Men… forget the barbecue… learn to cook in a wood fired oven
At the top of every cooking enthusiast’s wish list is likely to be a wood fired oven. This is due to the fact that a wood fire oven is the perfect way to combine fire, food, and the great elements of outdoor cooking. The best place to learn about how to use a wood fired over is at Devon Cooking School because co-owner David Jones is a wood fired over expert with a passion for teaching others how they can master the skill as well with three amazing on site Bushman ovens.
So, if you’re stuck for a present to give to your father this Father’s Day, buy him a ‘wood fired oven’ course day at Manna from Devon Cooking School. Forthcoming course dates can be found on the diary page of www.mannafromdevon.com and cost £135 a day for a complete introduction to this style of cooking.
When asked about cooking with a wood fired oven, David enthuses: “My Bushman ovens from Dingley Dell are my absolute favourite way to cook. Not only is it a dramatic and fun cooking experience but the flavour of the food is exceptional.” He continues: “Of course it makes the best possible pizza but it’s great for meat and fish, bread and roasted vegetables too.” David and Holly have a purpose built wood-fired kitchen on the outside decking from which they run their hands-class regularly throughout the warmer months. It is aimed at anyone who has or is about to buy a wood-fired oven.
Although the shape and building materials of wood fired ovens may vary, the thing they have in common is how efficiently they produce and retain heat. In Europe, the communal bread oven was pivotal to village life for many centuries. The baker would use the oven early in the morning to bake his bread and then other villagers would use the residual heat in the oven to cook their evening meals. Depending on the recipe requirement, dishes can either be cooked in a flash, for example thin-based pizzas can be cooked in a few seconds, or slow-cooked over hours to truly tenderise meat so that it really does melt in your mouth.
David and Holly use the traditional style oven (pictured above) and a second smaller oven to demonstrate the full versatility of the ovens and to give you as complete a picture as possible of how to get the best from your own oven and enjoy it fully.
In addition to the fore-mentioned courses, David and his wife Holly will also be hosting wood fired oven taster days on the cooking school’s fabulous Bushman wood fired ovens. If you’re thinking about investing in a wood fired oven or would simply like to try one out before booking a course call ahead and go along to the cooking school on 7th June or 26th July (free, 11am for two hours).
There are also various baking classes with David including ‘Bread and Baking in a Wood fired Oven’; ‘An Introduction to Sourdough’; ‘Mastering Artisan Bread’, ‘Italian Bread’ and ‘Essential Bread’. You can also learn all about smoking, drying and curing at the cooking school or go along to their hugely popular ‘Fabulous Fish’ course or one of their much loved Asian or Mediterranean cooking days. Fathers (and mothers!) can enjoy one of David and Holly’s popular ‘family days’ where all the family can learn to cook together.
As well as individual and small group bookings, the wood fired oven courses are perfect for larger groups, both from the corporate world and also groups such as Scouts where there is a need to learn about cooking outdoors.
For those of you who are looking for a fantastic selection of inspiring bread recipes, buy a copy of Holly and David Jones’ ‘Wood Fired Oven Cookbook’, which is available on Amazon and in independent bookstores (Aquamarine, RRP £9.99). It is packed full of helpful tips, beautiful photography and easy to follow recipes, which can be cooked either in a wood fired oven or in a conventional oven.
Manna from Devon Cooking School is positioned in an area of outstanding natural beauty in Kingswear. The stylishly decorated, homely kitchen and the outdoors’ decking overlook simply stunning views across the Dart estuary to Dartmouth. In addition to the main kitchen there is a second kitchen which is in the style of a bakery.
If you can’t quite stretch to a wood fired oven cooking course, treat your father to some Manna from Devon double chocolate brownies or one of their utterly delicious sticky puddings (Sticky Toffee, Sticky Chocolate and Walnut, and Sticky Banana and Ginger) which are all available atwww.mannafromdevon.com.
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