We had another lovely afternoon with chef Karyn Aviani who joined us for the 2nd time this year to run a bagel making and summer cooking workshop. Karyn brought her passion, wit and fun to the class. We started by putting the aubergines in the oven for the babaganoush. We then made the bagel dough. Karyn shared how important it is to be gentle with the dough and not to ‘man handle it’. She explained the importance of measuring when it comes to baking, which she learnt through running her own bakery. Whilst the dough was rising, we split into groups and made the various toppings and salads. It was great to be able to use our first harvested yellow courgette grown by our lovely garden volunteers from our garden. We then came back to the bagels which we shaped and boiled, followed by baking them in the oven. Karyn reminded us of the golden rule - ‘If it’s not boiled, it’s not a bagel’. By the end of the session the kitchen really did smell like a bakery!
We were amazed by how much we got done in two and a half hours, with everyone working well together in pairs and as a group. At the end we sat down in our beautiful garden to enjoy the food we created. We were blown away by how delicious the bagels tasted - fresh out the oven! We shared with each other tips for eating seasonally and reducing waste. One of our participants shared that instead of throwing away the tops of strawberries (which we used to make jam), you can use them to make strawberry water, by boiling them in water with some sugar, and then straining them into a jug.
Here is some feedback from our lovely guests:
‘A beautiful afternoon with joyful hosts,I highly enjoyed myself’.
‘A wonderful experience. Learned so much and in the most friendly warm atmosphere’.
‘Incredibly tasty food preparation taught by a fantastic cook and teacher’.
‘Thank you so much for a lovely afternoon, where we not only learnt how to make bagels but also touched on other cooking, recipes and connected with amazing people’.