In many ways, the Concord Institute is the kind of place that any self-respecting cynic like myself would try to avoid. With classes entitled “Healing the Heart” and “Urban Shamanism”, they espouse the kind of well-being nonsense that make me scream “bullshit” (and inspire the moneyed and self-obsessed to empty their purses).
But in addition to their mind and body courses is a range of wholefoods cooking classes. And this is where the macrobiotic angle of their “self-health” philosophy comes into play.
Of course, I didn’t know any of these things going into it. All I knew was that a place near my house offered a 3-evening “Wholefoods for Beginners” course for £75 (meals and leftovers included). Vegetarian. Organic. Cooking. Beans. Eating. Like music to my ears. Tim and I signed up as soon as I got my next paycheck.
The instructor was Dragana G. Brown, co-owner of Luscious Organic, a health food shop in Kensington, and co-author of the Karma Cookbook with Boy George (a fact she is not shy about sharing).
Looking past the instructor’s occasional preachiness, the Institute’s mild cult-like vibe, and some students’ overwhelming eagerness to accept every health claim made my Dragana… looking past the fluff and the hippy fanfare, I really enjoyed what we were there for: the food.
Most of Dragana’s dishes have a Japanese flare (all part of the macrobiotic theme). And since I rarely if ever cook Japanese, almost everything, from umeboshi plum to kombu sea vegetable, was new to me. One of the most useful lessons was how to marinate and pan fry tofu so that it turns out firm and tasty rather than jiggly and bland (see recipe below).
It would have been nice to learn some more basic techniques, but there were plenty of general lessons to be learned from the individual recipes: in making split pea soup, we learned how to cook beans (wash them, then soak them, then cook them, replacing the water after 10 minutes of cooking, and always salting at the end); while making sushi, she explained how to cook brown rice; the miso soup was a decent primer on, well, miso.
At £75, the class is a steal. I’m not sure if I’ll be signing up for the CI’s other, more expensive cooking classes, and you definitely won’t catch me at their “Romance with Knowledge” workshop. But I do see a trip to the asian grocery store in my future.
Marinated Tofu Steaks
They taste much more pleasing than they look in this picture.
1 block firm tofu
olive oil for frying
flour
Marinade:
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp shichimi
1 spring onion, sliced
60 ml mirin
150 ml shoyu
450 ml water
Slice the tofu into steak-like patties. Combine all the marinate ingredients in a shallow pan and add the tofu. After 15 minutes, flip the tofu and marinate for another 15 minutes. Remove the tofu from the marinate, but down throw out the marinate! Put it in a bowl - we’re gonna use it for a dipping sauce later.
Put some flour on a plate. Take your tofu patties and dip each side in the flour so that the tofu is covered in a thin layer of flour. Heat up some olive oil in a pan. Add the tofu. Fry ’til its brown and crispy, then flip and fry the other side.
Remove from the pan and serve with the dipping sauce.
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Oh my, Monica… fascinating reading! I can see you’ve become more of a Brit these days in how you give recipes, in metric measurements! My brain can’t handle too much converting! The class sounded great. I’d love it. Even if you pick up one new cooking tip, it’s worth it. Great post!
Thanks for the recipe. Looks good.