THE COOKERY SCHOOL

WHERE White Pepper Chef Academy and Cookery School, Poole, Dorset (white-pepper.co.uk)

THE COURSE Italian Cooking, £175 for one-day course (includes lunch with wine)

TESTED BY Emine Hassa

BUON APPETITO Making gnocchi is a great skill to learn

RECIPE: WHITE PEPPER COOKERY SCHOOL. PHOTOGRAPH: CHARLIE RICHARDS. FOOD STYLING: JEN BEDLOE. STYLING: WEI TANG

WHAT IT’S LIKE White Pepper Chef Academy and Cookery School is a collection of rustic farm buildings nestled in the Dorset countryside not far from the south coast resort towns of Poole and Bournemouth. Poole’s affluent Sandbanks neighbourhood is nearby, which could quite possibly be my ideal place to spend a weekend.

There are courses for budding professionals at the chef’s academy while the cookery school, with a host of courses that run from three hours (knife skills, veggie cooking) to five days (patisserie masterclass, intermediate cookery), is aimed at home cooks.

WHAT I LEARNED I came away with a solid skill set in the foundations of Italian cookery. Chef Mark Treasure, previously head chef at Michelin-starred The Feathers hotel in Woodstock, began the day by showing our 10-strong group how to make doughs for focaccia, fresh pasta and potato gnocchi.

Going against the grain, we used strong white bread flour instead of the usual ‘00’ flour to make our pasta. Mark told us that the ‘00’ has its place but that you can still achieve great results at home with ordinary bread flour. We used local rapeseed oil throughout the day, reserving olive oil for dressing the dishes at the end. The Academy firmly underscores the importance of local produce, quality and seasonality when choosing ingredients.

A highlight for me was shaping our squid ink tortellini filled with smoked trout – a fiddly feat at first, but we got the hang of it by the third go after watching Mark’s demonstrations. Gnocchi with chorizo and fresh tomato sauce couldn’t have come together more simply. We were instructed to listen for the chorizo’s sizzle and avoid overcrowding the frying pan to ensure a golden crunch. We enjoyed our creations for lunch, garnished with foraged herbs and edible flowers from the garden.