Story and Images : courtesy of Gaggenau
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ED 221 Combi steam oven, BB 271 oven - award winning appliances
Chef Raymond Blanc shares his passion for organic produce and reveals his love of Gaggenau gadgets at his top-notch RB Cookery School.
German luxury kitchen manufacturer Gaggenau are renowned for creating the ultimate tools for cooking and entertainment. Functionality is at the heart of all designs and each appliance is crafted from the finest materials - tempered glass, stainless steel and aluminium.
Led by Bauhaus and the Ulm School of Design, Gaggenau creates sensible, modern appliances that speak for themselves. Gaggenau offers the best-in-class appliances in order to meet the far-reaching demands of discerning clients.
Raymond Blanc the Chef
Originally from Besancon France, Raymond Blanc is widely acknowledged as one of the finest chefs in the world. Over the past 20 years his exquisite cooking has been a major driving force in the UK’s food revolution and has resulted in numerous awards from national and international guides to culinary excellence.
A self taught chef, Blanc is the owner and chef at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons hotel-restaurant in Oxfordshire, England. Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons is the realisation of a personal dream for Raymond where “guests can find perfection in food, comfort, service and warmth”.
Organic Affair
Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons is home to The Raymond Blanc Cookery School, complete with its own organic garden delivering fresh ingredients on demand. The school provides a hands-on opportunity to fine tune culinary skills in state-of-the-art kitchens designed by experts Gaggenau.
Chef Raymond Blanc and Chef Paisarn at the Raymond Blanc Cookery School
Raymond shares with us his experience of organic gardening, “Le Manoir is an incredibly beautiful place which began with the organic garden. Our garden is part of the excellence I created and is as important as the food itself. Hotel guests can walk round it at any time and their feedback is wonderful. We also run a specific Cookery School course, “Garden to Plate”, where students can pick the organic vegetables in the morning and cook them for their lunch - it is marvellous.”
“The vegetable gardens are very beautiful, you can walk through and see holy basil, soya bean, Vietnamese mint, ginger and lemon grass. The King’s Royal Project in Chiangmai inspired me to create an East Asian garden here at Le Manoir. If you go back 20-30 years, the mountains in Chiangmai were full of poppies and now they’ve changed to farms where you can collect strawberries, asparagus, and peaches. This is very exciting”.
Spa Cuisine at Chiva-Som
With an understanding and appreciation of Thailand and its culture, it is no wonder that Raymond is embarking on a new project to create a luxury spa. On a recent visit to the Kingdom, the French chef spent time at Chiva-Som Health Resort in Hua Hin which has won international awards for outstanding spa cuisine. The spa’s concept is to provide healthy cuisine with so many flavours you will never even notice it’s good for you.
When asked what he gained from the trip, Raymond said, “Chiva-Som Spa is very stylish and elegant with wonderful treatments! It is like a place in heaven. I learnt a lot about cooking from Chef Paisarn who is an excellent chef and lovely person too. We shared new ideas and experiences about fresh produce”.
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