It was a Friday, the end of a working week, when I made my way to Daylesford Organics, near Kingham, to attend the press launch of Daylesford’s new Organic Cookery School. I must admit that on seeing the new purpose-built kitchen, with its demonstration area and gleaming workstations, the sight of it took my breath away.

Apart from the usual Daylesford touches, such as strings of onions and herbs artistically decorating the walls, the kitchen was filled with gadgets every cook dreams of owning. The blocks of knives so sharp that they would even cut through soft tomatoes, chopping boards that were so new they simply cried out to be used and all manner of Electrolux, Kenwood, Zwilling and Rosle gadgets were arranged round the room I instinctively knew this would prove a day to remember, for however much a cook knows, it’s always good to meet a chef capable of inspiring his audience and introducing new recipes and techniques.

The cookery school is in the gifted hands of head chef Vladimir Niza, who worked for a long time with Raymond Blanc. He is also a trained nutritionist and, like Raymond, takes a great interest in the science of food. Within moments of introducing himself, it became clear that much of Raymond’s amazing enthusiasm and passion for fresh ingredients had rubbed off on Vladimir, who promised that the courses he had designed would make the most of seasonal produce.

He began by explaining the cook’s responsibility towards the ingredients.

“We must remember that even a simple pumpkin should be respected. It began life as a seed, which has developed into a plant able to produce vegetables such as this in the autumn. Nothing this vegetable offers should be wasted, even the seeds can be roasted as a snack, or a garnish for a delicious soup, and the skin can be added to the compost bin,” he said.

There were six of us attending the opening day dressed in our Daylesford aprons, which we were allowed to take home at the end of the session.Working in pairs we followed Vladimir’s instructions and cooked a delicious lunch which we enjoyed together later in the day. We were then taken into the kitchen garden to see what was growing there at this time of the year.

Daylesford Organic is dedicated to growing, producing and cooking real food, organically, and is justifiably proud of its kitchen garden, which provides fruit and vegetables for both the cookery school and the restaurant. Daylesford’s philosophy is simple. The ingredients grown and used in cooking must be fresh and full of texture. They must also contain the full complement of vitamins and minerals that can only come from natural food that is in season.

In accordance with this philosophy Daylesford practises organic, sustainable farming without using dangerous pesticides and herbicides on the crops. They do not use artificial growth promoters, antibiotics and drugs on their animals either.

As Vladimir said, the finished dish is only as good as the ingredients that go into it. He is confident that when eating organically-produced food you really can taste the difference. This is why, on showing us how to make his tarte Tatin (see recipe on the left), he insisted that we buy all-butter puff pastry for the topping, rather than the regular kind that contains hydrogenated fats and preservatives. “Besides its mouth-watering taste, all-butter puff pastry is malleable and easy to work with,” he insisted. After tasting the tart I made that morning, which I was encouraged to take home with me at the end of the day, I was inclined to agree. The fun began when Vladimir showed us how to make fresh pasta and roll it through the pasta machine using the conveyor belt method. This is done by bonding one end of the pasta strip to another once it has been through the machine a couple of times, then continually rolling it through the machine, putting it on a thinner setting every time it goes round, until the right thickness is obtained. Having cut the pasta into tagliatelle strips, he demonstrated how to make a fricassee of wild mushrooms to go with it.

He also showed us how to make a Kobacha squash soup with fresh cobnuts, cooked in organic milk rather than stock or water.

Throughout the session, he also explained how to bring out flavours without constantly reaching for the salt and pepper.

As the session concluded, we all agreed we’d learned a great deal and had certainly enjoyed the experience.

n The cookery school is offering a series of different hand’s-on class sessions that include Field to Fork, Seasonal Dinner Party – Autumn and Winter (the course I attended), Artisan Bread-making for Beginners, Cookery and Good Nutrition, and Classic English Cookery. There are children’s cookery courses too. For a full list of events you can visit the Daylesford website www.daylesfordorganic.com