For some of us it’s the start of winter, and for those in the Northern Hemisphere, the start of summer. Personally, I prefer summer to winter. Having said that I love winter food, which is always so homely and comforting, thick soups and stews or casseroles. As I write this article, we have a Hungarian Goulash simmering away in the Slow Cooker.

We were all talking about the summer after watching the Queen’s Jubilee this past weekend and being jealous of the beautiful weather that the British people had for the celebrations. Did you all see the beautiful celebration cake created for the special occasion by patissier Mark Bennett? We loved seeing the posts of the food and baking prepared to celebrate the Jubilee on social media from all our followers. As part of our Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, we offered a 30% discount on all our short courses and would like to extend the offer to all our subscribers. This offer will be valid until the 30 June 2022.

Aotearoa New Zealand, will be celebrating, for the first time, Matariki. We will be holding a number of webinars in the week following Matariki. We’d love it if you could all join us in this celebration.

In this month’s “What’s on the Menu” we have a delicious Seafood Paella recipe from Chef Andy.  This is a traditional Spanish dish from Valencia and can be adapted to use local fish or chicken, and normally has a spicy Chorizo sausage in it too. Please tag and share with us your images if you make the Paella as we would love to see what you plate up. This goes for any other food dishes you create too!

One of our student’s Zita Korka, has a testimonial which is a great read. She studied her course certification through International Culinary Studio whilst working full time. She is now a private chef and full-time caterer.

We love seeing people who have been working as a cook or chef, but have no formal qualifications, earn their certification via Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Take our survey to find out if you would be eligible to earn your qualification and get your work experience recognised in either a NZQA Level 4 Certificate in Cookery or a Global Diploma and WACS (World Chefs) Digital Badge.

We have a prize to give away of the Cake Baking and Decorating course worth $99 US for entering the Trivia Quiz and submitting your answers to us before the 30 June 2022. Be sure to tell your friends to enter this competition too. Our Master Class this month is a video of Chef Andy decorating a Naked cake and showing off some piping skills. This forms part of our Cake Baking and Decorating course.

Happy reading – Cheryl Cordier

What’s On The Menu?

Seafood Paella

This is a traditional Spanish dish originally from Valencia. The original recipe has approximately 30 different ingredients (such as rabbit, duck, lima and/or butter beans) and of course with saffron in it. I have adapted the traditional recipe to something short and easy to make but without compromising on the flavour. Best to use a flat deep pan (originally Paella, is a “fry pan”- a large wide shallow pan with two looped handles and has no lid, as used in the photo) to cook in, and ideally on an open flame or grill top.

This Paella is with seafood and meat (chicken) – also known as “Paella Mixta”

Method:

1. On a moderate heat (on an open fire or grill top), add the olive oil
2. Add in and lightly fry onions, crushed garlic, capsicum (red pepper).
3. Add chicken cubes and lightly seal off to golden brown.
4. Evenly sprinkle/spread the raw rice, saffron or turmeric over the fried chicken, onions, garlic, capsicums.
5. Slowly pour in the stock over the rice, saffron or turmeric, chicken, onion, garlic, and capsicum. Ensure at this point that the heat is low. Keep in mind that when using open flames or grill top that you are keeping an eye on the heat at all times.
6. Times will however differ for the rice to be cooked, so keep an eye on the pan and test the rice from time to time (approximately 15-20 minutes). When almost cooked to a crisp when you bite into the rice, add the seafood selection.
7. This must be done by placing the mussels, prawns, white fish, and clams all around on top of the rice mixture, spread evenly.
8. If the mixture becomes too dry to cook the rice, add a little more stock, but make sure that the rice does not become too soft and mushy. Avoid stirring it too much.
9. Once you are satisfied and have tested that the rice is cooked through along with the seafood, then add cracked black pepper and salt to taste.
10. To finish off the Paella, sprinkle the chopped flat leaf parsley, top with the lemon wedges and then serve.

Recognition of Prior Learning for the New Zealand Certificate in Cookery Level 4

We are happy to advise that we are now able to offer our NZQA Certificate in Cookery Level 4 as an RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) option, based on evidence of you previous experience in a commercial kitchen, to potential students that are on a work visa or New Zealand citizens or residents. Once the RPL has been approved you will have 3 months to complete the course checkpoints and a final theory and practical exam, meaning this process falls within the 3-month window allowable on a visa.

If you would like to receive more information please enter your details into this form: https://forms.office.com/r/0j8fS4M99w

Have you worked in a commercial kitchen for 5 or more years?
Do you have culinary experience/certificates in another country that don’t seem to be recognised in NZ?
Do you want a qualification, have the experience, but don’t have the time to study?.

If you’re looking for that potential pay rise that being qualified can give you, or want to be recognised for all the hard work that you have put in over the years, RPL of the New Zealand Certificate in Cookery Level 4 could be for you.

Here are a few key points about the RPL process that might interest you:
– You can apply for RPL if you are on a work visa (there is no study element in this process)
– You DO need to have a good understanding, and be able to speak and write in English. All correspondence, written material, conversations with chef assessors and exams are in English.
– The entire process can be completed in a maximum of 4 months – this can sometimes be quicker, depending on workload, and particularly if ALL evidence required is presented in one application.
– You will be required to complete a practical and 2 theory examinations. You will be required to pay any travel and accommodation costs to get to your exams. If you are looking to sit your exams outside of our scheduled exams, these will be set just for you and there will be additional costs involved including assessor costs, venue hire etc.

To find out more visit our website:https://www.internationalculinarystudio.com/recognition-of-prior-learning-rpl/

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