A day at Raymond Blanc's Cookery School

What do you really learn at Le Manoir Au Quat Saisons?

Our down-to-earth man in the kitchen Jack Shamash (third from the right) gets out of his own kitchen for once, and finds himself in Raymond Blanc's instead - here's what he made of it

 

I've always fancied being a top chef. After all, I can chop an onion, I can speak French and I can use foul language. So why should it be a problem?

 

I decided to go on a short cooking course to improve my skills - because I like to do things in style, I headed straight for the Raymond Blanc Cookery School at Le Manoir Au Quat' Saisons in Oxfordshire.

 

This is no ordinary cookery school. Le Manoir is one of the best hotels in the country and has one of the finest restaurants. The school is next to the restaurant kitchen and classes are taught by professional chefs.

 

The accommodation is first class. I stayed in an absolutely wonderful room in the Manoir itself - huge bath, twin beds, and a real fire to keep us warm. And the food was impressive. I ate in the two Michelin-starred restaurant at the Manoir.

 

I invited my brother to stay with me the night before - shame to have all that luxury to myself, I figured. Together we drank slightly too much, talked to our fellow guests (who were all delightful) and had a great time. Then the following morning my brother headed back to London and I went to 'school'.

 

At 9.00am I gathered with the other students. There was an assortment of professional men and housewives - all of them keen amateur cooks and all of them absolutely charming - raring to pick up the finer points of cookery.  The course we'd chosen was about how to prepare a winter dinner party.

 

We were issued with whites and aprons and taken into the school kitchen, where around 12 people can be taught at any one time. We started off by watching a demonstration as Steve - our main teacher - prepared a confit of guinea fowl. Making a confit of guinea fowl involves soaking the legs overnight in a marinade and stewing them in hot duck fat, before frying them. Oh, by the way, you also have to make a brown stock by slowly frying chicken wings for around 40 minutes and then simmering them for a couple of hours. The stock is then used to make a Madeira sauce. To be quite honest, I have a very practical approach to cookery and thought it was a ridiculous amount of work, just to put dinner on the table, but all of the other students were very into it.

 

Next we were taught how to make some soups. Now this was useful - there was a great Jerusalem artichoke soup and a watercress soup, both of which were delicious. And then at midday, just as we were about to eat the lunch we had helped cook, Raymond Blanc himself came in and tasted the mushrooms that we were cooking: he decided that I had put too much lemon in mine. He shook hands with everyone and then suggested one or two minor changes to the recipes we were cooking. All the students were delighted - it was as if the God of cookery had come down from heaven to bless their efforts.

 

After a half hour break - during which we walked around the Manoir's beautiful gardens - we returned to the kitchen. In the afternoon we learnt some really useful skills - such as the best way to cut a shallot. We also made Gruyere and Swiss chard tart. This was a great recipe - it was cheap and it was easy. It also taught me some techniques I'd never tried before, such as blind-baking and rolling out shortcrust pastry in cling-film.

 

By the end of the day, we were tired out, but we'd had a great time. Could I become a top chef? Not just yet, but as a result of the course, there are a few pretty impressive dishes that I'll be able to rustle up - and I would never have attempted them had it not been for the course.

 

Cookery courses at Le Manoir start from £310 for a day's course. A double room (including breakfast) costs from £400. The Manoir puts on a wide variety of events, talks etc, most of which include dinner. Events cost from around £150 per person. For more information, go to www.manoir.com.

 

 

JACK SHAMASH puts meals on the family table every night of the week at his home in north London. He also writes for The Times, The Guardian and Horticulture Week (so he knows a lot about fruit and veg)

 

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