham, Mia will share her knowledge of the whys and wherefores of cooking during our hands-on class, providing an insight into the culinary magic of restaurants like Noma.

On the menu:
Crispbread with ramson (wild garlic) pesto
Lightly cured & smoked salmon with celeriac salad
Malt pizza with home-cured bacon & herbs
Apple bread made with old wheat varieties
Pork cheeks in wheat beer
Cauliflower salad with salted hazelnuts, cress & dried cranberries
Spicy spelt salad with horseradish, cream, cabbage & apples
Danish Apple cake with skyr (Icelandic curd cheese) foam, oats & hazelnuts

Dates: Saturday 10th March 2012, and also Friday 9th March if demand

Time: 10am - around 2pm

Location: London N5 (Arsenal tube 2 mins walk)

Price: £80

To book: Email Anna

Please read the booking terms & conditions before booking your place. Thank you.