Man in the Kitchen - by Kit Villiers

Phew! Give me teaching any day! Cooking? I never realised what hard work it is. Following a day's cookery course at Denman College last week, I crawled back to Oxford determined never to enter the kitchen again except perhaps to select 2 slices of Mother's Pride and casually flick down the lever of our old trusted toaster, spreading the result with thick butter and having no greater decision to make except whether to slap on Marmite or jam.

I had been enrolled on the course as a birthday present some months ago, and as the day got nearer I got more and more apprehensive.  Surely I wouldn't need all these freezer blocks, food bags and plastic boxes to take home the result of my efforts. It was more likely that anything I produced would immediately be binned or possibly put down as a new kind of rat-poison.

I was somewhat reassured by the olde world appearance of the college, and by the low-key coffee reception where I took the precaution of eating an extra cake in advance of my now imminent failures in the kitchen, and finally by the fairly unforbidding appearance of my 5 fellow "students"  - all of whom seem to have been dragooned into attending by their wives. Soon the cook/trainer/coach arrived and I marched off after the others through the lovely grounds to a large block, part of which was an enormous kitchen.

I thought I was fairly fit, but I found being on my feet all day, cutting, slicing, trying to figure out how to turn the gas on, not to mention endlessly washing up, totally exhausting. We all had our own cooking range, but I was constantly sneaking a look at my rivals trying to ensure I wasn't last or to see I was doing it right (mostly not). There was quite an incentive to get the stir-fry chicken right as we were going to eat our own concoctions for lunch. Actually despite everything even mine was pretty tasty. We must have been a pretty poor class though - the instructions said we were going for a nice walk around the grounds after lunch, but instead we found oursevelves slaving away over our respective hot stoves again almost immediately.

The day ended with cake in the lounge - fortunately not made by us - and a chance to get our breaths back.

For the record I took home: sausage and fennel seed ragu
coq au vin (with apologies to Delia Smith)
keralan prawn curry
one minor flesh wound

Eights Week, Battle of the Oxford Colleges

Another of Oxford's great summer traditions is just round the corner.  For almost 200 years the fifth week of Oxford University's summer term is Eights Week, or the annual battle among the colleges to be 'Head of the River'.

 

An eight is an 8 oared racing boat and every college has at least 2 men's and 2 women's boats. With 38 colleges competing it's a very big regatta, and it goes on every afternoon from Wednesday to Saturday with races every 30 minutes from Iffley Lock to Folly Bridge. This year it starts on Wednesday 22 May and the last race is around 6pm on Saturday 25 May when the first crew to reach Folly Bridge will be crowned head, and then get thrown into the river.

 

As the Thames is narrow it's impossible to race side by side, so a system of literally 'bumping' the crew in front has developed; the rules are a bit complex and most spectators don't understand them, but are there just to enjoy the party. Especially on the Saturday thousands head for Christ Church Meadow where they crowd the various college boathouses which line the bank just where the river Cherwell meets the Thames. There is music and many colleges offer drinks and BBQs to entertain students and townies alike.

 

Usually OISE Oxford organises a walk down to the river for the students to see the fun and soak up the atmosphere.

 

And who is going to win? Well, Oriel College (where the Queen had lunch recently and which happened to be the last college to admit women) are the current champions and thus have the advantage of starting first, are in with a good chance. They have some students who rowed in this year's boat race so I am tipping them to win again as they have so often in the last 25 years - they are the Manchester United of student rowing.

 

 

Bumping Race at Oxford, John Thomas, 1822