We recently had the pleasure of attending a Vegetarian Course with our friends over at Philleigh Way Cookery School. Situated in the beautiful Roseland Peninsula, a short ride away on the King Harry ferry just off the A39, the Cookery School is a characterful converted barn run by the fifth generation of Pascoes hailing from Court Farm. Our chef and teacher for the day, George Pascoe, often recounted tales of his grandmother’s cooking throughout the course – the family’s passion, enthusiasm and culinary abilities was hugely inspiring and shortly after we arrived, our excitement to get cooking was mounting….
A group of seven people participated in the Vegetarian Course – intimate enough to get plenty of one-on-one help from George when needed, but big enough to create an atmosphere and meet some interesting new people.
We were surprised by the seemingly complex recipes presented to us in the morning, but were even more surprised by how simple they turned out to be. On this particular course we made:
Twice Baked Cheese Soufflés with Cream Sauce and Spinach
Beetroot Tarte Tatin
Herb Roulade with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Yoghurt, and Rocket Pesto
Linguine and Tagliatelle
George wanted to emphasise that vegetarian cooking needn’t be bland and show us how to wow vegetarian dinner guests with indulgent, delicious, and beautifully presented, meat-free food. There was plenty of butter, cheese, and cream in the recipes – certainly indulgent and definitely delicious!
Each dish started with a demonstration from George before we turned our hand to making them ourselves. All ingredients were provided and ready weighed to save time – eggs were fresh from the farm and we used local, Cornish produce where possible. Equipment was provided too and there was even a helpful assistant on hand to take away bowls, chopping boards, and utensils as they were ready for washing up.
Much to our delight and satisfaction, we sat down between ‘cooks’ to sample the dishes we’d made throughout the day – and were even provided with a glass of prosecco mid-morning and wine during lunch.
The whole experience was extremely rewarding and informative, and I’m pleased to have come away with these new recipes under my belt as well as more general skills in making soufflés, puff pastry, and pasta. Being a meat-eater (and a lover of ALL food) I’d go back and do each and every course, if I could!
The course is not only good wholesome fun and a wonderful day out, but a valuable way to expand upon your culinary skills in a beautiful and calm environment in the Cornish countryside. Highly recommended.
Visit their website to find out more about Philleigh Way and the courses on offer: www.philleighway.co.uk
