The Swept Away Inn might be looking at a new menu in the coming months as its owners take a six-week break.
Bouchra Zouhou and Daniel Savard are the owners of Swept Away Inn, restaurant and bed and breakfast located on a 1944 converted tug boat moored to Centennial Pier in Harbour Quay.
Zouhou learned much of her culinary knowledge from her family in Morocco. Now she is taking personalized lessons from Chef Gordon Ramsay, something of a celebrity popularized by the television show Hell’s Kitchen.
The lessons, said Zouhou, were a gift from her husband for Christmas. “He knows I’m a big fan,” she said.
The program is called Masterclass with Chef Ramsay. The lessons are delivered in an online format, but they involve a lot of one-on-one discussion. “I corresponded with him prior to that,” she said. “I had specific things I wanted to learn.”
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The classes are meant for people in the food industry who have some knowledge of their medium already. Some of Zouhou’s classmates are world-renowned chefs. The classes have hands-on assignments they need to complete, where Ramsay gives students ingredients and they complete a course with him. They hold discussions everyday.
“It’s a great experience,” Zouhou said. “He’s not as bad as they make him sound on Hell’s Kitchen,” she added, laughing. “We basically share the same passion.”
Zouhou said she took the course because she wanted to branch out from traditional Moroccan dishes. She learned how to cook Beef Wellington through one class. “It’s such a delicate dish,” she said.
“Just with one ingredient, you can ruin the whole dish. It’s hard to execute.”
She said she’s also learning mixing different ingredients and tips to becoming a successful chef. “Basic stuff, but this is coming from a guy who really knows how to make it,” she said.
Zouhou and Savard will be leaving later this month to visit Morocco for six weeks to deepen their knowledge of the country’s cuisine.
“We’re not just visiting family, but it’s a culinary journey as well,” said Zouhou. “We’ll be cooking with real chefs at five star hotels. It’s my cuisine, but it’s been 25 years since I’ve been back.”
Zouhou and Savard will be visiting Casablanca, and travelling up and down the coast, as well as the Sahara Desert.
Zouhou hopes to bring much of this knowledge back to Port Alberni.
“All these recipes are coming to the tugboat,” she said.
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