The concept of donning a chef’s hat once in a while at home is being taken one step ahead by Jamie’s Italian in Vasant Kunj as it launches master classes by brand chef Bakul from next week. Food enthusiasts will not only learn from the recipe books of the celebrity chef but they can also have their friends and family over after each session to try their dishes. By Riya Sharma
They are the pioneers of fresh pasta. When you have simple recipes coupled with fresh ingredients and mouth watering dishes, that gives you a complete package of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s lively and flavourful kitchen, Jamie’s Italian. We all have a hidden chef in us who pops out once in a while. Whereas, that cooking restricts only to the premises of our kitchen but what if we tell you that you can learn from the recipes of Jamie Oliver at a reasonable price and have your friends and family overIJ
Jamie’s Italian in Vasant Kunj has come up with an exciting opportunity for all those wanting to learn golden recipes from the huge volumes of Oliver’s cookbooks. “The problem with recipe books is that we buy them but we don’t use them. We want people to use them. We will also set our timing may be later in the evening so that family members and friends of those coming to attend the session can have them over and enjoy,” said brand chef Bakul who would be conducting master classes at the restaurant.
When we entered the place, we were welcomed by six cooking stations, induction cooktops, fresh vegetables and all the other ingredients kept near each station. It actually looked like one of those kitchens where Oliver cooks in his Instagram videos, only that this was comparatively smaller in size. “The idea was a bit of chefs’ and marketing combined, they wanted to come up with something like this. We had people coming in and asking for recipes, thus, we arranged for all of this. And, I have never got the chance to teach people like this so it is also an interesting experience for me. We are most probably going to start next week and we are going to have these classes every Thursday. We are still thinking about the price for each class but that would be something between Rs1000-1500,” said the chef.
To begin with, we were offered the aprons and hair caps to avoid any stains. Then, we were taken to the pasta making machine where they make their in- house pasta. When we make pasta at home, we get the pasta from supermarkets but imagine making your own pasta. We were thrilled to see the whole process, chef Bakul started with adding flour, water in the machine excluding eggs considering those who were vegetarians. “The best way to prepare a pasta is by adding eggs in the process but you can make it without eggs as well,” he said. When he asked us to have a glance inside the machine, it seemed like bread making. While the pasta was getting prepared in the machine, the chef asked us many things. He started by asking, “So, where did the pasta originate fromIJ” Following the general reply, ‘Italy’. The chef smiled and said, “No. That is the general perception. But Marco Polo during his extensive travel found noodles for the first time in China,” leaving all of us in amaze.
After 10 minutes, we were ready to take out our pasta. There were holes at the front part of the machine, which also give the shape to it. The first ones came in smaller size so the chef kept them again in the machine and got them out after few minutes. It looked like a thread coming out of a machine and it came out in the form of spaghetti. “We have these machines in all restaurants of ours. These not only make the pasta but also give it a shape,” he shared.
As the pasta was done, the chef put it on the plates and we were ready to toss, experiment, laugh and share. The first pasta that we made was prawn linguine which seemed not a difficult task with the help of many chefs teaching us and helping us. We were given a sheet of recipe written. Though we had everything in front of us, we all needed chef’s help and guidance to know that we were doing the right thing. Putting everything in the pan along with oil and stirring it seemed easy for all of us, but once we put the pasta in the mixture came the toughest part. The chef specifically told us that you need not mix the pasta with tongs because that will break the strands of spaghetti. So, we had to toss it which most of us couldn’t. But the time was running because if had not tossed it, then the pasta would taste overcooked. So, during the tossing session, some tried it carefully but others like us did not toss but were only revolving the pan and pretending as if were tossing it. But, the chef helped us all and we all managed the round one. After preparing the pasta, everyone from their cooking station tasted pasta made by others and started the competition, who was the bestIJ Everyone giggled and gave remarks to each other which seemed as if all of us were an expert in the field.
After the first round, everyone rolled up their sleeves and gave their best shot for the second round What started as a mere master class turned into a competition of ‘I can do it the best’ but all in a healthy way, we must mention. The next pasta that we made was rigatoni pomodoro and the chef deliberately chose not to help us which actually turned out well in our favour. Though all the chefs were around, but they chose to give directions and let us learn.
We started with putting a lot of oil without reading the recipe. And the chef casually pointed out, ‘Did you read the recipeIJ’ And then we added the passata (tomato sauce) with basil leaves and stirred it. Then, step by step, we followed the recipe and tried to give our best shot. For someone, who is not very fond of cooking, this experience turned out to be a fresh change.
As we were almost finished with our pasta, we realised that as someone who doesn’t cook was also able to cook pasta from the recipes of the legend, Jamie Oliver. Though we were not as perfect as him and we know, we can never be, but the feeling to learn, experiment and have a good laugh when you toss gravy outside or on someone’s face is like creating memories. And, how great that would be when you can have your friends and family come in for you and support you and taste what have you cooked at the restaurant.
The best thing that we loved was — all the chefs at the end of the session tasted the pasta cooked by us and gave their comments and suggestions. Some of them laughed by saying, ‘You can get a job here without getting any salary.”