Andaz Liverpool Street is hosting a seafood workshop for the London Restaurant Festival on 15 October 2011 providing food lovers with advice on how to select fresh, quality produce and prepare a gourmet three-course meal.
Led by Martin Scholz, Head Chef of the hotel’s seafood restaurant Catch, the class will start at Old Billingsgate Market, where participants will be introduced to seafood suppliers, shown different varieties of fish and taught how to select seafood and shop sustainably.
After this early morning market experience the group will head to The Andaz Studio, an exclusive private event room featuring an open kitchen, where a breakfast will be served. Scholz will then demonstrate simple tips such as the art of cracking a crab as well as teaching the class how to create a three course seafood menu.
After preparing the menu, participants will relax and enjoy a formal sit down lunch with the hotel’s head sommelier pairing wines to the dishes created and offering advice on matching wine with seafood.
The course runs from 7.45am to 2.00pm and costs £70 per person. To book, contact London.restres@andaz.com or call +44 207 618 7200.
Our reporter, Beata Nicholson, went along last week and had a fantastic time – read her account below.
It’s not my dream scenario on a Saturday morning to wake up at 5am to go to a fish market somewhere on the other side of town, but I must say
I didn’t regret it for a second as my early start was rewarded with amazing food (and wine) courtesy of Catch at the Andaz Hotel from Head Chef Martin Scholz. We started the day by heading to Billingsgate market where the chef showed us what to look for when buying fresh fish and what to avoid in terms of sustainability.
We leave Billingsgate without any catch as all the seafood is waiting back in the hotel. A few coffees and pastries later we start cooking in the beautiful private dining room with its big open kitchen.
It’s a three course menu which Martin put together especially for this workshop and you can be as hands on as you wish, including chopping vegetables, cleaning the scallops and making the tapenade.
Martin talked us through the day’s menu, starting with a bouillabaisse, but making a much lighter version of this classic dish. Martin understands his city clientèle and his bouillabaisse is much more modern – fish stock with vegetables and spices (fennel, white pepper, mustard, fresh bay leaves and tons of herbs – tarragon, thyme and basil – apparently the latter is the secret ingredient) simmered and strained to the tastiest liquid imaginable poured on to other delights from the sea: sea kelp and samphire, garnished with pan fried prawns and scallops. The dish is beautiful, festive and impressive.
The main course is chorizo risotto with pan fried north east Atlantic cod topped with tapenade stuffed baby squid and fried shallots, which we also helped to prepare – stuffing the baby squid was definitely the best part! It was the most amazing combination of spicy chorizo, perfectly cooked risotto, still al dente and not gloopy like some risottos can be, on top of meaty, perfectly cooked fish. T
he tapenade was made from bitter Moroccan black olives and roast almonds, with the almonds providing the perfect crunch.
Everyone at the table was very impressed, and to make things even better, every course was accompanied by different wines selected by the sommelier Joris Beign, and we learn and choose which wines are better matches than others.
For dessert we have the chestnut crème brûlée – a great idea for a wintery dessert and Joris is particularly generous to us, as to accompany this we are offered one of the finest Sauternes in the world (Chateau d’Yquem Lur Saluces 1998).
Chef Martin Scholtz is very talented and humble, and these workshops are amazing value at £70 per person. I highly recommend booking a place on next Saturday’s course, but if you can’t make it on that day, you can always try Martin’s food at his restaurant Catch at the Andaz hotel near Liverpool street station.
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