If you want to get the perfect cuisine style, you have to go back to school. That’s the philosophy behind the success of the Gaucho restaurant chain, which has its own academy where aspiring chefs are taken step by step through the intricacies of cooking in its typically Argentine restaurants.

Mike Reid, head chef at Gaucho’s O2 restaurant and Gaucho Academy chef trainer, says it entails an initial week long intensive training course. “Before staff are allowed into the kitchen they have to go through an induction course to understand the philosophy and culture of Gaucho,” he explains.

It includes back to basics such as knife skills recognition which, he says, sets the standard for the rest of the week. “As soon as they come in, they come into our culture. Every day is a challenge because people learn at different speeds.”

By day three the trainees have to study the sauces, dressings, vinaigrettes and each course, and learn the whole menu within that week, after which they sit a theory test. Then follows a month of training in the restaurants, says Reid, before they come back to him for five hours of practical testing. “If they pass, they get a job. But every dish must be exactly the same – the restaurant chain strives for consistency across the board,” he explains.

Nothing is brought in pre prepared. “We could not do that two years ago because the quality wasn’t there but it is now,” says Reid. The menu is changed twice a year but he is looking at changing it seasonally. Currently he is working on the summer menu that will be launched in April. He adds that the restaurants also benefit from the executive chef from Argentine coming over once a month three times a year.

The chance to see how ceviche and its renowned Argentine beef dishes are prepared was snapped up by Craft Guild members. The trip, organised by Westminster Kingsway College chef lecturer Jose Souto and R&R Teamwork, attracted chefs from a wide range of businesses. These included Hayden Groves, executive chef at Lloyds of London; Westminster Kingsway College chef lecturers Norman Fu and Johanna Wimmer, who is also restaurant manager at Maze; Sujan Sarkar, head chef at Automat American Brasserie; and consultant development chef Kevin Byrne – all keen to get a better understanding about Argentine food and wine.

Other guests were Partridges deputy manager and wine buyer Francois Ginter, recruitment specialist Portfolio’s Simon Cooksley and food photographer Steve Lee.

For some years ceviche bars have been growing in the US, particularly in New York where there are many variants of this classic dish. With ceviche being hailed as the new sushi in the UK, Reid says: “Ceviche is stepping up now. It has become very big in London and I believe it will be even bigger than sushi.”

Reid demonstrated two ceviche dishes and explained that the concept comes from either Peru or Chile – “there’s an argument as to which”. He said it is believed to have started with fishermen going out to sea with fish and a bit of salt, lime and potato, who found the combination of salt and lime changed the fish chemically and preserved it, enabling them to stay out at sea longer as they had a constant supply of food.

Basically it is raw fish marinated and ‘cooked’ by the acid content of citrus juice and each South American country has its own recipe. In Peru it is served with cold potato or corn, in Ecuador with popcorn and in Mexico (seviche) with tortillas.

Ecuadorian ceviche is one of the restaurant’s long standing menu items. It consists of marinated tiger prawns in a roasted tomato and lime sauce. The sauce must be made in advance by roasting together jalapenos, peppers, onions and vine plum tomatoes. Once these have cooled, mix and add citrus juice and Tabasco. Reid says leaving the prawns in the lime kicks off the curing process. Wafer thin onion means you don’t get an overpowering flavour, he adds.

Squid ceviche is made with Argentine baby squid, julienne of shallots, jalapenos, ginger, hint of chilli, mint and coriander. This was served on guacamole, which Reid says has a lot of lemon juice in it to complement the citrus in the ceviche. This comes in a fairly large portion – “80g is the norm, all prepared in advance for consistency,” he says.

The verdict on both dishes was “absolutely delicious with the chilli, ginger and other herbs coming through”. Norman Fu said it was hard to believe it was raw when it tasted as if it’s been cooked.

Another dish Reid demonstrated was king scallop tiraditos which he describes as “more of a sashimi style dish”. Scallops – king size diver ones – are sourced from America. Once the muscle has been removed, these are lightly poached, depending on the size of the scallop, but still raw.

This course is pre-portioned to get the right plating – sometimes two or three again depending on size of scallop. The sauce is a blend of red onion, red chilli, mango and coriander with a vinaigrette of coconut and lemon juice, and a must is that the onion and chilli has to be very finely diced.

Britons eat 38kg of beef a year, which is small fry compared to the average Argentine who eats a whopping 88kg of beef a year. But as Gaucho’s chef and operational manager Ryan Hattingh, who is the restaurant chain’s master of meat, explains, Argentina is a vast area capable of supplying a huge amount of premium quality beef.

He explained the provenance, the aging and the cooking of Gaucho’s celebrated beef reared on Argentina’s pampas grass, and that learning about this is also part of the academy training programme.

Hattingh says he is often asked: “Why is Argentine beef better than British?” and the short answer is it’s not. “Farming methods in Argentina are all British dating back hundreds of years. Aberdeen Angus or cross are all the Scottish breeds which we think are the best.”

Farmers in Argentina are lucky, he adds, because they have miles of pampas and all the cattle are grass fed. The grass is finer so sweeter and irrigated by water coming from the Andes.The cattle’s free range lifestyle means they also get lots of exercise that adds flavour and texture to the muscle. The excellent beef served at Gaucho, he believes, is because of all these characteristics.

The beef is hung for 24-48 hours before being vacuum packed and wet aged and served at its optimum time of 35 days. “We hang it for one to two days to drop acid levels. We get it within 32 days and use up to a week after. But watch the aging process – well done steak will leave a lot of water on the plate,” he says.

Different cuts demonstrated by Hattingh included rump, sirloin, fillet and rib eye. He believes rump, known as cuadril at Gaucho, is one of the most undervalued pieces of meat. He demonstrated how to cut to avoid gristle and how the angle of the blade when you cut is important. “The beauty of the cuadril is the flavour,” he says.

But he has constant issues with beef fillet believing it to be overrated and expensive. Also because the perception of fillet is lean. “We take the fat off even though it’s good fat,” he says. Grass fed beef is 50% unsaturated fat therefore he recommends it best cooked medium to cook the fat.

For the spiral cuts known as churrasco cuts, the meat is marinated in garlic, parsley and olive oil. During cooking the fat melts and the meat is infused with flavour.

The grills that Gaucho uses are custom made and have a water bath underneath, with the water giving off steam through the openings during cooking. The amount of oil used is paramount. Too much and it will flare up and burn the meat. Also too much or too little water will either burn or not cook the meat.

Hattingh explained that you only season one side and that it won’t draw the moisture out because it is only on one side and the salt drops through the grill so customers won’t get a salty taste.

A good tip, he says, is when you turn the meat over, put it in the same place as those bars are cooler than the rest.