The Gascony Cookery School - Six Day Course Itinerary

Sunday

After arrival settle into your room and make yourself at home by taking a stroll around the village to acquaint yourself with Gramont and its residents.  That evening you will join us on the terrace for local aperitifs and hors d’oeuvres, over which we can discuss the week ahead and get to know each other a little better.  Prepared by David, dinner will consist of an exquisite four course meal, each dish designed to give you a taste of the distinctive Gascon flavours that you will encounter during the week ahead.

After dinner you can relax by taking advantage of one of our three terraces on which to enjoy a glass of wine or unwind in our outdoor hot tub, from which vantage point you can admire your first gramontois sunset.   Your holiday has begun!

Monday

After a breakfast sourced from our local boulangerie, your tuition will begin at 9:30am with a tour of David’s kitchen and an introduction to basic knife skills.  Following this you will prepare a simple, French dressing and a jus du vin rouge (a red wine reduction sauce) before beginning work on your pastry skills by preparing a gâteau pithiviers, an ornately decorated puff pastry dessert with a delicious crème d’amandes at its centre.

You will then be given the opportunity to hone your knife skills further by replicating David’s famous pizza gersoise: a freshly made pizza base topped with onions, peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and thinly sliced duck breast.  The morning will conclude with some more pâtisserie practice as you prepare a pâte sucrée, a form of sweetened pastry, which will provide the base for the tarte aux pommes that you will make on Tuesday morning.

Afternoon: After a typically long French lunch you will make your way across the road to Bernard’s restaurant where he will introduce you to the art of preparing foie gras.  You will prepare four different types of foie gras – mi-cuit, traditional, cru and pain d’épices – before turning your attention to another quintessentially Gascon dish: cassoulet. Bernard will impart to you his tried and tested wisdom as to the best way in which to prepare his restaurant’s most popular dish before giving you a tour of his sixty-five cover restaurant, a place you will get to know well over the next few days.

You are free to enjoy the remainder of the afternoon as you please.  Aside from a beautiful château and chapel, our tiny village boasts the largest honey museum in Europe; an interesting tourist attraction that allows you to witness first-hand the journey from bee to jar and to sample some of its handmade honey products.  Alternatively, if you have decided to hire a car for the week, David and I will be able to advise you on various other excursions of interest in the area.

Evening: That evening you will dine at Bernard’s on his signature duck menu; an haute cuisine experience in traditional Gascon manner.... Bon appétit!

Tuesday

Morning: Following breakfast at 9am we will make our way to the local market town of Fleurance.  Here you will be ableto familiarise yourself with the regional produce and select the fresh ingredients that we will be using in this afternoon’s class. 

Fleurance market is host to an array of tasty Gascon treats that are sure to whet your appetite, so we will continue on to the nearby Roman town of Lectoure where we will lunch in a local café before returning to the cookery school for afternoon lessons.

Afternoon: In this session, David will begin by instructing you in the correct way to fillet a fish before you learn how to prepare the perfect velouté sauce as an accompaniment.  You will then be given another opportunity to practice your pastry and knife skills by creating a beautifully presented tarte aux pommes.

 Evening: In the evening, before dinner, you will be invited back into the kitchen with David to focus on plating and general presentation skills.  Each dish that you
have prepared today will form a part of your evening meal together with the foie
gras that you prepared yesterday, giving you the chance to enjoy the fruits of your labour!

Wednesday

 Morning: After breakfast you will be with Bernard in his kitchen preparing six dishes over the course of three hours.  Your most intensive time in the kitchen this week, the focus this morning will be on French desserts.  You will prepare une crème patisserie, une crème brulee, une crème caramel, des crêpes and la sauce suzette before switching from sweet to savoury ingredients at the end of the morning to make that most iconic of French sauces: la sauce béchamel.

After cooking, Bernard will show you around his newly established Musée de vin, a small museum that details the history of winemaking in the region and includes some interesting, local artefacts.  Bernard will then conclude his tour with a well deserved lunch at his restaurant.

 Afternoon: After lunch you will visit the Château de Cassaigne, Condom’s acclaimed Armagnac distillery, where you will learn about the history of this local brandy whilst indulging in a short – optional! - dégustation.    We will then take you on a tour of the beautifully preserved, medieval fortified village of Larrissingle.  There you will see the delightful village of La Romieu, famed for its many sculptures of cats and possessing of a fabulous - if not slightly bizarre! - history.

 Evening: That evening you will dine at Bernard’s restaurant and your menu will include your very own cassoulet and crêpes suzette.

Thursday

Morning: After breakfast you will join David in his kitchen to put your newly acquired knife skills to the test by boning a chicken to create a sumptuous ballotine de poulet.   Following the preparation of the chicken, you will make a rich, mushroom sauce as an accompaniment.

Next on this morning’s itinerary is a light and refreshing tarte au citron and an entrée of soupe aux deux poivrons (Two-Pepper Soup), a starter whose unique presentation never fails to impress at a dinner party.

Afternoon: Lunch with David and I will be followed by a visit to Gramont’s seventeenth-century château, a well preserved renaissance castle complete with period furniture and tapestries. Afterwards you will join David in the kitchen to complete the final preparations for this evening’s meal.

Evening: You will spend the evening with David and myself and we will dine on all three of the dishes that you will have prepared earlier in the day.

Friday

Sadly the cookery school has come to an end!  You are very welcome to stay on with us as guests of our Bed and Breakfast.  Otherwise, we can arrange transfers to the airport for you.

Breakfast will be served as usual until 10am and we ask you to kindly vacate your room before 11am.