Abingdon Living Jul - Aug 2022
Summer is here – we’ve got an issue filled with sunshine! We’ve interviewed French chef Raymond Blanc, got some delicious recipes and are looking at all the ways to transform the home and garden in a few easy steps.
Summer is here – we’ve got an issue filled with sunshine! We’ve interviewed French chef Raymond Blanc, got some delicious recipes and are looking at all the ways to transform the home and garden in a few easy steps.
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Have you seen the British restaurant<br />
industry change since the 1970s?<br />
Beyond belief. When I crossed the<br />
Channel in the seventies the nation<br />
was in economic turmoil and the<br />
quality of the food supply chain was<br />
not questioned; it had become an<br />
irrelevance. We had embraced intensive<br />
farming, and we held it as a triumph.<br />
This was reflected in the restaurant<br />
industry which, yes, has changed<br />
dramatically, so that today London is<br />
considered one of the great gastromic<br />
cities of the world. Remember, food<br />
connects with every single part of<br />
our lives, a truth that was ignored for<br />
decades. Oh, how times have changed.<br />
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Do you think our appreciation of food<br />
in Britain has had a similar overhaul?<br />
Yes, and also think of ‘the positives’<br />
of the pandemic. Lockdowns<br />
encouraged many people to head for<br />
the kitchen and discover the great<br />
pleasures of cooking. It made me<br />
think about how it would impact on our<br />
lifestyles and the food we eat. We will<br />
seriously tackle food waste, and we<br />
will be closer to our farmers, butchers,<br />
fishmongers, cheesemakers and our<br />
other food producers. We do need to<br />
reconnect more with seasonality and the<br />
provenance and authenticity of produce.<br />
Sustainability must be the driving force<br />
in the years to come. We’ll rediscover<br />
our skills, grow more and import less.<br />
That’s good for the farmers and the<br />
economy. I have long felt that by digging<br />
into the past, we shall find our future.<br />
Maybe I am just an old romantic, but I<br />
do believe truly that this will happen.<br />
You appeared at the Blenheim Palace<br />
Food Festival this summer – what were<br />
the highlights in this special Jubilee<br />
year?<br />
The Blenheim Food Festival is a<br />
wonderful event with the focus firmly on<br />
eating well. It is buzzy, happy and fun,<br />
with lots of artisan producers with stalls,<br />
and cookery demonstrations. I hosted<br />
a question-and-answer session, and<br />
talked about my life, as well as my latest<br />
book, Simply Raymond, which is a little<br />
treasure chest of easy recipes.<br />
Do you enjoy sharing your knowledge<br />
– both on stage and to your brigade at<br />
Le Manoir?<br />
Without question, teaching is one of the<br />
greatest pleasures of my life. Over the<br />
years thousands have come to learn<br />
at the Raymond Blanc Cookery School<br />
at Le Manoir. And to think of the many<br />
young chefs who have come to work<br />
at Le Manoir ... and gone on to win<br />
Michelin stars!<br />
What has been your proudest<br />
achievement as a chef?<br />
Ultimately, it is sharing knowledge and<br />
watching others become masters of the<br />
incredible crafts of cooking and looking<br />
after our guests. I must tell you also of a<br />
special highlight… Many years ago the<br />
Queen Mother came to Le Manoir. With<br />
her entourage she enjoyed a particularly<br />
fabulous and long lunch, and then she<br />
stood and led her guests in a rendition<br />
of Le Marseillaise. Then she insisted that<br />
I gather together about 80 members of<br />
staff so that she could personally thank<br />
them for the wonderful experience. I am<br />
French Republican but I must tell you<br />
that on that day when the Queen Mum<br />
visited I came very close to becoming a<br />
royalist.<br />
Fantastic Food Festivals is hosting two<br />
more festivals this summer.<br />
The iconic Royal Victoria Park situated<br />
in the historical city of Bath will host the<br />
next food festival on Friday 29th <strong>Jul</strong>y to<br />
Sunday 31st <strong>Jul</strong>y with the final festival<br />
at Upton Country Park in picturesque<br />
Poole during the Bank Holiday on<br />
Saturday 27th <strong>Aug</strong>ust – Monday 29th<br />
<strong>Aug</strong>ust <strong>2022</strong>.<br />
For more information and tickets visit<br />
www.fantasticfoodfestivals.co.uk<br />
‘Simply Raymond: Recipes from<br />
home’ by Raymond Blanc (£25,<br />
Headline) is out now<br />
12 | www.minervamagazines.co.uk