Cookery Courses London

I think I always wanted to learn how to cook the proper pasta al pesto.  The first one I had in my life was obviously in Italy, in one of my frequent hunts for good food in that marvellous country. It was during a mini escapade in Liguria, during my early 20s, when I could afford to wander around by car, without any pre-defined itinerary, with my boyfriend at the time. We would stop at the most inviting restaurant in the area, sometimes asking locals for suggestions, sometimes just checking the menu, the decor and obviously the number of patrons and the colour of their cheacks (the pinker, the better...). That place in Liguria had a fantastic view on the sea, and the pesto was served in its proper light-green colour, with pieces of green beans and potatoes peeking through perfectly cooked spaghetti. I have kept the divine taste in the back of my memory, up to the day when, with my current husband, had my dish of trofie al pesto served at one of the most reknown Italian restaurants in London. After the first spoonful, I realised they were hundreds of miles away. How could they not realise that they were competely different from the simple but fulfilling original dish? What was the guy doing over there in the kitchen? Where did he learn how to cook it that way?

I went home mortified. Was it really so difficult to cook such a popular dish? I bet I could do better, recalling the flavours and the colour even after so many years. Who could help me?

I checked on the web. "Cookery courses london", "Italian cooking lessons london", "cooking classes". Nothing really appealing.

Chinese food taught by thai chefs, Indian food taught by british, home cooking taught by someone who had been probably raised with take aways.... I was getting depressed, but then something caught my eye. A humble website, offering Italian chefs coming to your place and teaching you how to cook. I checked their website and quickly decided to give them a try.

It was great. Exaclty what you need from a cooking course. You can ask a zillion questions of someone who was actually raised on Italian food, has experimented with moms and grandmoms, travelled the entire country tasting regional specialties and studied every single recipe. We started from scratch, and it is amazing to see how many tips and secrets are important but cannot be really written down in a recipe book. Cooking well covers so many aspects, from recognising fresh ingredients from less fresh ones, touching to recognise the right consistency, tasting to check spiceness and so on. You can learn this only when shadowed by someone more experienced than you.

The lesson was not only fulfilling but also enjoyable.

My trofie al pesto were divine, exactly as the ones I always remembered from Liguria. But I am afraid, instead of sea view I could see the Tower Bridge in the background and instead of my young teenager super-fit boyfriend I had my husband with a slighly prominent belly asking for another serving. Nothing is perfect in life. But my cooking lesson was.