I mentioned breakfast on a earlier post so thought I would say that at this place, you get proper Scrambled Eggs if you want them, on top of the Croissants, home made Jams, home made Yoghurt, home made Bread each mornings spread certainly set you up for the day, with the usual chatter, comments on previous days, the view, the weather, the mosquito bites it was like a long lost family had just got back together.

This was the last day in the kitchen, and it was a FULL DAY, preparing and cooking a variety of different dishes including completing the stone fruit tarts we had started a few days before. It was already warm in the kitchen so we had to work quickly, making an almond paste to put into the previously lined case, and then de-stoning the different fruits we had all purchased from the market. Rad and I had chosen White Peach and Nectarines (from memory), they all came out really well. Once out of the oven we brushed them with Apricot Jam to give them the traditional glossy finish.

Another dish on the menu was Tunnel Boned Duck Leg, stuffed with Lemon Grass and Ginger, then rolled and wrapped in a butter soaked Muslin, there are several tricks to this dish, go on the course to find out more. David showed us how to remove the bone from the leg, we then set about trying ourselves carefully using our paring knives to keep as much of the flesh that we could, and importantly keeping the skin intact.

Lets make a French Raised Game Pie, hmmm, ok then!

Unlike UK raised pies this one did not use a Hot Water Crust Pastry, but a different recipe that produced a very delicious result. There were quite a few stages to go though as the above pictures demonstrate, making the Pastry, lining the traditional baking tin was tricky (very expensive to buy), stretching the bacon (makes it thinner), lining and filling the pastry correctly, adding the layers it took us a while to create the masterpiece that ended up on our plates later that day, it was intensive, everyone was concentrating but having great fun at the same time.

During the cooking process the contents expanded so if you had overfilled your pie, it pushed the lid off. Luckily, the pie Rad and I had produced was ‘on the cusp’, very proud we all were of our creations, very impressive work indeed. I mentioned the Tins, only + £100 each! I just checked one of my quality cookery suppliers and a decent non-stick retails at £129, maybe one for the Christmas list 😀

Time was rushing by, and soon we were to be sitting down for our final evening meal. The days had flown by and I was chilled, relaxed, calm and despite the busy and frantic nature of the 6 day course rested and ready to fly back home. The first few days in Toulouse had been an absolute culinary blast, only to be topped up with the cookery school trip and meeting friends old and new.

The Game Pie tasted beautiful, the Duck (scrumptious) was served with some Orzo Pasta and the vegetables we had purchased, produced to our own specification. Rad and I hollowed out the Courgettes we had picked, and stuffed them with lots of yummy flavours. On the road back to the airport the following morning, we drove past fields and fields of Sunflowers, all bowing away from the sun, very beautiful indeed, and quite strange.

During the time at the cookery school we had tried a number of local Aperitifs, Floc De Gascogne being one I had tried before (and have a bottle in the drinks cabinet), and a new one we tried was Pousse Rapière a local speciality to the region, and served in a ratio of 1 part Rousse and 6 Parts Vin Sauvage (Methode Traditionale) sparkling wine.

The name is derived from the rapier sword, it was yummy and another treat now sitting at home to remind me of fond trips to The Gascony Cookery School and in this particular case, some awesome restaurants in Toulouse and meeting up with my lovely friend Jules, From Tasmania.

That’s the end of this adventure, I have been back home a couple of weeks and looking forward to my next one, next year in March, to TROMSØ for three days and then Lofoten Islands to ‘The Kitchen On the Edge Of The World’ with a VERY special guest chef.

Like all my trips, I paid the full price, no incentives to promote anything, just my honest views of food and travel.

………………………………..Until Next Time…………..L8ers……………..