As we whip up a dinner party showstopper or cook for a crowd, most of us have pondered how we’d fare in a professional kitchen. We might have even gone a step further, deciding that we’d love the rush and exploring how we’d make the leap. After all, while a love of cooking and appreciation of good food is essential, we know there’s an enormous step between home and professional cooking, in everything from techniques and precision to pace – not to mention scale. Building a solid foundation, whether that’s our knife skills, the perfect dice or an understanding of sauces, is vital for anyone looking to level up their cooking.
It’s something that Leiths School of Food and Wine knows well. It offers professional diplomas and courses geared at everyone who loves to cook – whether they are looking to embark on a culinary career or simply keen to sharpen their skills. From its one-year diploma to shorter professional courses (great for home cooks who want to take their skills up a notch), Leiths’ tutors share their wealth of knowledge with their students, including many who have gone on to run their own restaurants. They include chef Henry Harris, who, in the mid-eighties, decided he wanted to pursue a career in the kitchen. ‘I wanted a career in the restaurant world and knew that professional training would be essential to be able to run a kitchen and cover any situation,’ he says. ‘It was actually my father who found Leiths – he did a lot of research. At that time culinary education was very theoretical and my father found Prue Leith’s school, where it is practical and hands-on as the priority.’
Today, Henry heads up The Three Compasses and beloved French bistro Bouchon Racine (which he reopened late last year) in Farringdon, and says he owes much of his success to the groundwork laid at Leiths. The lessons he learned there still influence his cooking today – he remembers Prue Leith telling students that ‘food should make you hungry and make you want to eat it, not impress with its ornateness’, and also learning about the importance of quality ingredients. ‘Leiths genuinely taught me how to cook from scratch,’ he nods. ‘The quality of the teaching at Leiths was first class, as we were taught by people who really know how to cook. They instilled into us the best ways of working and the processes followed in kitchens, all of which was invaluable. You can tell when someone is Leiths-trained by their ability in a kitchen and, as an employer, when a Leiths-trained chef comes along, I want them in my kitchen.’