in Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria

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SWEERS ISLAND 

COOKING SCHOOL

Over the past few years we have had suggestions to run a Cooking School and thanks to French Chef Martial/Max Cosyn and his wife Bridget, we hosted the Inaugural Sweers Island Cooking School in August 2011. The classes ran for three half-day sessions and featured local seafood. Participants worked together under Max's guidance to produce an amazing variety of menu - featuring classic French on one day and popular Thai on another. 

Max and Bridget are a highly acclaimed catering duo from the Southern Highlands of NSW, known for their creative use of seasonal produce.  http://www.mandbfood.com.au/  They have run their own restaurants and coffee shops, now preferring to cater for all sorts of events from special birthdays to weddings and large corporate functions.

The local Tyrrells  www.tyrrells.com.au  wine rep, Jon McDowall, also attended. Jon is an experienced wine host and has worked in Asia, Australia and is now based in tropical North Queensland. He collaborated with Max on the menu and came up with a well matched wine-list and also some fun Guessing Games for the guests!

Participants came from all over the country to attend, from all walks of life, from truck driver to marine biologist - everyone had lots of fun, and learned heaps from not just Max but from each other. Many recipes and techniques were shared during the School, even the skills of screeding/smoothing concrete came in handy for smoothing the tops of the chocolate mousse!

The Flying Chef arrives in style!       Everyone crowds around Chef Max who was very generous with tips and hints...  

Max put a lot of time and thought into the menu he devised for the inaugural Sweers Cooking School. It was designed to be totally Hands On. Not just standing & watching what HE did - participants got to do it for themselves - learning how to locate the correct herbs by sight and smell, chopping techniques, washing up as you go so that you always have the knife/pot you need ready to go, checking by taste and adjusting flavours and final presentation to enhance the dish. He designed a 3-day Class: Day One was a general talk and Morning Prep - participants prepared some Pesto, some Thai Chilli Paste, Fish Stock, and made a dessert and mastered the tricks of perfect Profiteroles. Next day was Afternoon French Class, during which time the stock was made into Bouillabaisse Soup, the Pesto was used in Crusted Fish fillets, and the group worked towards producing a fantastic French style meal for all the guests and staff at the Resort.

The group started off with basic fresh ingredients..... worked some magic.....and Volia! Look at the finished product!

Craig Battle stirring the Fish Stock.....which his daughter Kirsten then strained to use later in the soup... while Bev taste-tests the chocolate mousse!... and Marie gets into the "spirit" of things!

Bev and Chef Max with their Thai Fish Cakes......Rob and Marie Peirce chopping away... Katie dishing up a banquet...

Day Three was a Thai-themed day - the Chilli paste (here is the one we prepared earlier!) was incorporated into Fish Cakes made with fresh locally caught fish. Quite a few Kaffir lime leaves had been pre-ordered and delivered by barge - Max gave us a great tip that these can be stored for ages in the freezer, the smell and flavour is just wonderful, so we will be enjoying them again. The wonderful smells from the kitchen could be smelt all around the resort area! Some of the fish stock prepared earlier was used to make a Thai Green Curry, and some wonderful salsa accompaniments were also prepared. Presentation was made very authentic with local coconuts and leaves and fresh flowers for the tables. The coconuts inspired the class to try their hand making fresh coconut milk - we just happened to have a milling tool made by a PNG visitor some years before. It was fun, but we decided buying a tin is a lot easier! It is VERY labour intensive. Max had a quote: 5 persons, 4 hours, 6 coconuts and 3 litres of milk! But it was still fun to try our hand at this traditional skill. The milling tool looks something like a wooden board with a cowboy 'spur' attached. The spur scrapes out the coconut flesh which is then mixed with the coconut water and pushed through a sieve/muslin bag, producing coconut cream/milk.

Wendy cutting into the "nose" of the coconut to get the water out, then Tex cracks it in half, then Max mills the flesh...

The staff were not allowed in the kitchen and any intruders were quickly ushered out!

Everyone had great fun, learned heaps, and all want to come back again for the next School!

                                                                    Well Done, Everyone!

The Second School started next day with a fresh group of participants - some similar prep on Day One, though to avoid too much repetition Max made some alterations to the menu and guests had the chance to learn how to make Rice Paper Rolls... always fun to make and eat!

Chopping Coriander, crushing nuts, chopping veggies, making rice paper rolls - oh! - and having a beer!

The boys did their share of chopping and cooking too! And the results were stunning once again!

Sweers Island Staff also picked up some great tips from Max - here is a new way to serve ice cream: 

Meanwhile, during both Schools, we also had Wine Tastings, with Jon from Tyrrells www.tyrrells.com.au - Jon selected wines to compliment Max's Menu a selection of Australian and New Zealand wines, and no, not just Tyrrells either. He also came up with some fun Guessing Games with prizes for the winners - this aspect of the School greatly enhanced the experience, particularly as we all sat down to dinner and enjoyed the meal created by the participants. 

Max and Jon....         Jon describes another wine to the group.....some fun games.....    and the winner is! (Chris Cabot!)

Thanks to Everyone who helped to make this, the inaugural Sweers Island Cooking School, such a success - to chef Max for agreeing to take a chance on an unknown location where he could not easily get fresh produce (apart from the seafood of course!) and to his wife Bridget for letting him travel so far from home leaving her behind to do all the work (next time Bridget will come too!); to our pilots Batty and Gramsy - who ferried Max to and from the island; to Tyrrells Wines for lending us Jon, and Jon himself for his enthusiasm and expertise; to our veggie suppliers for the best herbs they've supplied all year! And mainly to the participants themselves, who really made the whole event such a treat to be a part of. Let's hope we can all do it again next year!

À la prochain! (see, we even learned some French from Max!)

Sweers Island Resort.    Mail:  PMB 1 Karumba QLD 4891   Phone: 07 4748 5544    Fax: 07 4748 5644    Email:  info@sweers.com.au

Website by Lyn using  This page last updated on August 26, 2011  © 2003