BeyondPasta

I gave my first cooking class :))) It was fun fun fun! The story behind it? Here it is.

One of our friends spent a few weeks alone in Berlin while wife and kids went back to the homeland for the summer. He wanted to surprise his wife upon her return by cooking her a delicious dinner, but he is not quite able to cook. Knowing BeyondPasta he suggested I’d go to his place and teach him how to prepare a tasty italian dinner. What a great idea!

We decided to prepare a whole Italian meal. I asked G. to pick from the blog something that inspired him. Then I suggested a recipe that his wife liked on the blog. And finally I surprised him bringing the ingredients for a dessert.

Cooking – Making risotto while the potatoes roast in the oven

G. & N. lovely dinner menu

Porcini Mushroom Risotto: a slight variation of the Mushroom and Sausage Risotto. G. picked the recipe but I decided for a small variation to better match the second course on the menu. — Go to the recipe

Beef Fillet with Green Peppercorn and a side of roasted potatoes: this is a prelibate recipe, only for special occasions given the high price. I knew N. liked the recipe when she saw it on BeyondPasta, so I thought it would hit the spot and being able to enjoy something you want without cooking is great, isn’t it? — Go to the recipe

A Glass of Tiramisu: Tiramisu cream over a bed of crunchy cookies flavored with coffee and Grand Marnier. … we had to served them in the kids’ colored glasses, couldn’t find anything better :D — Go to the recipe

The class

We talked and cooked and had a drink, relaxed and enjoyed our evening, then we got to eat everything of course. It was all delicious!

What I loved the most about this class is that we got to adapt the recipes to G.’s pots, pans and utensils. I only brought my inseparable kitchen scale but G. won’t need one when he repeats the recipes for his special dinner. We used my scale to adapt the recipes to G.’s set of tools. For example G. learned that to make a risotto for 2 people he needs a… Barbie glass of rice!

The second thing I loved is that G. got to ask me all the questions he wanted. When I write my recipes I try to keep it simple and carefully list all the steps. But you never know what the background of people is, something that may seem obvious to me sometimes needs to be explained. The question of the night was: what do you use to tie the fillets? Well, butcher string of course :) (As soon as I got home I added it to the recipe!). We also talked for a while about rice: types, how you use them, in what they differ… And we talked about Italy, beloved Italy :) and italian cuisine.

G. was hands on in every step of the process. I am confident he did a great job when cooking for N.

Oh how I wish I had a pic of N. when the husband walked into the dining room holding two plates of delicious Porcini Mushroom Risotto.

What a nice surprise to find that N. had written a post on her blog about her Italian night :)) Here is the link if you want to read her story.

Cooking Classes

This Berliner cooking class was hopefully the first one of a long series. I can’t wait to give the next one, meet some new friends and talk about food, Italy and who knows what topics will come up in front of the stove and a bunch of cooking utensils!

Are you interested in a cooking class in Berlin delivered directly to your place? I would love to help! Read more about the classes here BeyondPasta’s cooking classes in Berlin.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions!