Monday

8.45-9.45am – Breakfast
– Enjoy a leisurely French breakfast before heading into the kitchen
10am – Kitchen tour & knife skills
– You’ll receive a tour of the kitchen and an explanation of the equipment
– You’ll be loaned your own set of chef’s knives before your first lesson learning how to chop, slice, julien and dice food
11am – Hands on French cooking lessons
– On your first day you’ll learn to cook a traditional gateau pithiviers, an ornately decorated puff pastry dessert with a delicious crème d’amande at the centre as well as chef David’s famous pizza gersois (local onions, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and thinly sliced duck breast) and a prepare a pate sucree (the base for the tarte aux pommes you will be preparing the next day)
3pm – Afternoon cooking lesson learning to cook a range of French dishes and desserts
7pm – Enjoy aperitifs and canapés followed by another fantastic dinner with wine and coffee

Accommodation

You’ll be staying in the restored French farmhouse is surrounded by the Gascon countryside.

Tuesday

8.45-9.45am – Breakfast
– Enjoy a leisurely French breakfast before heading into the kitchen
10am – Market visit
– Today you’ll be given some money and list of ingredients as you head to the local food market in Fleurance where local farmers and growers sell their produce
12.30pm – enjoy a typical French lunch at a local café in the nearby Roman town of Lectoure
3pm – Afternoon French cooking lessons
– This afternoon you’ll learn how to fillet a fish correctly, and prepare a veloute sauce as an accompaniment. This is then followed by a Tarte aux Pommes for dessert where you will learn to practice your pastry and knife skills
8pm – Enjoy aperitifs and canapés followed by the wonderful 4 course dinner you learned to cook
– Please note that each day, all guests are invited to help the kitchen plate up the food ready for service to enhance their cooking skills that go from preparation to service

Accommodation

You’ll be staying in the restored French farmhouse is surrounded by the Gascon countryside.

Wednesday

8.45-9.45am – Breakfast
– Enjoy a leisurely French breakfast before heading into the kitchen
10am – Hands on French cooking course
– Today you’ll learn to bone a chicken to prepare a Ballotine de Poulet (chicken Ballotine) with a rich mushroom sauce as an accompaniment with a light and refreshing tarte au citron (lemon tart) and a soupe aux deux poivrns (two-pepper soup)
2pm – Enjoy the delicious lunch you’ve prepared
3pm – In the afternoon you will visit Gramont’s seventeenth-century chateau

Accommodation

You’ll be staying in the restored French farmhouse is surrounded by the Gascon countryside.

Thursday

8.45-9.45am – Breakfast
– Enjoy a leisurely French breakfast before heading into the kitchen
10am – Hands on French cooking course
– Today will be an intensive cookery class where you will prepare 6 dishes over three hours, the focus will be on French desserts. These will consist of a crème patissiere, crème brulee, crème caramel and finishing off with a savoury sauce béchamel, followed by sugar spinning technique, preparing a reduction sauce (jus de vin rouge)
2pm – Enjoy the delicious lunch you’ve prepared
3pm – Gramont villages tour
– This afternoon you’ll take a tour the pretty villages around Gramont or if you prefer, you’ll be free to wander the cobbled streets at your own pace exploring the local French shops and bars
8pm – Enjoy aperitifs and canapés followed by a farewell 4 course dinner with delicious French wines and coffee

Accommodation

You’ll be staying in the restored French farmhouse is surrounded by the Gascon countryside.

Friday

– After breakfast guests are asked to check-out of their rooms by 11am ready for departure taking home with them new cooking skills and an insight into French life that will stay with them long after the holiday is over