 Brend Hotels recently staged a unique culinary Masterclass – in association with Tilda – to spread the word about cooking great Italian food.
Andrea and Lara Messini, who run Le Gemme di Artemisia restaurant and cooking school in Lake Garda, Italy, flew in for a one-day Italian Masterclass to pass on their knowledge to a selection of chefs from Brend Hotels and local food writers.
The invited audience learnt how to cook pasta in many different guises as well as discovering how to make the perfect pesto and, of course, the secret of cooking risotto without having to continuously stir.
Andrea dispelled myths about cooking risotto and pasta with his practical demonstrations and gave the audience an insight into how he likes to cook in his restaurant – where he makes the most of local, seasonal produce and believes food is best cooked simply.
Mark Lyddy, Head of Foodservice at Tilda, said: "Andrea brings Italian cooking to life with his practical demonstrations and his amazing knowledge of the subject. He makes cooking look easy but he also emphasises that it is achievable for people who want to learn from his expertise. It is great for Tilda to be involved in educating chefs in this way and to be associated with such an inspiring and well respected chef."
More than 30 people attended the Italian Masterclass which took place at Brend's Saunton Sands Hotel in North Devon.
Henry Sowden, Head Chef at Saunton Sands Hotel said: "I've picked up lots of tips today – I'll be introducing the new method of cooking risotto, which will save us time in the kitchen. Plus the finished product actually tastes better, down to using the fresh stock – brings fresher product to the plate."
 Pete Woolacott, Head Chef at Barnstaple Hotel added: "This has been my first educational with Brend Hotels and it's been really good. Great to get the background on ingredients and local sourcing – brings it all to life. Cooking the risotto the way Andrea showed us is much easier and means we can cook it to order in the kitchen alongside everything else."
Everybody left the Masterclass bubbling with fresh enthusiasm, a range of menu suggestions, a bag of Tilda rice for inspiration and a full stomach!
For more information on Tilda and some great tasting recipes made using its Tilda Rice range, visit www.tildafoodservice.com |
