Strawberry Meringue Roulade from “The Underground Cookery School”

Here it is, as promised in this previous post, my cookery class at the Underground Cookery School in the heart of London. It wasn’t a black and white experience, I swear, but an event full of laughters and tasty bites that I am here documenting with b/w photography just for the sake of black and white photography. Or just because long ago I read an article where a food blogger explained how tricky it can be shooting in a room where shiny aluminum surfaces and neon lights take over. Black and white photography seems to suit restaurant kitchens best. Maybe. I don’t know, I still have to come on a view about this.

There are no doubts regarding the Stawberry Meringue Roulade we made during the class. The reason why I don’t prepare desserts very often is because I have an uncontrollable sweet tooth. There was time when I could eat these nutella rolls for lunch, dinner and breakfast. Now I keep far from sweets just not to fall in temptation and get trapped into an endless addiction that could be dangerous for my body (sounds too dramatic but if you see me eat sweets you understand why I use the word “dangerous”). Luckily, I’m becoming capable of accepting exceptions with no bad consequences. A sign of  maturity that is making me wiser with the age. Well, something like that; not only did I make a contribution in the preparation of this roulade, I also let the other bloggers eat their portion!

A you can see here, we made fresh Tagliatelle. This was my first time with the pasta machine, a tool I’m seriously considering to add to my kitchen arsenal.

A folding clothes drying rack was used to dry out our tagliatelle, while we were enjoying a glass (or two, in my case) of prosecco.  DIY kitchen utensil of the day. It was soon time for the dessert. The intoxicating smell coming from the large pots where a Quorn curry was slowly simmering, obfuscated my photography skills (bad excuse, eh?). At that time I was just drooling while randomly pressing buttons on my camera. Obviously, I could not let the b/w photography mask the beauty of the strawberries.

Here one of the chefs was showing evident signs of appreciation for our cooking skills :). His jokes and the glass of prosecco kept me entertained.

Back to the curry. We grinded the seeds with ginger and garlic in a small blender, sauteed the spicy paste in little olive oil, added the tomato sauce and only at the end the coconut milk. Below you can see me while stirring the sauce with one hand and holding the camera in the other. I’m grateful to Micaela from StylishLondonLiving for documenting the topic moment. This is actually how I work in the kitchen. One day I’ll end up cooking my camera.

Have I already told you that the Strawberry Roulade was amazing? It’s a meringue roll with a creamy filling of juicy strawberries. Luckily, the chefs were so nice to share the recipe with us and I am now so generous to share it with you all. Yay!

p.s. for this recipe you will need 1 baking tin 335mmx235mm and about an inch high greased with butter and dusted with sugar. 1 sheet of grease-proof paper (350mmx235mm) lightly buttered and covered with caster sugar.