GROW & COOK

recipes from the kitchen garden

Our series featuring recipes from celebrated kitchen gardens. This month: Raymond Blanc’s Michelin-starred Le Manoir

This month: Raymond Blanc

The most incredible eating experience that Raymond Blanc has ever had took place not in a restaurant, but in a cottage garden, when he was just seven years old. On this particular autumn day, he and his father were digging the rich, fertile soil of their plot in the Franche-comté region of eastern France: “It was pouring down. Dad held up a clump of earth and said, ‘Raymond, look at it’. I could see it was thick, oily and black. Next, he told me to smell it. So I did; it was extraordinary. Then he said, ‘Taste it’. I hesitated but obeyed, then found myself under attack from sour, acid, sweet and bitter flavours – all at once. Just horrible!” It was only when his father later told him he’d meant it as a joke that Raymond discovered this formidable man had a sense of humour. Nonetheless, it was an unforgettable moment for the world-famous, self-taught chef: “I’ve never again eaten anything so complex in my life.”

AN APPETITE FOR EXCELLENCE

Spending his childhood working hard with his four siblings and father to produce food – and helping his mother with preparing, cooking and preserving it – served as the perfect apprenticeship for a life devoted to both growing and cooking. At his two-michelinstar hotel in the Oxfordshire countryside – Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’saisons – great dishes begin when the seeds for their ingredients are sown in its kitchen garden, glasshouse or

polytunnels. On this mellow morning, Raymond and his head gardener Anne Marie (who came on a summer placement 32 years ago and never left) are inspecting the vegetable beds. “It’s always fun to watch the leaves of the pumpkin and squash plants break down and expose the full extent of the harvest,” says Anne Marie.

AN EYE FOR DETAIL

Learning how to appreciate and use produce is among the early lessons for new staff members. “I emphasise how important it is to know everything about a vegetable – what variety it is, whether to peel it, the best way to cut it and cook it,” Raymond says. To achieve mutual understanding, every gardener spends time in the kitchen and every chef spends time in the garden. Produce is harvested at 8am each morning, then cleaned and presented to the chefs, headed up by Gary Jones, two hours later, 365 days a year. The teams communicate with each other so well that food served in the restaurant is “not so much based on the season, but moments”, Raymond says. The chefs even take early samples so they can taste the vegetables and help determine how much longer they will grow for. Produce procured from farmers comes under as much scrutiny: “When we cook lamb,” Raymond says, “we know its breed, age and diet and whether it was raised on highland or lowland pasture.”

A STORY OF PASSION

In the years since Raymond discovered this ancient manor house in 1982, its kitchen garden, which was “a frightening jungle of dead Brussels sprout plants and ground elder”, has been renovated and enlarged, and the land has evolved to include new plots: “Each of the gardens is an adventure, inspired by my travels and the marvellous people I have met.” There are four different sections containing edible crops: the potager, the Asian Garden, the Herb Garden, with 50 varieties, and Mushroom Valley, as well as an orchard and fruit farm. Created in a former drainage ditch for the house, the Mushroom Valley was terraced and packed with decaying organic matter. Today, John Driscoll, who is responsible for its production of species, including high-yielding namako and shiitake mushrooms, proudly reveals a clump of Raymond’s prized king oysters.

AUTUMN’S BOUNTY

The entire growing space comprises one and a half acres in which 250 varieties of 80 different vegetables are grown, contributing ingredients towards the 1,100 meals served in the restaurant weekly. Numerous features encourage wildlife, such as the bug houses and phacelia, which is grown to attract honeybees and hoverflies, as well as for its flowers and beneficial effect on soil structure. At this time of year, there’s much to savour on the plot; Anne Marie’s team of eight staff are busy picking autumnal produce, including flageolet beans (for a vegetarian chilli), celery (braised with game) and fennel (to star in a salad with tuna tartare). Among Raymond’s most recent projects is the orchard, where planting began in 2012. It has about 2,500 apple trees (including 120 varieties), with each cultivar selected to be incorporated into a particular dish, from a purée (‘Egremont Russet’) to a delectable tart (‘Reine de Reinette’) made with cream and Calvados and named after his mother, Maman Blanc, as well as apricot, cherry, mirabelle, peach, pear and walnut trees.

LIFELONG INFLUENCE

You might think the illustrious chef has risen beyond the influence of his parents, but they remain his greatest inspiration. Cooks at the on-site school are taught how to make Maman Blanc food, while his father’s green-fingered wisdom features in the newly launched gardening courses. Despite his achievements, Raymond’s thirst for knowledge is insatiable, and his vision for Belmond Le Manoir isn’t yet complete: “Curiosity and a love of people and gardens keeps driving me on,” he explains. “I am forever childlike.” Turn the page for a selection of Raymond’s delicious recipes.

Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire (belmond.com/le-manoir-aux-quat-saisonsoxfordshire). The newly opened Raymond Blanc Gardening School in the grounds offers grow-your-own courses. Salad recipes are taken from Kitchen Secrets published by Bloomsbury Publishing. All recipes by Raymond Blanc.