On a recent Sunday, I find myself entering a space in Piramal House where London-based baker Shaheen Peerbhai is prepping for her class. She has donned a white and grey striped apron with yellow straps over a tee, and is sprinting across the floor giving orders to her assistants who nod their heads and get to work. In a later conversation Peerbhai, co-author of the recipe book Paris Picnic Club , confesses, “I really want to deliver as much as I can in three and a half hours to my students. I do a truckload of pre-prep, mise en place and kitchen organisation so that I can work at a high speed during the class. Slow work really annoys me. I value time, and with 20 people sitting around me, that’s a lot of time to respect.” Peerbhai who initially was a marketing executive with an IT firm, started her blog, Purple Foodie, in 2007. Eventually, in 2011, she left for Paris with her husband Arjun Kiswani to study at the Le Cordon Bleu. Later, in 2015, she enrolled for a superior level with Alain Ducasse Education.
The students are an eclectic bunch, but everyone is here to learn. For instance, there’s an aspiring MasterChef contestant wanting to improve her baking skills and another is a seasoned baker who teaches in a college. Being more of an eater than baker, I go through the file of recipes the London-based baker is going to demonstrate and my mouth immediately starts watering. There’s the Imperfectly Perfect Cake with caramel, Gianduja Soup, Honey Hazelnut and Chocolate Loaf Cake, Chocolate Souffle Tart and Passion Fruit Coulant.
At sharp 4 p.m., Peerbhai begins with the pastry dough for the chocolate soufflé tart: beating the butter and sugar with military precision, adding almonds and eggs to the mixture. She folds in the flour and kneads it into a brown ball. It goes wrapped in a plastic film and into the refrigerator for 20 minutes. She jumps recipes and gets on with the praline for the gianduja soup. “It is inspired by a version I had in Paris,” she tells us, taking sugar in a pan and sweating it into caramel, mixing in toasted hazelnuts. While cooking with her class, Peerbhai doles out advice about using butter at room temperature, understanding your oven and the benefits of using a light-coloured pan to make caramel sauce. “So you can see it turn amber, and know when to pull it off the gas,” she says.
When we start on the loaf cake, a participant asks whether honey can be substituted with sugar. “Honey is dense, sugar adds lightness and helps your cake rise,” she explains while making a thin butter line down the middle. “This guides the crack, that is inevitably going to tear your loaf. This lets you manipulate its position.”
We wonder if recipes have ever gone wrong in class. “My recipes are tested several times before I teach them in class,” says Peerbhai. “Nothing really goes wrong. However, accidents happen.” A few years ago, her plum tart fell inside the oven. Thankfully, the batch of students was really compassionate. Without bothering that it was broken, they brought spoons over to sample the goodies. “Another time in Bengaluru, I was using a new oven and my baking mat caught on fire,” recalls the baker. “People are enthusiastic and want to learn and I appreciate that. One should always be curious.”
Shaheen Peerbhai’s classes are on till December 3 in Mumbai; December 8-11 in Bengaluru and December 14-17 in Delhi. Register on: classes.purplefoodie.com.
