A Shellfish Masterclass

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Wednesday saw the demo studio come to life once again with an entertaining Shellfish Masterclass from L’Ortolan Chef Ian Swainson.

Restaurant Reading L’Ortolan Masterclass

Due to the bank holiday weekend the demo was rescheduled for the following day, so we breathed a sigh of relief in the morning when the freshly caught shellfish arrived.

Our demonstration guests arrived early and introductions were made over tea and coffee in the bar. Afterwards the guests took their seats in the studio to learn how to prepare dressed crab, cooked lobster, clams mariniere and oysters with pickled shallot & chilli.

Here is one of the recipes that Ian demonstrated:

Clams Marinere Restaurant Berkshire

Ingredients

1kg – Clams (washed)
200ml – White Wine
1 – Banana Shallot (diced)
1 – Clove Garlic (pureed)
100ml – Double Cream
Parsley (chopped)
25ml – Riesling

Method

Take a large saucepan and heat until very hot.
Add the clams and pour in the white wine, cover with a lid. The clams will steam in the wine very quickly.
Add the shallots and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
Finish with the cream, followed by parsley and Riesling.
Following the demonstration Ian showed the guests around the L’Ortolan kitchen and introduced them to the rest of the culinary team. Once the party were seated in the main restaurant for their lunch, Ian took a couple of minutes to demonstrate how to remove the tail meat from the lobster that was cooked earlier. Take a look at the video.

Restaurant Reading Cookery Demonstration

L’Orotlans Cookery Demonstrations and Masterclasses has taken place throughout 2012, at the given dates:

11th September – Shellfish Masterclass – If you love shellfish but like many find preparing and cooking it a daunting task, then our Shellfish Masterclass will teach you how to transform it into some wonderful and tasty dishes.

9th October – Game Cookery – As we embrace the game season the L’Ortolan Chef’s will be revealing secrets behind some of our favourite signature dishes

30th October – Food and Wine Matching – Basics

27th November – Food and Wine Matching – Advanced

18th December – Turkey Masterclass – Taking the strain out of Christmas