TEST
REPORT
THE COOKERY SCHOOL
WHERESwinton Cookery
School, Yorkshire
(food.swintonestate.com)
THE COURSESpanish Tapas
Temptations, £85 for one-day course,
including a light lunch prepared during
theclass,plusteaandcoffee
TESTERRebecca Almond
YORKSHIRE TAPAS
In a grand setting, tutor
Kevin Hughes inspires at
Swinton Cookery SchoolWHAT IT’S LIKE It’s a rare occasion when
you get to cook a Spanish tapas feast in
an imposing British castle, but this was
one such day. Driving into the Yorkshire
Dales National Park, the first glimpse of
the 20,000-acre Swinton Estate is nothing
short of breathtaking. The long driveway
snakes past manicured lawns where deer
graze freely, and up to the turreted castle.
The cookery school is in the converted
stables. I fell instantly for the kitchen.
There’s space aplenty, bright but not stark
lighting, and though the induction hobs
and granite worktops look professional,
the ambience feels more country kitchen.
WHAT I LEARNED Tutor Kevin Hughes is an
advocate of simple, delicious food.
“There’s no point in complicating
cooking,” he says. A former chef-lecturer
at Leeds City College, he joined Swinton
in January 2017 and is entirely at ease in
his role as head cookery school tutor.
Kevin’s energy is infectious – if the
welcome coffee hasn’t geed you up for the
day ahead, his introduction to the course
surely will. He talked us through the menu
and how we were to set about making the
dishes. He also offered to teach us anything
else we liked (apparently ‘how to poach an
egg’ is a popular request), then deftly
popped some proved dough into the Aga
to bake, ready for the impending feast.
There were just three of us on the course
(there’s room for 12) and the day was an
enjoyable mix of communal learning and
hands-on experiences, with some getting-to-know-you chat and lots of laughter.
Kevin demonstrated some of the dishes
(he prepped squid and clams to make
calamari with aïoli, and clams with sherry
and serrano ham); others we learned by
making them ourselves. A fellow course-
goer and I blackened peppers on a gas
hob while Kevin and another made
the marinade to transform them into
a wonderfully smoky tapas dish. With
concise, clear recipes and working under
Kevin’s expert eye, I felt comfortable
taking a station by myself to cook chorizo
in red wine (oh the aromas!) and a huge
Spanish tortilla made for sharing.
THE VERDICT The resulting spread of tapas
could have fed a dozen or more: a true fiesta
of food, and even though we were in a
sleepy corner of Yorkshire, the atmosphere
was equally lively. We all thrived off the
teaching, the relaxed feel and – crucially- the fun of the day, as well as the quality
of dishes made by our own fair hands.
Kevin knows how to make learning about
food more than just interesting – he makes
it exciting. And that, in my book, is the
most important take-home skill of all.
The school is part of the Independent
Cookery Schools Association
(independentcookeryschools.co.uk).
The jewel of the Swinton Estate is the
towering castle dating back to the 1800s.
Its 32 large rooms flaunt four-poster
beds and huge modern bathrooms with
posh toiletries and plush dressing
gowns, not forgetting the complimentary
sloe gin. As for the food, we enjoyed headchef Mehdi Amiri’s stunning dishes in
the hotel’s 3-A A-rosette restaurant,
Samuel’s. Fancy something simpler?
Head to the bar for snacks, sandwiches
and classic brasserie-style grub.
Breakfast is a feast – arrive hungry.
B&B from £195 per roomWHERE I STAYED
Swinton Park Hotel (hotel.swintonestate.com)110 deliciousmagazine.co.uk