Carebase chefs learn from the master at Le Manoir

17th October 2011

Carebase recently treated its care home chefs to a very special cookery school day at the prestigious Le Manoir Aux Quats Saisons in Oxfordshire on 13 October 2011.

The nine chefs who work at Carebase’s care homes enjoyed an amazing day of nutritional learning and experimentation at The Raymond Blanc Cookery School in the beautiful surroundings of his famous restaurant and hotel in Great Milton.

Carebase places great importance on mealtime experience and all its chefs are highly trained; the Raymond Blanc Cookery School training formed part of Carebase’s commitment to continually improve the mealtime experience for its residents.

The day included lessons from the school’s chefs, using fresh produce from the vegetable gardens of Le Manoir to help create delicious dishes that the chefs then enjoyed for lunch.

Emphasis was placed on teaching the chefs how to make meals that are full of nutrition, use fresh ingredients, and have a great taste that are suited for the older generation. They were also given tips on how to vary dishes easily, using seasonal produce to ensure a weekly menu is always interesting, enjoyable and cost effective.

The chefs’ day also included discovering the beauty of the splendid gardens and greenhouses all within the eight acres of Le Manoir. The final part of the experience will be put into practice back at each of the care homes when the chefs will recreate the dishes they learnt to make at the cookery school to enhance the residents mealtime experience.

Sue Avery, chef at The Spinney care home since 1997, says: “Kitchen is the heart of every home and this is certainly the case at Carebase. We take pride in serving varied and delicious cuisine, freshly prepared on site. Our highly trained chefs carefully create menus that are flavoursome, visibly appealing and packed full of vital nutrients to help residents to stay happy, healthy and able to enjoy life to the full. The menus change constantly and always feature seasonal fruit and vegetables, along with British favourites that our residents know and love. We can’t wait to add the Raymond Blanc dishes to the weekly menu.”

Nicola Coveney, Managing Director, Carebase, says: “We have a great team of chefs at all of our care homes and wanted to do something special to thank them and enhance their skills. The Raymond Blanc Cookery School was the perfect solution – a fun day for them that taught them how to create some amazing new meals for the residents. All the chefs had a wonderful day and the staff and residents are looking forward to tasting their wonderful culinary creations.”