Culinary Hungary Home Cooking Class

Without doubt, the highlight of my time in Hungary was a one-on-one cooking class I attended with Agnes Barath (a Hungarian local who teaches out of her home). Actually, it was a two-on-one as we were also joined by Istvan, her fiancé.

Prior to the class, Agnes forwarded me a list of dishes from which to choose an appetizer, main and dessert to cook at the class. I selected potato soup with sausage and sour cream, chicken paprikas with noodles, and cottage cheese dumplings.

I was welcomed into her home and she had prepared some appetizers of bread topped with goose fat, paprika, and onion which were delicious. I was also offered from palinka, a traditional Hungarian fruit brandy that tastes like firewater.

We then got straight into the cooking; the entire class was very hands-on with Agnes offering instructions and guidance but letting me do the work (which I enjoyed).

Whilst we were waiting for Istvan to arrive, we had some spare time, so Agnes suggested we make an additional dessert, stuffed pancakes which we happily nibbled on throughout the cooking.

The photo of the soup does not do it justice. It was smoky, warming and absolutely delicious.

The main course of chicken paprikas and nokedli (spaetzle) was also full of flavour and the accompanying pickles provided a nice contrast and sweetness to the dish.

The dessert was cottage cheese dumplings, rolled in fried breadcrumbs and served with sour cream. They were surprisingly very light and very very tasty.

It was a lovely evening and I enjoyed talking with Agnes and Istvan about life in Hungary. So often in my travels, you do not actually meet any locals. The staff at the hostels are often backpackers themselves so it is difficult to get a glimpse of what everyday life is like. My experience with Agnes and Istvan was highly enjoyable and what I was hoping to experience all over Italy (but failed miserably). If you are even in Budapest, I encourage you to book a class with Agnes for a truly enjoyable and educational experience.

Agnes & Istvan

Cook&Taste Barcelona

The number one rated "thing to do" in Barcelona on tripadvisor.com is Cook&Taste cooking classes so of course, I had to sign-up.

The classes are limited to 14 students, but on my day there were 4 no-shows so it was easy to get to know the group. The class was predominately demonstration based with one or two people helping with the mise en place for each dish.

The menu for the lesson was:

• Cold tomato soup served in a shot glass with cheese, aioli and pesto
• Potato tortilla with tomato bread
• Seafood paella
• Catalan cream

The lesson began with the preparation for the catalan cream as it needed time to chill in the fridge. Similar to creme brulee in ingredients and the sugar crust but different in that it is not baked in a water bath, but rather cooked on the stove alone. This was the course that I elected to assist with and my task was simply to separate the eggs and to stir the custard over the stove until thick. I did learn a new trick, another way to tell that a custard is cooked (I usually use the finger on the spoon test) is if there is no foam on the top of the saucepan.

Next up was the preparation for the cold tomato soup which included peeling and blending tomatoes and adding balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper before setting aside to chill. When it was cold, it was served with grated Idiazabal cheese, aioli and piccada (pesto) made from walnuts, garlic and parsley.

The second course was potato tortilla with tomato bread. The predominant lesson I took away from this course is just how much oil is used to make tortilla!

The third course was seafood paella. We were given recipes for all the courses but on the day, this dish varied from the written instructions substantially and numerous handwritten corrections were required. For the paella, I learnt that the inclusion of the liquidised liver of the squid will add an extra intensity of flavour (just don't let your guests see if it they are squeamish)!

After we were full of paella, it was time to caramelise the sugar on the catalan cream. It was still a little soft as it hadn't had sufficient time to set in the fridge but the flavour was lovely.

The cooking class was enjoyable and very social; it was a lovely way to finish up my time in Barcelona. However, if you are a proficient cook, there wasn't much to "learn" at the course and it was more about just enjoying the company of others and a "homecooked" meal.

Barcelona's magic water fountain at night