By Dave Massey twitter.com/BrumHour

Caribbean Cookery School

at Tan Rosie

To say I’m someone who can’t cook is an understatement. Monica and Lee, the team at Tan Rosie are already aware of this. Putting this into context; I’ve had a cooker for two years and used it about six times, mostly for reheating.

I’ve been invited to a Caribbean Cookery School at the Tan Rosie HQ, which is on an industrial estate off Moor Lane north Birmingham. Monica and Lee have been running Tan Rosie as dining events in their home for several years and with products available on their website. They’ve moved to this new HQ earlier this year and are running a regular cookery school.

I’m already late and the team have been kind enough to start the session later. On arrival we head into the large open kitchen. The kitchen has a large island space in the centre. Ideal for demonstrating and copying how to make food!

First we start by making Veggie Curry Patties, we do this by making the pastry and allowing it to set for a short time, we then get the veg ingredients together by chopping them into very small bite size sections, I’m not very good at this and my veg looks like chunks.

Our second item is Corn Fritters, which are made by mixing the ingredients into a bowl and then dropping into a big industrial fryer. I’ve never done this before and had no real idea what I was doing. Luckily the team are much more confident than I am and the guide me through every step of the process.

The third item we make is Jamaican Festivals. I feel like I’ve tried these years ago. We knead the dough into thick strips and then add them to the fryer oil. Watching them turn golden, I felt a sense of accomplishment. They are to be served dipped in cinnamon and sugar!

This had taken about two hours and though I’m not going into lots of details about the process here it was great to see the creation of these snack/street food items which are ideal for parties or afternoon treats.

We then returned to bake the veggie patties in the oven for about 30 minutes. I felt really proud getting mine out and then putting them into a container to take home.

Tan Rosie are running the Caribbean Cookery School Lessons most weeks in the winter and spring. They are mainly full days on a Saturday or half days on a week day evening. Lee is pleased to see that members of the Caribbean community in Birmingham are keen to find out more about their cooking heritage as well as classes being booked by members of the wider Birmingham community.

I felt very at easy and able to correct any mistakes that I made with my food prep. This is a real treat for anyone that wants to learn authentic Caribbean Cookery skills in a friendly yet professional kitchen.

Disclaimer: I was invited to attend a half day Caribbean Cookery School class by Tan Rosie and haven’t been paid for this article. I did get to take the treats that I made home with me. They were yummy!