The Gascony Cookery School - Weekend Course Itinerary

Friday

The weekend cookery school begins on a Friday afternoon, we are happy to arrange transfers from the airport or train station as appropriate.

After your arrival you will have some time to settle into your room and to stroll about the village before meeting your chefs and teachers for the week: David and Bernard.  Together, you will discuss the weekend’s itinerary over a traditionally long French lunch before taking a tour of David’s purpose-built teaching kitchen in order to familiarise yourself with the equipment you will be using over the next two days.

Your tuition starts at 2:30pm in David’s kitchen with a basic, but invaluable, lesson in knife skills, followed by the preparation of a simple vinaigrette.  You will then walk the short distance to Bernard’s auberge where you will be introduced to the workings of a professional kitchen and set to work on making your very own foie gras.  Bernard’s teaching encompasses four different ways of preparing the duck liver dish- mi-cuit, traditionel, cru and pain d’épices - and you will have the opportunity to sample each variation at dinner that evening.

After the foie gras making, Bernard will demonstrate the best way in which to prepare a traditional, Gascon cassoulet by following a traditional peasant’s recipe that has been in use in the region for centuries.

Having finished in the kitchen for the afternoon you then have a couple of hours to yourself in which to relax.  Take advantage of our three, south-facing terraces and their unrivalled views of the surrounding countryside or unwind in our heated, outdoor hot tub.

That evening you will dine at Bernard’s restaurant.  Renowned for his ‘menu gourmand’ Bernard will prepare a traditional six-course meal for you which will include the regional dishes of foie gras and cassoulet that you prepared earlier.   In addition to this, your fine dining experience at this traditional Gascon auberge will be accompanied by a sumptuous array of French cheeses, desserts and local wines.  Bon appétit!

Saturday

Your day will begin with a delicious breakfast sourced from our local boulangerie that will be followed by a lesson in David’s kitchen on fish filleting and patisserie skills.  Putting your newly acquired knife skills to the test you will be shown the correct way to fillet a fish before learning how to prepare the perfect fish velouté sauce as an accompaniment.  At the end of the morning you will make your first traditional French dessert of the weekend: tarte aux pommes, a beautifully presented dish whose preparation demands both pastry skills and delicate knife work.

Lunch on Saturday will be prepared by David and served on his terrace.  In the afternoon you will join Bernard in the kitchen of his restaurant for an afternoon of intensive instruction in the art of patisserie.  Following the same recipes he uses in his own, locally acclaimed restaurant, the French chef will help you to prepare une crème patisserie, une crème brûlée, une crème caramel, des crêpes and la sauce suzette. At the end of the morning you revert from sweet to savoury ingredients as you prepare one of France’s most iconic sauces: la sauce béchamel.

After a couple of hours of repose you will dine that evening with David and Vikki on the fish in velouté sauce that you made that day.  Before dinner you will be invited back into the kitchen with David to practice your plating and presentation skills; this will signal the end of your weekend course in French cookery, after which you can relax and enjoy the fruits of your labour!

Sunday

Breakfast will be served as usual at 9am and we ask you to kindly vacate your rooms by 11am.  We are happy to arrange transfers to the airport or train station for you.