A Taste of Italy – Sprigs cooking demonstration
March 28, 2011 in Uncategorized
On Saturday morning my momsie pie and I set off to Sprigs (in Kloof) for a girls day out! Momsie’s bestie, Josette, had given me a voucher for my birthday for a cooking demo at Sprigs.
I may have mislead hubby about the start-time … so we left earlier than we needed to … but I really wanted some time to sit down and enjoy a coffee before the demo!
Sprigs is a gorgeous cafe/food shop … and it’s very difficult to avoid all the tempting treats on offer. So difficult that I ended up ordering a slice of baked cheesecake to accompany our coffee. I’d already eaten breakfast at home and I knew we had a whole Italian feast ahead of us … but I just couldn’t help myself. And for once in my life I’m so relieved that my willpower is non-existent! The cheesecake was life changing. Seriously. It was still warm … the texture was so incredibly light (for a baked cheesecake) it was almost souffle-like … and the perfect balance of tart and sweet. The base was a nutty, crumbly, buttery crust that wasn’t too thick or too thin. Perfection I tell you.
Anyway, after ploughing our way through the cake … we moved to the demonstration kitchen and took up our seats … ready for some serious cooking! Fiona Ras took us through a dazzling selection of Italian inspired recipes:
Caponata with ciabatta (a stunning baked vegetable dish that was probably my favourite!)
Rocket salad with green olives and orange
Asparagus and prosciutto rolls
Lamb, ricotta and pea crespelle with tomato and pecorino (oh so rich and intensly delicious!)
Courgette and herb pasta bake with Sicilian pesto (a perfect week-night meal)
Santa Rosa Plum jam tart (Crostata)
Rosemary, cream cheese, honey and nut cake
I will definitely be trying a few of these at home and will post the recipes when I do! It was such a wonderful morning – Fiona was engaging and happy to chat about all our questions. I can’t wait to go again! Needless to say … we feasted!
For more details about Sprigs cooking demo’s … check out the website:
x sim x
Sous-Chef said on March 28, 2011
I’ve been to a couple of these demo’s and I enjoyed them very much indeed.
Zabwan said on March 28, 2011
Oh wow – that cheesecake! I think I’ll go there just for a piece of that
tandy.sinclair said on March 29, 2011
sounds great Sim and I am looking forward to the recipes
sharonsmit said on April 4, 2011
Oh wow – sounds like a great day out!!
Figlet said on April 5, 2011
yum! this all looks fab
Fiona and Clare are great 
even got my hubs to try a courgette last time we had dinner! lol 
Collywolly said on April 6, 2011
What an absolutely sublime birthday gift. WOW! Sounds wonderful! Hope you will be able to share some more of it with us xx
Collywolly said on April 6, 2011
Ah! So this is one of your secrets…