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BEST KNOWN for his role as a judge on Masterchef, John Torode returned to Bolton Food Festival again this year. Instantly winning over the gathered crowds with an easy, laid-back Aussie attitude, John wasted no time getting his dishes started.
It looked so simple you couldn't help but be inspired to run to your butchers
In this demonstration, John decided to educate us on how to prepare a cost effective steak for a family of four that is simultaneously cooked to everyone’s standards. To do so, he presented us with the ‘King Of Steaks’. He held aloft a whopping t-bone steak, pointing out the different cuts which are so expensive in the supermarkets.
He wasted no time showing us how to cut the fatty rind off the steak to stop it shrinking and dropped it into a hot pan. Instantly the hunk of meat began to sizzle and John grinned at the audience. I think he was rather proud of his steak.
One thing he made a point of emphasising to us was not to keep touching and prodding the steak. ‘Just leave it be. It’s quite happy there cooking away so let it enjoy itself,’ were his exact words.
He then proceeded to make the quickest salad I have ever seen. He simply lopped an iceberg lettuce in half and one half into thirds and put it on the presentation board, smeared with blue cheese. “Lettuce and blue cheese salad,” he announced proudly. I’m not quite sure that’s what I’d classify as a side salad but you could not fault the portion…and it was green, I suppose.
Whilst the steak sizzled away, he began work on his dessert: a mango and passion fruit pavlova. It was during this that he complained about being unable to buy tinned passionfruit pulp in English supermarkets like you can in Australia. The poor world-famous chef had to use a fresh passionfruit. What is the world coming to?
I jest of course. I actually found it quite refreshing to be told that it was permissible to use pre-prepared and pre-packaged foods in place of fresh for both convenience and cost-cutting’s sakes, especially in this day and age where cooks and the food sector scream about fresh foods and organic sourcing. Knowing that a tin of pre-prepared mango has John Torode’s seal of approval takes away the guilt of not buying and preparing several mangoes by hand.
He paused on his dessert lectures to turn the steak over, showing us its deep brown underside and releasing a heady waft of cooking meat across the tent. I’m fairly certain my stomach rumbled.
Torode then calmly returned to his pavlova, beating the egg whites and sugar whilst cheerfully telling us the difference between meringues and pavlovas. Every other line was injected with a joke that had the room filling with snickers and giggles as everyone in the room seemed to fall more and more in love with him.
He put his pavlova in the oven to bake and returned to his steak which he then proceeded to cut. He turned to his enraptured audience and asked for a show of hands for rarity preference. We had a good mix ranging from well done to blue and mooing. Smugly, Torode then began carving the steak, showing the gradual gradient of cooking in the meat. The edges were perfectly well done without looking too tough whilst the centre was still bright red and bleeding. He layered each degree of meat on the board by his 'salad' and nodded firmly, "Dinner for four from one steak, cooked to everyone's liking and for less than you'd pay in a restaurant. Easy."
And he did make it look easy.
Photo credit: Emily Redding
He quickly spooned his mango and passionfruit over his pavlova and plated up. In less than fifty minutes, he had made steak cooked to four different specifications, a salad, and a mango and passion-fruit pavlova. It looked restaurant standard, as you would expect but most of all, it looked so simple you couldn't help but be inspired to run to your butchers and buy a steak to toss on a pan instantly.
Torode left the stage to a much deserved thunderous applause.
He later headed to the large queue for a book signing with a simple ‘G'day guys’ and welcomed every fan with an easy friendliness usually reserved for close friends. I can't speak for everyone but I left with a new respect for Torode; his passion for teaching shone through with a bluntness of which only an Aussie is capable. I saw a few people had made notes during the demonstration and I think that is truly the point of cooking demonstrations. It's not just about the chef and showing off unobtainable skill but rather furthering knowledge and having your guests leave with a newfound confidence in the kitchen and a good heap of inspiration. It was a job well done I would say.
