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Crunch Club

A workshop devoted entirely to texture — toasts, crumbs, seeds, crisps and the art of keeping them crisp.

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Small bowls of hazelnut dukkah, crispy shallots, golden breadcrumbs and spiced chickpeas on a tomato-red surface
  • Duration90 min
  • Indicative pricefrom £49 pp
  • Group size8–10 guests
  • LevelAll abilities

About this workshop

Learn to make and use the crunchy finishing touches that lift any dish, from dukkah and pangrattato to spiced chickpeas, crispy shallots and fried capers.

Crunch is the most underrated part of a salad, and the easiest to get wrong. Too soft, too oily, added too early and it turns to wet sawdust. Crunch Club is a short, intensely practical session on how to make, store and deploy crunchy toppings so they stay crunchy.

Working in small teams, you will prepare five toppings — a nutty dukkah, buttery pangrattato, spiced roast chickpeas, crispy shallots and fried capers — and learn which suits which salad and when to add it. To keep the 90-minute session relaxed, we measure ingredients, slice shallots, prepare tasting leaves, and cook and thoroughly dry the chickpeas in advance. You season the chickpeas and get them into a preheated oven near the start; they roast while you toast, fry and make crumbs, then cool before tasting and packing.

You leave with jars of what you’ve made, a pairing chart, and a new habit: never serving a salad without a crunch.

  1. Hazelnut and coriander dukkah
  2. Garlic and lemon pangrattato
  3. Smoked paprika roast chickpeas
  4. Crispy shallots
  5. Fried capers

Techniques you’ll learn

  • Toasting nuts and seeds evenly
  • Frying safely and draining properly
  • Roasting chickpeas for maximum snap
  • Storing crunchy toppings
  • Pairing crunch with creamy and juicy elements

How the session runs

  1. 0:00Welcome, a quick texture tasting and a safety briefing
  2. 0:10Season the prepared chickpeas and start roasting
  3. 0:15Toast nuts and seeds for dukkah while chickpeas roast
  4. 0:30Supervised frying: pre-sliced shallots and capers; check the chickpeas
  5. 0:50Make pangrattato; finish roasting chickpeas until crisp and spread out to cool
  6. 1:05Taste the toppings with salads and explore pairings
  7. 1:20Pack cooled toppings, discuss storage and take home recipe cards

Timings are a guide and flex with the group.

What’s included

  • All ingredients and tasting salads
  • Jars to take home your toppings
  • Pairing chart and recipe cards
  • Hot drinks

Good to know

  • Includes nuts, seeds and gluten; nut-free toppings possible with notice
  • Involves a little shallow frying under supervision
  • Some ingredients are prepared in advance; toppings are made in small teams
  • Chickpeas roast alongside the other activities; timings allow for checking and cooling
  • A short, sociable session that suits a weekday evening

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We’ll reply by email within two working days. Prices shown are indicative per person. We’ll confirm the exact price, availability and any deposit arrangements by email before you commit. Sending this form does not book a place or take payment. Cancellation and deposit refund policy.

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