School term is over or should I say Gingerline’s latest pop up Faculty of Eatucation has now finished. So I am now allowed to reveal what happened during my time at Faculty of Eatucation.
Gingerline
Who are they?
Firstly though let me explain who Gingerline are.
Gingerline popped up back in 2010 and provide special pop up immersive dining experiences from their classic type Gingerline experience through to Chamber of Flavours.
With any Gingerline event no matter which one you go along to you will experience a fusion of art, performance, food, drink and design, taking intrepid diners on an absurdist adventure like no other.
Gingerline – their original nomadic theatrical supper club, pops up in various secret locations along the East London Line.
The Chambers of Flavour – is a multi-dimensional dining Machine which catapults brave diners through a tongue-tangling taste adventure, hidden away in a top secret London location, closely guarded by our egghead engineers.
Flavourology – creates multi-sensory dining experiences strictly for brave brands and daring hosts. Harnessing Gingerline’s pedigree for story telling and mischief making, our Institute is filled with designers, performers, chefs and technicians poised to conjure awe-inspiring food-centric dining experiences into reality.
Faculty of Eatucation
It was back to school with Gingerline classic immersive theatrical gastronomic pop up event which was based on school which took us all back to our childhood.
Me and Laura (lojovstheworld) was invited to attend the Faculty of Eatucation so we grabbed our school bags (handbags) and set off back to school for the evening.
Upon entering Faculty of Eatucation we were told to check the school pin up board to see which table and students we will be sat with for the night.
On the table was some popcorn and some school books, one for each of us students.
Professor Duckworth the head teacher of Faculty of Eatucation then appeared and stood in front of a blackboard and greeted us to the school and introduced us to other members of staff Joe Smart, Angie Evans and technicians Snap, Crackle & Pop.
I particularly loved Joe Smart the Guidance Counsellor as he was so funny and full of energy.
Before we started our classes we was told that all groups of students will be marked throughout the night. So any student that can answer questions quicker on the night will get a point for their team. The team with the most points at the end of the night will win a small prize.
Now time for class
We learnt about complex edible equations, gravity defying gastronomy and the fantastical fermentation processes known to chef kind.
Down with our study drink, sorry I mean welcome drink and onto tasting, experimenting and learning.
However firstly though we had to figure out which other mystery ingredient was in our welcome cocktail by taste alone. Maybe I should of not downed it so quickly. The missing item though which I found out from others was Balsomico.
Top 1 – Culinary Catalyst
Our first topic of the night was all about how time has changed in the way we eat food and how with the fast pace of the world how most of us settle for bland ready-made meals which can be prepared in minutes to satisfy our stomachs instead of cooking from scratch.
We then watched a quick health and safety video on food.
It was then onto our first experiment. We had to taste a dish of green type jelly which let’s say was not appealing or appetising. After tasting we then had to draw the dish and label each ingredient by drawing arrows from the boxes to the dish’s ingredients.
The mystery ingredients were
- Fennel (seeds)
- Parsley (jelly)
- Grape (grapes)
- Mint (spray)
I thought though the parsley was basil so my taste buds obviously are not that great.
We then had to hand back our jelly and we was given it back after being refrigerated and changing visually due to bacteria and growth.
We then had to re-taste and name the extra new flavours.
The extra new flavours were as follows:
- Beetroot (flavoured Beetroot bread)
- Saffron and Cauliflower (cauliflower cooked in Saffron)
- Lettuce (lettuce)
Topic 2 – Flavourality
Flavourality is the study of a person’s ‘flavour personality’ for this topic we had to answer some questions to discover which flavour we and our palates preferred.
This question determined if we preferred sweet, sour, salty or hot flavours when eating.
I ended up with SWEET which does not surprise me as I am addicted to sweet stuff.
We was all then presented with some sushi and different bottles containing sweet, sour, salty and hot liquid to coat our sushi with.
Topic 3 – Sense Manipulation
This was a full sensory experience and it took our taste buds on a journey of how senses can make a big impact in how food tastes via look, feel, sound and smell.
The first sensory challenge we each blindfolded each other and had to feed each other a ball each and determine what it consisted of. So Laura fed me my ball and let’s say half of it went all down my chin. Anyway it consisted of Aubergine and Feta and was quite delicious. Then was my turn to feed Laura.
Pay back!
The next was to do with feel. Whilst eating another ball this time consisted of cherry and chocolate we each had to brush each others cheeks with a pastry brush. Did it make a difference in taste maybe not but did tickle so made it hard to concentrate and eat properly.
Next sensory experience was to do with sound. The sound started to blare and kind to take a bite however I could not eat this ball as it consisted if rarebit and spice tomato which I did not like. However I do think sound does make a slight difference and impact on your taste buds whilst eating.
Did these senses make any real difference though to taste I don’t think so but was a lot of fun.
Topic 4 – Maxi – Wave
Similar to a history and geography lesson.
This was to teach us about how we can save the planet when our worldly resources are already at a strain from our ever-growing population?
The Maxi Wave seeks to solve the problems of supply and demand in the food instruct by using a small amount of energy to make little dishes large in a reduced amount of time.
The process is explained here by investor Maximus Wavely. Firstly a small canapé is eaten and digested by the subject whilst they are standing beneath the Colander Colider. The process then takes place and the food particles pass through the subjects head through to the Colander Colider where they are then transferred to the Maxi-Wave. However small canapes are replicated in large form ready to be shared and eaten.
After enjoying our duck canapé and then our Maxi Wave duck meal it was time for a history lesson.
We had to state the year in when each of the products listed were launched in the UK?
- Cadbury’s Mini Eggs
- Walkers Max Cheese & Onion
- Pepsi Max
- Moo Milk lollipops
Would you know the exact year?
Topic 5 – Dessert Technology
This was an art class with a difference. We decided as a team to create mountains. On one half of our table we had pretty mountains with flowers and on the other half of the table representing the other side of the mountain we have a storm brewing.
So we was squirting, smashing and having a wild time with our sweet desserts.
They say food should look better than it taste’s in our art creation I am not sure.
However if I knew this was going to be the dessert we had to eat at the end I would of not smashed the meringues and truffles as it made it hard to eat.
We then had to redraw our creation in our school book.
Our creations were then judged and we came second.
Term is over
Term was now over, sorry I mean the evening was now over and results were in for which group of students done the best.
We came joint second.
We passed with a ‘Diploma of Delicious Dining’ (even though I cheated).
Before leaving Faculty of Eatucation like with any end of school term we ended with a traditional school disco, so on with our dance shoes.
Plus we was was given some homework to take home which was in form of a wordsearch, how fun.
My verdict
In my opinion this has certainly been one of the best Gingerline classic style events I have attended as it was very entertaining, enjoyable and one which everyone can relate to. It really did bring some great childhood memories flooding back into my brain.
There was only one criticism that I would say though about the whole event was that the food which we got to eat during our school time was all printed at the back of our education books. So when it came to some of the topics let’s just say I knew what they were before I should of. Am I a cheat, um yes! Perhaps it would of been better if they handed a piece of paper stating what food we had during the night when we left.
However all in all as I said earlier this was one of the best Gingerline classic events I have attended over the past few years since going.
Thanks to Gingerline for letting me and Laura of the Love Pop Ups London community come down to experiment, learn and discover about food. This was complimentary but all views are my own honest opinion.
Click below to read the blogs and/or reviews from the other community members of Love Pop Ups London whom have visited and experienced other past Gingerline events. All their views are of their own honest opinion.
“I love going out discovering new and existing restaurants, theatres, immersive experiences and so much more but I also love staying in and discovering new gadgets, gaming and cooking.
