Cooking school in South of France on herbs and spice. Learn how to use 80 herbs and spices, spice by spice, and how to cook healthy tasty light recipes with spices. A gourmet gift idea, a unique gift idea for a holiday gift or an anniversary gift.
In the Magellan course of three days you will also discover south of France region near Montpellier, wines from Languedoc, and the Mediterranean cuisine
Aulas is here
Once Upon A Time : a Spicy Weekend in a Sixteenth Century House in the South of France
ckasses in winter in the XIIth century kitchen
the garden where you will relax
Patrick Du Cros your guest
cooking classes on spices in sping
inside Patrick's house
Classes are followed by gourmet dinner in the house gardens.
The kitchen of the 12 th century where you will study and use the spices
Le Vigan, 5 minutes from Aulas
learn about French wines form the Languedoc region they are good and cheap (often less than 10 euros)
Tv and press often come to brodcast our spices lessons (here chanel 3)
YUM-YUM (Miam-Miam) the discovery of 80 herbs and spices
a valentine gift idea for a couple
grinding the spices
Arles painted by Van Goh a good place to visit near Aulas
t(he cooking lesson inside the XII th century kitchen in winter
some samples of tomatoes
MIAM MIAM IN THE CEVENNES :
DISCOVER THE HUB OF THE FOODIE WORLD
A little cooking distance you from your country, a lot of cooking bring you back. This is what we are going to demonstrate.
If you are curious and interested in food you will no doubt realize that you eat better in the countries that were part of the birth of civilization. You enjoy eating in Baghdad in the country which invented writing and the first cities in the world 60 centuries ago. However, you do not eat well in New York, in a country 200 Years old under the influence of fast food and the processed food industry.
Lets continue the experience: If someone says “Chinese cuisine” (which one-there are four*!) and “Australian cuisine” which one tickles your taste buds? You could just as cruelly compare Indian cuisine (curries, biryani, tandoori etc**...) with Brazilian (beans and rice), Japanese or Mediterranean with African or Caribbean (rice, root vegetables, palm oil and peppers);
Obviously it's a question of climate and available produce, but evidently recipes perfected over thousands of years have an advantage over those that have only existed for a few hundred.
The most important refinement is spices. The great cuisines include a lot of well chosen spices. Africa alas has not much to show apart pili-pili. The Maghreb however- it is closer to the Mediterranean and the Middle East than Africa. At the Maghreb*** you simmer, savour and tend the beautiful little dishes with saffron, cumin; ginger, paprika, coriander, turmeric and even harissa!
If you taste the great ancient cuisines of Indonesia****, Java, Bali, and Sumatra, spice islands since antiquity, caught over by the Dutch, Portuguese and the Spanish, you will discover unknown delights.
As for cooking them yourselves, you have two solutions.
A. Spend your life touring the islands and towns like a “tour de France” veteran to learn about their cooking skills.
B. Spend a week end learning about spices with the Miam Miam association in a delicious village in the Cevennes, in a beautiful ancient village house and its 12th century kitchen.
So there you have it! That is why Aulas is (with a pinch of salt) the hub of the foodie world.
* Peking cuisine is rustic, Sichuan is hot, Cantonese is sweet and sour or steamed, and Shanghai is marinated and cook slowly.
** For an Indian a curry is a main course with sauce (banquette of veal for example). What we call curry is known as massala in India, even a garam massala if it is hot.
** For an Indian a curry is a main course with sauce (banquette of veal for example). What we call curry is known as massala in India, even a garam massala if it is hot.
*** Moroccan cuisine is rich and perfumed, Tunisian is hot (harissa and hot peppers) and Algerian is classical Mediterranean;
****The most elaborate cuisine in the world: with visits from passing merchant vessels over many centuries it has assimilated cooking cultures of China, India and Middle East
(Extract from our book: “cooking around the world with 80 spices” – in preparation.
Spices have existed since the mist of time
Spices have been first used in religious rites for their “magic powers”
Spices were soon used for their medicinal properties by the Chinese, Indians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Greeks, Romans, and Aztecs.
At a time when spices made food taste better more digestible. They also aided conserving (salting and peppering for example) and hid the taste of slightly rotting food at a time when refrigerators did not exist.
The Natural History by Pline mentions already all the spices we know today except three – The American spices (hot peppers, cocoa and vanilla)
Since antiquity spices have been worth their weight in gold.
World explorers are directly linked to the history of spices. Alexander the Great, and later the great navigators like Marco Polo, Vasco de Gama, Magellan, Christopher Columbus and others risked their lives to discover the world...and bring back the spices. Thus, new worlds were discovered, and a number of wars took place for control of the juicy spice markets.
As an hedonist I call “spice” any flavor which gives a taste in cooking. It's no important if it's a plant, a herb, a condiment or a real spice.
We class spices in:
0 Those used in particular countries for a particular type of cuisine
0 Those usable with a particular type of food
0 By categories of flavor. For thousands of years the Chinese have classified their cuisine into five tastes: salty, sweet, acidic, hot, and bitter.
Our cooking courses take you through 80 spices, spice by spice
From Marco Polo to Ali Baba: the discovery of 40 spices : lessons are in the rose's garden in spring
Combine the discovery of Cevennes with a culinary workshop on spices
introduction to spices : how to choose them ? where to buy them ? How to store them ?
Combine the discovery of Cevennes with a culinary workshop
Cooking with spices is tasty and healthy, a good present to offer to your children
Embark on an exciting journey of discovery into the world of spices
From Marco Polo to Ali Baba : the discovery of 80 herbs and spices.
Gourmet food spices, cooking light recipe, cooking french, class cooking
Cookery course program on herbs and spice in South of France near Montpellier
cooking light recipe, cooking french, class cooking
Archimbolo only vegetables!
samples of herbs and spices used in the courses
Gourmet food spices, cooking french, class cooking...
Yum Yum in a sixteenth century house
how to use 40 spices or 80 or 100 spices in your everyday light recipes?
Archimbolo
heating the spices in the wok
Roquefort on the Causses, one hour from Aulas
hte break after tasting the recipes done by the students
who will make the best recipe?
40 spices, a culinary workshop on spices in South of France, near Montpellier, Yum Yum in a sixteenth century house
not far from us the city of Nimes
the cirque de Navacelles near Aulas a good place to visit
TV and press often come to brodcast our spices lessons (here chanel 1)
the camargue near Aulas a good place to visit
not far from us the Pont du Gard
Millau a good place to visit
coming with her grand mother, a nice idea
a student from India already a good cook
the gorges du Tarn near Aulas a good place to visit
a student from Tunisia already a good cook
the TV is on!
you are wlcome with your children
TV and press often come to brodcast our spices lessons (here chanel 6)
Bouzigues where you will eat oysters and bouillabaisse
we are ready to taste the spicy dinner