I love Japanese food. There. I have said it. In fact, I love most things about Japanese cuisine, culture and arts. I think it is the attention to detail, and the simplistic extravagance that comes with most Japanese arts. Whether it is a tea ceremony, or the precision with which sashimi is sliced, or even the forging of the incredible sexy knives used to slice it, there is bound to be an aura of Zen mystique surrounding it, regardless of what it is.
Japanese cuisine especially, requires a sufficient degree of skill. There are myriad unfamiliar ingredients and even less familiar means to acquire the skills, to know what to do with them. Enter, The Cooking School Noosa.
It was with a little excitement that I greeted the news of a new cooking school in Noosa. The excitement driven more so that it was hosted by one of my favourite restaurants, Wasabi Restaurant and Bar, more than anything else. I have enjoyed Wasabi’s exquisite cuisine on numerous occasions, and if I lived a bit closer I would be enjoying it many times more!
Additionally, it would seem I have become quite the cooking school fan. I used to be of the mindset that cooking classes were for people who couldn’t cook, but have come to realise that it is actually those who can that gain the greatest value, especially when it comes to specialist classes as are being offered at The Cooking School Noosa, the Contemporary Japanese class being one of them.
Located in a purpose built, quite chic, commercial cooking space a few doors down from the multi award winning waterfront restaurant, you are greeted by Zeb Gilbert, Wasabi’s executive chef and co-owner, and the lovely Julia, who is on hand to help for the day.
This is a very hands on class, so if you are planning on being a spectator and expecting others do the hard haul, you will not only miss out on learning about some quite unusual ingredients, and their specialist preparation, but you may well not eat.
Tasks are divided up between couples. If you come alone, like I did, there is always another Nigel-no-friends in the room that you can pair up with, and with food as your common ground, it doesn’t take long to get acquainted and have a bit of fun.
Fortunately I chose a very able cooking partner, who while a stranger to me, was no stranger to the preparation of Japanese cuisine. Unfortunately she chose the most difficult dishes to prepare – well, ok, that is not entirely true as I think we would all argue between ourselves on whose was actually the most difficult. Either way Zeb is on hand, and very calmly instructs, guides, and prompts you to use your own initiative, to get these wonderful dishes happening.
Collectively we made…
Beef tataki, ponzu, ginger chips, Japanese pickles, shichimi, furikake, beef tataki salad, dashi, donabe garnish, yosenabe, fish dumplings, handmade buckwheat noodles, umeboshi dressing, binchotan vegetables, local greens with red miso, vanilla ice cream, yuzu curd, sake marinated strawberries, mandarin meringues and (I am almost out of breath), sake jelly!
We (my cooking partner and I) were placed in the charge of the yosenabe, fish dumplings, and handmade buckwheat noodles
I was quite excited about the handmade buckwheat noodles as it meant we got to use the funky little traditional Japanese buckwheat mill in the corner of the kitchen. I would have been quite happy to play with the mill for the rest of the class but alas, we only needed a small amount and it is a made-on-demand kind of thing so everyone gets the opportunity to enjoy the experience… *sigh* #canIhaveoneforChristmasplease and while I am on the subject of Christmas presents, there was a pretty handsome dried bonito shaver as well (Katsuobushi grater boxes, I believe they are called)… and some logs of dried/fermented/smoked bonito (Katsuobushi) to shave on it wouldn’t go astray either… if you have seen how expensive this stuff is you will understand why I want them for Christmas!
Yosenabe is a traditional seafood hotpot and there is quite a process, and a lot of ingredients. It is fabulous working with unusual ingredients, as well as fresh, premium, and wherever possible, local, seafood. Many of the vegetables, greens and seasonal, and sometimes quite exotic, herbs are grown on Wasabi’s own Honeysuckle Farm, a farm in the Noosa hinterland that specialises in the growing of lesser available ingredients that Wasabi commonly uses, and often has difficulty procuring. That is where the class comes into its own; listening to Zeb give detail and insight into not only the use of these ingredients but the growing and handling of them.
Other core ingredients are available for purchase at the school, so it is never a situation of, ‘Cook it this once and never again,’ because you can’t find the ingredients.
It was rather an enjoyable process. Every now and then it would be tools down and we were gathered to watch one of the other couples be tutored through some of the more complicated elements of their dish.
As each course was completed, we would meander over to the restaurant where we plated up and enjoyed our magnificent creations at our tables, magically positioned overlooking the Noosa River.
It was quite the feast, but not just any feast; an absolutely sensational Japanese feast that I would have needed a small army of minions to accomplish in my own kitchen… or would I? Armed with my new artillery of skills, techniques and handy tips, I may just have the skills to pull it off by myself with the help of some forward planning and the recipe booklet we were sent home with… oh, and I will need that buckwheat mill… #Christmasreminder
Or… I could just take myself to Wasabi Restaurant and Bar and enjoy the feast all over again. Either way, Wasabi has excelled in adding another fabulous establishment to the Noosa dining scene, even if is you that is creating the divine meal that you are dining upon.
For more information about The Cooking School Noosa and class dates, please visit:
www.thecookingschoolnoosa.com/sites/the-cooking-school/
This story was written by Petra Hughes – Pebbles + Pomegranate Seeds. Petra was a guest at The Cooking School Noosa.
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