Cooking Classes: Culinary School Lenôtre, Paris (France)

Lenôtre Culinary School

Back to school. I took the class «Apéritifs Dinatoires» (French Appetizers) at the Ecole Lenôtre, in the heart of Paris

Different Locations

Classes are provided at different locations in or around Paris

This class was held on the Champs Elysées, in the heart of the capital

Lenôtre provides culinary classes since 1971...

Classes are composed of small groups. I lucked out as today we are only 3 students, turning this class a semi private one...

Chef David Martin

Once arrived, I discovered that our instructor is the great chef David Martin

We started the class by making a toast with Lenôtre champagne

Crab and Avocado appetizers

The first course is Crab and Avocado appetizers, a delicious treat to start a meal...

We start with the creamy crab sauce

and we prepare the avocado. Chef David Martin recommends to dice the avocado very thinly instead of mixing it

We add Tarama (a mediterranean cream made of fish eggs)

Then Chef David tops it off with black fish eggs...

... and red fish eggs to bring some nice color contract

Result

C'est magnifique ! Simply delicious. A nice treat when hosting friends or family for a buffet or a diner

Green Peas, Salmon and Mint appetizers

The second course is a fresh cream of green peas and salmon, which I simply loved. A fresh appetizer that goes well during hot summertime days.

We start by cooking and then mixing the green peas and added the spices and ingredients of the recipe

We then added the smoked salmon. The quality of the smoked salmon was really good. Lenôtre picks fine products for its ingredients

Chef David decided to add lemon cubes which was a nice addition

Adding chopped mint leaves gave it a nice kick

Result

A simple apetizer that I found really classy and fresh

Tartine of Goat and Mushrooms

This other appetizer is simple but also very tasty. Goat cheese and mushrooms. A nice one to remember for those special vegetarian guests...

Mushrooms are cooked with coriander seeds and spices first...

and served on grilled bread slices with goat cheese and baked tomatoe slices

Result

So deliCious !

Pistachios Cakes

For the dessert we baked Pistachiers, a very French sort of muffin or cake made with psitachios paste, and baked in a oblong shape

To be baked at 360 degrees Fahreneheit

Chef David helps us out and walk us through all the details....

Chef David Martin is a talented chef and a great instructor.

Result

Pistachiers are just a great treat if you like pistachios taste

Dining in the Lenôtre Restaurant

We finished the class and headed to the Lenôtre restaurant on the Champs Elysées to share the diner with David.

The class is over, what a great experience !

We cooked so many meals that we are bringing our «doggie bag» home

Results

I loved my class at Lenôtre. Beautiful building and kitchens, with top quality professional cooking equipment.

Chef David Martin is a great chef, so experienced, who stayed down to earth and spent time to give us so many advices and improve our techniques, he's really easy to talk to and I can't wait for another class with him.

Recipes are somehow easy to learn, with a final «Lenôtre touch», which I will use soon at home for my parties !