To Peter Maturi & Sons, Leeds’ premier cutlers and cookstore in Vicar Lane, for one of their occasional evening showcases. I’ve used Maturi’s for years for pots and pans. It’s a Leeds institution going back to 1899 when the first Peter Maturi, one of 25 (!) children, started up with a barrow and it grew into the superior shop it is today. Probably, Yorkshire’s finest.
Anyway I’d never been to one of these events before – you need to be on their mailing list, which I now am – and it made for a pleasant and instructive hour. There was Barbara Govan, Manager of The Cooking School at Dean Clough, Halifax with her new programme of courses which included the intriguing offer of ‘Two In A Bed with Christa Ackroyd’ for £75. Just to be clear, it was a talk-in for fledgling B & B owners of which La Ackroyd is one.
There was Chris Hill of Latitude, the indy wine merchant based in The Calls, who produced a selection of Riedel glasses to illustrate why you want to serve Sauvignon Blanc in smaller diameter glasses than Chardonnay. He had the happy knack of talking sense to both the experts and the amateurs in his audience. He was also one of the founders of the Arts Cafe in The Calls for which more respect.
Then there was Simon Chappelow from Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food who’d popped up the road from his pitch in Kirkgate Market and nattered away as engagingly as Jamie himself while lashing up a delicious side plate of stir fry. A welcome antidote to the pile it high/sell it cheap ethic which permeates so many of the stalls of Leeds’ supposedly great market.
Softened up by Latitude’s wine tasting and a shot of their rum punch, and impressed by Jamie’s man with a pan, I parted with £39.99 for a Green Frying Pan which I’m hoping will be the best, most durable non-stick pan I’ve ever owned. So far, so very good. [Jill]
Next event: 10th November ‘The Art of the Canape’ a two hour masterclass with executive chef Matthew Benson-Smith from the Cooking School, Dean Clough. Tickets £10
84-86 Vicar Lane, Leeds LS1 7JH T: 0113 245 3887