Sharing love of good food

Press, 28 December 1985, Page 8

Sharing love of good food

By

Ch’ng Poh Tiong

Situated on both Montreal and Salisbury Streets, Ironside House stands just behind the Victoria Street Clock Tower.

Painstakingly renovated by Jan and Peter Clifford, its present owners, the gleaming . structure still maintains its original, Victorian charm and 26 rooms (hide and seek must take on a different urgency at No. 32). The former boarding house now accommodates a cooking school which, under Jan Clifford’s administration, hopes to convert a daily chore into a more satisfying and agreeable experience. , Indeed, . the way the classes are organised betrays: more the complexion of an entertaining night-out than a sentence of lecture. I attended one such session.

Just before 7 p.m., the “students” start drifting into a delightful lounge for preclass drinks. We are given nametags, and casual conversations soon reach a level as engaging as the alcoholic content. We, then flow into the hallway to just in front of the kitchen, where the class was to take place, and where the drinks duly followed. Behind a. counter the length of a grand piano, Chef Graham Brown, from

Scarborough Fare, beams a warm welcome. The serious business has started! As Graham generously mixes Instructions on the Saration of the menu assorted information on nutrition, we add notes on to the supplied recipe sheets. Then during the measure of some three hours (it seems so much shorter), Graham transforms quite unadorned ingredients into dishes of very real appeal. The fruit salad dessert of paw paws, black grapes, rock melon, strawberries, kiwifruit, and oranges has enough colours to make even a rainbow blush.

The fruits are served in “baskets,” Almond Tuiles, made of icing sugar, flour, egg whites, ground almonds and essence. The whole ensemble reclines against a strawberry puree (raspberry if in season, would be even more delicious) and lemon sabayon.

The other courses — Lamb’s Brains in phyllo pastry accompanied with a mustard sauce, and Fillets of Fish with julienne of vegetables served with a Beurre Blanc, are just as attractively presented. The visual evidence being not conclusive, we launch into a half-portion "each of the three-course dinner with passion. Then follows an enthusiastic round of that New Zealand equivalent of a top Michelin rating, “beautiful.” Although I share the same sentiment, my mouth is too caught up to allow for anything else. We adjourn to the lounge for tea or coffee and more conversation, this time with the chef in attendance.

This class is part of a four-week stint. Each Tuesday night’s session costs $25 a head. I ask some of the participants if they regard the $lOO fee as expensive.

They agree that that too had been the initial reaction. This, however, soon dissipated when they real-

ised.what they were getting for their money — expert tuition and a good portion of a complete three-course dinner.

Although the usual courses are for about four sessions, Jan Clifford actually allows for different individuals to attend different sessions.

This, in effect, means that the entire cost of a single course may be shared. No continuity is lost in such an arrangement as each class contains its own complete and separate menu.

Even with the fee at $25 a head, Tuesday night’s session is populated with people of different occupations and situations. The 22 women of diverse backgrounds come together in a singular enthusiasm for good food and good cooking. Most want to raise the level of their dinner parties. Yet others want to give the family the occasional treat and extra effort.

One woman even confesses that her presence at Ironside House coincides with the forthcoming opening of her restaurant. As for myself, I find the highly agreeable ratio of female company a real incentive. Ironside House will be inviting other suitably qualified chefs and culinary per-

sonalities to teach at the school. It also offers children’s classes over the holidays. December is no exception.

The junior cooks who attended the last course not only picked up cooking skills, they also went away with some invaluable culinary habits. The last set of information sheets had included the following instructions:

Before you start to cook, always choose a time to suit your parents or guardians. Read your recipe carefully. Can you follow the directions correctly and safely? Make sure you share the food you cook with the family.

Tomorrow’s chefs and connoisseurs may yet be very considerate and conscientious people. Christchurch, with its small population, is very lucky to have in Ironside House a permanent culinary centre. I am reminded of an old Chinese saying that goes something like this: “When you give someone a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach him to fish, he eats always and is never hungry.” Cooking is, I think, a bit like fishing.