Each week we have been following the progress of the new students at the Karen Blixen Hospitality School. This is a community project run by the Karen Blixen Camp in the Masai Mara, Kenya to provide training and hopefully employment for the Masai young people in the area.
Lamb, mutton and goat
This week the students at the Karen Blixen Hospitality School were learning all about lamb, mutton (mature sheep) and goat. Since these look like each other and they also have quite a similar taste, the students were first of all taught how to recognise the difference between them all. Head Chef and teacher Rune also taught them how they are butchered and jointed differently and showed them what to do. He did this so that if the students can cut veal, they will also be able to cut beef, lamb, sheep, goat, game and pork. Of course there are lots of different cuts but the basics all start in the same place. The students knew far more about lamb and mutton than veal as these are traditional Masai herd animals so they will have come across them before in their home cooking. The students were also able to list a lot more cuts on lamb than they could on veal. They then moved on to looking at the cooking methods related to each cut and how this could be used in practice. The lessons followed through the whole week and included recipes for braised lamb shank, roasted leg, lamb kebab of minced meat, Shepherd’s pie, mousaka and the lamb stock to support all of these dishes if needed.
Cooking with mince
The students also learned about the importance of maturing and hanging lamb compared to veal and again why they would use this technique to increase the flavour of the meat. They were also taught how to mince lamb meat and use this in creating delicious freshly grilled kebabs. They were also taught all about other uses for mince in those old favourites such as Shepherd’s pie, lasagna and mousaka. The students enjoyed these four new dishes very much and were able to see that despite the fact that it was not a steak or a carved piece of meat, it could still taste simple, but amazing.
Stocks and Sauces
Rune tries to teach the students about the basics of cooking with the ingredients they are offered that day and the importance of being flexible depending on what is in season and available. The students start from the very beginning every time they encounter a new type of meat with creating a basic stock that can be used as a base for lots of different dishes. The students started creating their lamb stock Monday when they roasted the bones and vegetables for stock. They are now fully responsible for keeping the stock simmering and skimming impurities to make it as clear as possible. Rune was very impressed with their efforts and reported that they were doing a really great job with the stocks. They now have both lamb and duck stock in the freezer at the moment just waiting to be used. At nighttime the stock is left simmering still in order to extract as much flavour as possible. Rune often sees them taste the stock more than once which makes him very happy and proud to see them recognizing and respecting this basic product. This philosophy continues with the bread crumbs we used this week as a thickening agent for sauces instead of using the more common corn flour. They also learned the technique for mincing their own meat. The students also learned all about how various food products available in local shops and in the supermarkets are made. This will allow them to have control over the different steps in their daily kitchen as they will know exactly what is in every kind of ingredient and product they might use in a dish.
A visit from the Danish Embassy
The week finished with an exciting visit from the members of the Danish Embassy to the Karen Blixen Hospitality School. Rune is Danish to has strong connections with the staff at the Embassy and thought it would be a great idea to get more support and interest for the school through the Embassy. The students started in the morning talking about the snacks and nibbles they were preparing. Rune started them off but then let the students come up with their own ideas. The students were impressive as they created the whole snack with only a little help from Rune. The students were also under strict instructions to make sure that the kitchen was sparklingly clean for the visitors arrival which they managed with no problems. The students have really improved not just on their ever growing cooking skills but also very much on their cleaning skills and taking responsibility for the state of their workplaces and the kitchen as a whole. They are showing great pride in their work and their workplace and it is very exciting to see these budding professionals at work improving each week.
Posted by Ruth Bolton
