Paris - Are you a cooking-show groupie? Do you salivate over MasterChef, drool over Nigella, or have your culinary talents been stirred by Come Dine With Me?
Well, you might want to do what the De Jonge family from George recently did.
Jan the dad, two adult sons Andrew and Adrian, plus Rose, Adrian’s girlfriend, decided to accompany mom Lynne on a painting course at a chateau in France. They would hone their cooking skills at the same time.
The elegant La Creuzette chateau, in rural France’s Limousin district, is in the 15th-century village of Boussac. It’s owned by well-known South African artist Louis Jansen van Vuuren and his partner, Hardy Olivier, who run painting and cooking courses.
I’m also at the chateau (not to cook, because, as my friends and family well know, Kate doesn’t “do” food) to paint and draw, and so I meet up with the George Gang – the would-be chefs.
In retrospect, this is what son No 2, Adrian, says about the experience: “I didn’t know what to expect. I love cooking shows but thought I might be bored out of my mind. But La Creuzette is like something out of a movie – stunning! And when Hardy started teaching us – tarte tatin (upside-down apple pie), soups of all kinds, terrines, pies and desserts – it was like being in a different world. The whole experience exceeded my wildest expectations.”
Now back home, Adrian and Rose have perfected the tarte tatin, introduced salmon into their own potato pie, and created gourmet custard and crème brûlée in their tiny Cape Town kitchen.
While Lynne and I and six other wannabe artists are upstairs in Louis’s studio painting irises, the be-aproned men are in the kitchen, stirring, shredding and chopping. Jan even spends a happy few hours peeling mega-sized asparagus from the market.
Hardy, inspired by his students, also teaches them some molecular gastronomy (which like me, you’ve probably never heard of).
The George team learns the secrets of “spherification” and creates Cointreau caviar – little pink beads that are served in our pre-dinner champagne (they pop deliciously in the mouth) – and honey “pearls” that are served on a warm Mont d’Or cheese.
One lunchtime, artists and chefs sit down to mozzarella “balloons” filled with roasted garlic air that serve as edible decoration to a Caprese salad sprinkled with olive oil powder. Several glasses of rosé are raised to the budding Bourdains.
At dinner, at the end of a wildly creative day under Louis’s inspiring tutelage, the artists are also treated (by the now highly confident new chefs) to foie gras lollipops with a sweet wine and chocolate coating, spaghetti made from orange juice and served with flaked duck confit (duck à l’orange with a difference), and, on one occasion, even vegetarian ravioli made with carrot juice and filled with a minty pea purée.
Most of the menus come from the La Creuzette recipe book, Festive France, but Jan, Andrew, Adrian and Rose, led by master chef Hardy, now surpass themselves and even attempt a recipe not in the book – seared Coquilles St Jacques on celeriac remoulade with a hint of curry; this is followed by a dark chocolate and berry fondant with a lightly grilled rose meringue.
On our last night, as the wine flows and we exchange tales of pastry and painting, artichokes and art, charcoal and char-grills, we dine at a long table bright with red crockery and scarlet candles, and eat our way through Charolais (the white French cow) fillet with truffled Jerusalem artichoke purée, followed by walnut and apple pie with chili and cinnamon ice cream.
Oh dear! Woolies, Spar and Pick n Pay instant meals are never, ever going to taste the same. However, all is not lost on the culinary front now I’m back to porridge, because the George Gang has promised to visit and cook for me…
Info at: www.lacreuzette.com - Sunday Independent
* If you use Gmail to read IOL's newsletters, note that Google is rolling out a new tabbed inbox that filters your mail into 5 separate tabs - Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums. IOL emails will probably be sent to the “Promotions” tab instead of the “Primary” tab. If you don't want it that way, drag the newsletter from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab. An alert will pop up. Click “yes” and your newsletters will continue to go to your Primary inbox.