When I tweeted about attending a cookery class on behalf of unLTD to learn about how to make bar snacks and beers at The Milestone, I was surprised I didn’t get more cheeky replies from friends and family members.
For while I am the first to whip out my smartphone and start snapping my delicious dinners and sharing pics on social media at any given pub or restaurant, I am not very often found in front of the hob while at home.
So I was prepared to take any online quips and digs about my (lack of) culinary prowess with a pinch of salt.
And, I would have had plenty of salt to grab at the cookery class itself. Making pork scratchings, we were encouraged by the chef to generously season our meat in order. I thought I had been pretty liberal – but was encouraged to take an even bigger pinch in order to ensure our scratchings were crisped to crack(l)ing perfection.
Making the pork scratchings was pretty simple and straight forward, even for me.
Onto the sausage rolls and it was great to be taught how to correctly handle the knife in order to dice the shallots, sage and garlic as finely as possible. 
I thought I was doing a fairly good job but quickly realised my ‘fine’ wasn’t actually very ‘fine’ at all after catching a glimpse of the handiwork of my unLTD colleague and seasoned (sorry) veteran of home cooking Simon Waller.
No matter, I persevered and got there in the end. Giving the sausage meat a good kneading, once all my fine-ish ingredients had been added, was good fun but I was a little over-generous with the egg yolk meaning my rather soggy sausage roll looked a bit more like a pasty.
All of this was thirsty work – but while the rolls and scratchings were being baked in the oven, Johnny, the beer guru from The milestone and Craft and Dough, was on hand to talk us through a tipple or two.
Or four to be precise, including Jubel – a lovely refreshing beer made with elderflower which I really enjoyed.
Chouffe, the strong blond 'gnome beer', I had tried on a visit to Brussels several years ago and had really liked. This time we were trying the Soleil version which was as light as its name would suggest, cloudy, as its name might not, and with a zesty citrus zing.
My favourite though had to be the Yeastie Boys – and not for the name alone. As Johnny explained many beer brands were experimenting with design and branding to be as eye-catching as possible – many student drinkers are keeping the labels to stick on the walls of their digs, so plenty are clearly a hit not just as a drink but as décor and design, too.
At first I was a little reluctant given this particular beer – Gunnamatta – was an Earl Grey IPA, and I’m not a big fan of the tea. However, it turns out I am a fan of it when it is served in a bright yellow can, with funky font as opposed to a teacup. And it wasn’t a case of style over substance, either as the tea vibes really added a nice, herbal touch to the beer, making it my favourite of the night and winning even over the Gnome beer I had thought would be my top tipple. 
And it certainly was a great accompaniment for washing down a fair few sausage rolls!
My unLTD colleague Simon and I really enjoyed the Cookery School Courses. It was a lot of fun and can see how it would make for a really good team-building exercise for staff.
With the festive season creeping up fast it could also make a good alternative Christmas do and am sure another number of clients/partners would appreciate finding a gift voucher for a class in with their Christmas card instead of the usual bottle of wine and box of chocs.
Check out the links below for all the deets:
https://the-milestoneonline.com/the-cookery-school-courses/
https://the-milestoneonline.com/product/christmas-cookery-school-gift-package-experience/
