Learning with Experts
Next Level Fish & Shellfish Skills
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Course overview
River Cottage's Executive chef Gelf Alderson teaches you how to cook seafood. Next Level Fish and Shellfish dives into deeper waters where you’ll learn to tackle more difficult seafood recipes such as Crab Bisque and Oysters Rockefeller.
Gelf will tell you more about using sustainable fish and guiding you through sourcing and preparing a broad selection of seafood such as cephalopods (squid and octopus), oysters, raw fish and more. You'll learn some favourite River Cottage recipes including Squid with Pumpkin Seed Satay and plenty of classics, including ceviche, carpaccio (made with bream) and a scallop tartar.
By the end of this course, you’ll have the confidence to cook crab and understand why making it fresh yourself tastes so much better. You’ll also learn how to pick crab meat like an expert and turn the shells into a rich stock which you’ll use as the base for an indulgent crab bisque.
You'll learn how to source, shuck and serve up oysters - including recipes for cooked and baked oysters.
This course really pushes the boat out, giving you a level of skill on par with professional chefs and it will certainly boost your confidence and entice you to be more adventurous with your fish and shellfish cooking and eating.
You'll learn:
- how to prepare raw fish and shellfish including ceviche
- how to cook a live crab
- sourcing and preparing cephalopods including octopus and squid
- oyster recipes - raw and cooked options
The course includes:
- 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Gelf Alderson and River Cottage
- lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
- flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
- downloadable lesson notes
- practical seafood assignments and recipes (with tutor feedback available)
- access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
- small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas
Independent Cookery Schools Association approved
This course has been approved by the Independent Cookery Schools Association (ICSA), recognising the highest standards of training.
How much time you'll need:
Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 14 hours 20 minutes to complete including:
- Video lessons: 2 hours 20 minutes in total
- Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
- Your fish and seafood recipe assignments: at least 2 hours per lesson
- Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
- Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson
You'll need:
Your lesson notes will include the full details of the ingredients you'll need, but you will be making fish and shellfish dishes, so you'll need standard kitchen equipment.
Ready to get started?
Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Gelf on your seafood cookery assignments.
If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.
Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.
Lesson summary
Raw fish and shellfish
Crab – how to cook, pick and make the most of every part
Cephalopods – how to prepare and enjoy cuttle fish, octopus and squid
Oysters – how to open, prepare and cook
Choose how you want to learn
Expert-level
Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition:
- Start the course whenever you like
- Tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
- Certificate of completion and CPD learning hours
- Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
- Lessons with expert videos & notes
- Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
- Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
Peer-level
Get the most from shared knowledge and community study:
- Start course whenever you like
- Practise what you learn with your peers
- Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
- Lessons with videos & notes
- Course assignments
- Group chat & direct message classmates
- Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
Why choose Learning with Experts?
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between PEER and EXPERT options?
At Peer and Expert level, you get access to the same core content and features:
- Video lesson tutorials led by your expert tutor
- Downloadable lesson notes
- Option to practise what you learn with lesson assignments
- Group learning within an online interactive classroom of up to 20 classmates
- Lifetime access to videos, notes and classroom
If you choose Expert level, you get all of the above plus the following:
- Personalised assignment feedback and coaching from your expert tutor
- Opportunity to interact with your expert tutor through a private messaging system
- Certificate of completion.
What is an online classroom?
Our online classroom has been developed to allow you to learn from our experts in a sociable environment alongside up to 20 other students. After each video tutorial led by your expert, you will be encouraged to practice what you have learned with optional assignments - these can be seen by the other students in your class, who are free to share their own thoughts and questions with you.
You will be encouraged to take part in an ongoing class discussion where you can discuss ideas, post images or work, and comment on each other’s assignments. It’s a great way to learn from other like-minded people who share your passion from all over the world.
This means not only do you benefit from people who are outstanding in their field, but also from a close-knit group of like-minded people whom you can learn alongside. Group learning has shown to greatly improve not just the experience of studying, but also how well you retain the knowledge, and we have built our classroom experience around this fact.
When can I start my course and how long will it take?
You can start your course any time within 12 months after receipt of your purchase confirmation email. Once you start, you’ll have lifetime access — meaning you can revisit the lesson videos and notes whenever you want.
Our courses are designed so that you can study at your own pace, some prefer to binge learn while others like to spread their studying over a longer period of time - it’s completely up to you. To give you a rough time frame, each lesson video is approximately 30-40 minutes long, and we recommend that you spend around an hour on each assignment.
How often can I speak with the Expert?
If you opt for the Expert version of your course, the time you have to interact with your tutor is limited to course length. You will have one week per lesson to chat to your tutor and to have your assignments marked, and during this period you can ask them as many questions as you would like.
To find out the length of each course, head to the product page and look at the Course outline to see how many lessons it contains. e.g. a four lesson course assumes that you will have completed the assignments within four weeks.
Your tutor interaction period will start as soon as you enter the classroom. If you find that you are struggling to complete the assignments in the allocated time or you wish to put this function on hold, just get in contact with one of the team via the support button and we will help you out.
Support and full FAQs
If you need any help with a course, be it one you’ve started already, or one you are looking to purchase, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support email address, or view the full FAQ’s here.
You can also use the orange speech bubble on your page to start a conversation with us.
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Awards and accreditations
