While Vanilla Black may not be a York landmark these days, its reputation was born on Swinegate before transplanting itself successfully to London where its range of playfully misleadingly titled dishes won wide acclaim. While I’m trying my best to look for positives in this situation, there’s little getting away from the permanent closure of Vanilla Black’s existing site in London, which leads us to the introduction of virtual cookery lessons from a vegetarian icon. Obviously I wish VB all the best for a successful reopening at some point when the centre of London is a less financially precarious place but for now I’ll happily take advantage of the opportunity to broaden my own horizons.

Vanilla Black Cook & Learn is a series of cooking lessons and ingredient boxes that can be enjoyed either live under the tutelage of VB co-founder Andrew Dargue or via a pre-recorded video, all the more convenient for those of us subject to the sleep patterns of toddlers. With an ingredient box for a meal for two plus access to the video lesson at around £20, it was hardly a difficult thing to get on board with so in due course I was rifling through a mix of vacuum packed and fresh ingredients while balancing my phone on top of the microwave ready for it to impart much knowledge.

I’ve now done two of these lessons, the object of the first being to produce a “Twisted Chip Butty” and the second a “Stir Fry”. Unsurprisingly neither of these end products resembled the dish that inspired it, and the techniques involved and snippets of knowledge were eminently transferable and scattered with memorable catch phrases (repeat after me, frying is drying). The Chip Butty took all of the ingredients you’d expect in that dish and reconfigured them into a refined evolution: the ketchup becoming filling, chips replacing bread, bread becoming croutons, curry sauce a vegan mayo and vinegar a powder. It was a balanced and satisfying thing to eat that, and while certainly unconventional, it didn’t sacrifice quality for novelty.

The second of the lessons we booked promised a “Stir Fry”, though obviously at this point we had little idea of what to expect. As it turned out, this was a marginally more conventional dish in as much as it did feature vegetables that had been fried, though in a pan rather than a wok to acknowledge the inability of a domestic hob to faithfully replicate that technique. Beyond that things leapt a little sideways into amusing/delicious deviations that made a surprising substitution for the noodles and gave rice a place on the plate….using Rice Krispies as a base. Much as I’d love to say more, it feels little cruel to ruin the surprise for those yet to book onto this one, that’s still just about available.

While trapped at home I can see few more entertaining ways to exploit culinary learning that inviting Andrew Dargue virtually into your kitchen. Your preference for eating meat or other wise is entirely incidental to how much enjoyment can be derived from these cooking lessons, which reinforced in me a sense of regret at my lack of curiosity about Vanilla Black when it was resident in the city. Money might be tight for many but Vanilla Black Cook and Learn represents a notably good value confluence of sustenance, entertainment and learning.

The post Vanilla Black Cook and Learn appeared first on York on a Fork.

The Riverford Veg Masterclass was held near one of Riverford’s farms not too far from York up at South Otterington, in whose village hall we gathered to receive instruction from a friendly young tutor by the name of Ben. Nine of us were in attendance to put together a rice salad, a curry and spiced dip while taking tips on the broader points of cooking with vegetables. I like to think that I’m a competent home cook, but it was nice to have my technique reinforced by a pro’ as we ran through basics such as chopping onions and basic knife skills.

Over a couple of hours we talked through suggestions such as ‘curing’ spring greens with lime while we kept on chopping, and ended up with a delicious spiced carrot and cannellini dip and a spinach, green bean and chick pea curry along with a delicious rice salad that used those cured spring greens.

All the attendees commented that they had learnt something new as we enjoyed the fruits of our labours over lunch so Ben deserves great credit for keeping the day moving to schedule and making sure that all skill levels were taken into account while neither boring the more experienced nor patronising those newer to cooking. One thing I’d not realised about Riverford was that there’s no subscription; if you have an account you just order as and when you fancy taking a box. That being the case, it’s certainly something I’m going to be looking at more closely.

The post Riverford Veg Masterclass appeared first on York on a Fork.