Down we went on the farm cart pulled by a tractor to the River Cottage Cooking School at River Cottage HQ. We had been warned the previous night that the day was going to be tough and exhausting by two of the previous day’s participants, who staggered in and collapsed at the bar of our fabulous B&B.
Dead on 10am we started. A quick discussion on different types of flours and we were away. Eight eggs to be folded and kneaded into the flour for the brioche then on to the baguettes, which had to be ready for lunch, then on to the sourdough and the rolling and folding of the croissants. By 2 o’clock we were in a state of frenzy and reeling on our feet but our baguettes were cooked and perfect and the River Cottage lunch was great.
For the rest of the day we rolled, folded and proved our baking items and at the end of the day we had, between us, 8 baguettes, 2 round loaves of sourdough, 12 brioche buns and 12 croissants – and Andy, the teacher, declared us to have qualified for the title of bakers.
We had a look round the River Cottage dining room and kitchen, where all the filming is done and also round the vegetable garden ready for spring planting and then back up the hill and back to our B&B.
The White House Hotel and B&B is in the very pretty village of Charmouth, which is on the coast. It is a listed Regency house, beautifully restored and has 4 guest bedrooms, all very spacious with a huge bathroom and wonderful bath.
Ian and Liz were our hosts and we had dinner there the first night. Ian is a chef and it was a brilliant meal, imaginative and well executed, one of the nicest meals I have eaten in a long time. We were very flattered when Ian tasted our baking and then said he would be happy to serve it in the restaurant. We offloaded all but a couple of baguettes, one loaf of sourdough, some croissants and some brioche..
We had previously booked dinner that night at River Cottage Canteen so, somewhat reluctantly, changed and went out again. So glad we did. It was a fun menu with lots of different things. I had warm pheasant breast salad with pig’s ear bacon, apple and hazelnut dressing and Ed had two entrees , mackerel gravadlax and air dried shaved venison (and a beer……)
Next on to Bath
