TOP CHEF Gary Jones admitted his masculinity was questioned when he started to learn how to cook.

But that didn’t stop the culinary star rising from the only boy at a girls’ school to the kitchen of Raymond Blanc’s Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire, which has two Michelin stars.

He was one of a host of top chefs providing a feast for an estimated 25,000 visitors to this weekend’s three-day Foodies Festival in South Park.

Packed shows from chefs including Alex McKay from TV show Ready, Steady Cook, The Telegraph’s Xanthe Clay and The Apprentice finalist Nick Holzherr, were accompanied by dozens of stalls selling dishes and ingredients from across Oxfordshire and beyond. Mr Jones, 47, spoke to the Oxford Mail after a food demonstration.

He said: “Jamie Oliver did it when it was quite cool, but when I learned to cook the guys wanted to kick my head in.

“I used to come out of school with a batch of fairy cakes, and my masculinity was questioned, but you just have to stick with it.”

In front of scores of hungry guests, Mr Jones prepared a Ceviche of scallops and tuna with shaved fennel salad and a beetroot terrine with horseradish sorbet.

He said: “We always do the Oxford festival, it’s important, because it’s our market.

“Although people travel from all over the world to come to Le Manior, the people in our own back garden, they are our customers, people from around here save up to come on special occasions.”

He said he loved being based in Oxfordshire, with the county’s rich variety of produce.

He said: “It’s a farming community with some really great suppliers. The fact we’re growing a lot of our product at Le Manoir is absolutely superb.”

Among the audience members for his demonstration was his mum, Myra, who said she was proud of her son.

She said: “He was the only boy to go to the girls’ school for cookery classes. He’s done so well. I’d never seen him do a demonstration before, although I’ve been to Le Manoir a few times.”

But his mum wasn’t the only one impressed with the display and the food produced.

Philip Rawlins, 66, a self-confessed “beetroot-hater” from Kidlington, saw the light after trying the terrine.

He said: “I still can’t believe it. Up until about five minutes ago I wouldn’t go near a beetroot, it’s absolutely amazing.”

And Peruvian Rose Nelson, 53, who was visiting her daughter in Oxford, was able to give her official seal of approval to Mr Jones’s Ceviche, a popular dish in her home country.

She said: “He didn’t make it how we do, but it was fantastic. “We had to get out of there or we were going to eat the whole thing.”

The popular festival was at South Park on  Saturday, Sunday and today.