Come and join me for a week of total immersion in the French lifestyle. Pick-up a straw basket and each morning we will visit a different traditional market and learn how to select the best produce.

In France gastronomy and life rime with markets, it’s a vital event held on the main square of the town. It’s a place where one can find the good home-grown food products and is essential to catch up with the local gossip!

We will get our inspiration for our menu as we are shopping together, according to the seasonal vegetables and fruits and what the fishmonger is offering that day. The area is known as France’s orchard and notable specialities include the prunes from Agen and the tomato from Marmande, I will show you how to cook in a simple manner without too many complications and conflicts of flavours. We will also give special attention to food presentation, as the eye should first be pleased when the plate comes to the table.

You will learn to cook in a spontaneous manner, to create food which is fresh, colourful, light, healthy and delicious.

More on your host and tutor

Sylvie Pragout was born in the Cognac region in south-west France. She studied English and American literature at Bordeaux University. Her love for travelling and sailing took her to the CARIBBEAN ISLANDSwhere she worked as a chef on luxury yachts. A few years later she settled in Ireland where she opened her first restaurant in Kinsale, “The Gourmet Capital” of Ireland, soon to receive listings in several food guides, including the Michelin.

In 1987 she moved to the Baleares islands in Ibiza to open her second restaurant,”La Granja Azul” where she developed her interest in Mediterranean cuisine. For the last four years, Sylvie has been teaching the Italian Mediterranean cooking course in Tuscany for an italian cooking school. Finally settled in the south west of France she is now running her own school where she hopes to welcome you to share with you her knowledge and passion for good food.