The Final Count down.

Today was class graduation  day -  20 days of roasting .boiling, slicing, dicing, paring, kneading, proving and a host of other things.  The journey from enthusiatic amateur to enthusiastic amateur with a little more understanding and a confidence to try new recipes has been fantastic.  During my teaching career I never enjoyed a course more than this one.  The order for today was a morning in the kitchen making Sushi which we would eat for lunch.  This would be followed by a little written exam lasting around 45 minutes followed by Cerificates and photographs and farewells!
Rob and Luke were with us again for the final morning - a brief introduction to the rituals of Sushi making and we were let loose to wash and sharpen our rice, make the teriaki marinade, cut and slice some cucumber, red peppers and avacado and get the raw fish ready!  Salmon and yellow finned tuna cut into thin slivers.  We also helped ourselves to dollops of wasabe paste  - a cross between Horseradish suace and mustard - a potent mixture in the wrong hands.  The rice had to be cooked for exactly 13 minutes and then left to rest in the sealed pan for 10 minutes and then cooled by fanning it!

  The rabbit, which had been marinating in the teriaki sauce was put onto large cocktail sticks and fried and then came the tricky bit - making 4 very thin omelettes in the same pan and rolling the first into the second, and the second into the third and finally the third into the fourth.  You had to be quick! Now came the very tricky bit - rolling the rice, raw fish and anything else you felt like putting in it in a sheet of dried seaweed (Nori)  My results speak for themselves with the photographs courtesy of Luke, who had nothing better to do than stroll round and eat our Sushi!

With lunch out of the way, our attention was focussed on the small matter of the exam - 50 questions, total marks 100.  Head down, I looked at the first question and my mind went blank - it was something we'd done on the first or second day.  The cogs whirred and out came the answer - goujons!  I eventually managed 74% and was not bottom of the class.  I wasn't top either!  That accolade went to Laura with who only got 2 questions wrong.  I think she was in the swots group yesterday.  A celebratory glass of something sparkling, water in my case, and a few kind words from Rob, Darrin and Phil and we were presented with our Diplomas, a goody bag with an apron and a few catalogues for Siemens domestic appliances and it was all over!

There were no tears, a few lumpy throats and an exchange of emails and phone numbers and well wishes.  I have enjoyed the blog and hope those of you that have taken the time and trouble to read it have as well.  What next?  Who knows?  Nobody has offered me a job yet!  I'm hoping to do a couple of days in a restaurant in Cardiff to see life at the sharp end!

 As a corpulent , cigar smoking, man once said "This is not the beginning of the end , it is the end of the beginning!" 

Here's to the Diploma class of the Asburton Cookery School January 2010!

Cheers!