Chalk up another pandemic benefit: I had a good cookery class online last night, and I reckon those are thanks to everyone's Zoom crash course and the hasty reworking of various business models lo these many years ago. This is a charity called Migrateful and I commend them to you. They've done in-person cookery classes with recent immigrant chefs pre-pandemic, but how much better is it to learn in your own kitchen? I too have done a few cookery classes over the years. Apart from the no-washing-up bonus, I don't like them as much as this setup, where there's no awkward dining together/hoisting everything home on the tube afterwards.
Although I will admit, it's a tad awkward in my tiny kitchen. Especially as I needed my phone free, to take photos for this and to do the first 30 minutes of Confined Cocktails, which clashed with the end of the class. Tablet/toaster:
We had pita bread ready for one of the dishes, and I was a bit worried I'd have to dismantle this to warm it. But all worked out well.
Lots of prior info about equipment and ingredients made it easy to be ready. And easy quietly to substitute a couple of ingredients - another thing I would struggle to do if this were an in-person class.
We made three things. A starter of Foul Moukalla, which our host Lina says is made this way in Damascus, where she hails from. Garlic *and* coriander in with your broad beans, else it's not properly Damascene. (I didn't ask what making it with peas makes it. But broad beans are pleuk, and I have no spare freezer space for pleuk.) Serve cold with yoghurt, pita and chunky spring onions, raw. (If you dare.)
The main meal was Fassuleah Kadreh, which is translated as green been and tomato stew but is definitely also lamb stew. This was a time when it was handy to have Lina telling us live how to do things - cook until the green beans start to turn colour, at this point.
And eventually, it will look like this. With harissa, or red pepper paste, or in my case sun dried tomato paste with a pinch of sugar. Again with the silent modifications. It's very nice.
And lastly ras mafalfal, vermicelli and rice. Toasted vermicelli first, then steaming the basmati rice.
None of these is terribly tricky; none is completely unfamiliar though I've never eaten this labelled as Syrian before. But the live cooking did work well, and it felt good to have a bit of company and some discussion.
Zoom has its limitations, but Migrateful have a good system with a host checking chat and clarifying anything that needs it. Lina was cooking for her family, so although we were on 2-person portions, she was dealing with stuff for 5. That definitely helped with timings - there's nothing like someone else needing to top and tail a million green beans while you've got Waitrose pre-trimmed to allow you to catch up... There were awkward introductions, and a few sound/connection issues, but also people who had been to Syria pre-war and got chatting about their experiences. And it felt good to do something good for people who've had a much bigger recent life change than I've had.
Also, bang on my Eastern Med-Middle East monthly challenge brief, what? I'm booked to do another one: Albanian recipes. In April, when I'm meant to be cooking Far Eastern stuff. It can't always work out perfect...
Comments
Post a Comment