SHORT BREAKS COOKING : UK	COOKING VACATIONS

Swinton Park Cookery School
. . . learning to cook in a luxury Yorkshire castle hotel

Enjoy the delights of a cooking holiday at an exclusive luxury castle, Swinton Park, which is the ancestral home of the Cunliffe-Lister family and is set in 200 acres of parkland, lakes and gardens.The castle is surrounded by the family estate in which guests have access to rivers, reservoirs, moorland and the beautiful countryside of the Yorkshire Dales. The parkland also supports a herd of approximately 100 fallow deer which often graze in front of the hotel.

The first house built at Swinton Park was commenced in 1695 by Sir Abstrupus Danby (whose unusual christian name was bestowed on him by a befuddled parson). His successors built the stable block and gatehouse and, during the 1760's, planted the parkland and created the chain of five lakes. The building was substantially altered during the early 1800's with the addition of a two storey west wing and north wing. A few years later a museum was constructed. At the same time the building became a "castle" with the addition of a tower, turrets and battlements.

The restored Georgian stables have been recently converted into a state of the art Cookery School, run by celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager.

THE COOKERY SCHOOL

The cookery school is housed in the ground floor of the converted Georgian stables, which overlooks the castle turret and parkland. Light and airy throughout, the stylish décor is comfortable – a relaxed environment well disposed to the appreciation of good food and fine wine!

The demonstration kitchen has been designed to the highest specification with equipment from Neff, LaCanche, Magimix, Le Creuset, Apilco, The Pasta Company, ICTC, Wusthof knives, All Clad pans, Mermaid, Cookware UK and the homely atmosphere is complemented by an Aga and Fired Earth tiles. The demonstration kitchen and dining room both overlook the castle turret and parkland, with offices, a shop, toilets and preparation kitchen to the rear.

The course programme offers a choice of day and weekend courses run by Cookery School Head Chef, John Rogers, who has recently taken over from Robert Taylor. John has trained at Michelin starred restaurants and joins the school having spent over three years in Swinton Park’s main restaurant kitchen. His Dinner Parties courses consist of three modules, all offering equal depth and range of cuisine but allowing for returning guests to enjoy three bites of the cherry and build up an ever wider range of recipes and skills. He also runs the Food of Love courses for Valentines and the Festive Fare courses in December.

John is joined by expert in their field for masterclasses in his other two courses - Richard Townsend from Yorkshire Game for the game courses; and Susan Cunliffe-Lister, the very "hands on" mastermind behind the restoration and design of the walled garden and parkland at Swinton Park, for the Provenance: Grown your Own Food courses.

Rosemary Shrager is Swinton Park's guest Celebrity Chef for the two-day courses. There is a wide range of themes on offer, with Modern British, Mediterranean Food and Fish and Seafood.

Gilly Robinson, Rosemary Shrager's assistant chef, also runs her own courses, `Christmas-in-a-Box', Family Food and Children's Cookery courses, which focus on the basic essentials of family friendly food, with practical recipes which offer flexibility and scope for variety. As a working mother herself, she has always championed nutritious wholesome family food that can, at the same time, inspire children to enjoy and experiment with cooking themselves.

The cookery school has its own entrance and is a very short walk across the drive from the hotel. The south facing lawn has outdoor seating, and there is adjacent car parking.

The four acre walled garden behind the hotel is planted with fruit, vegetables and herbs, providing a ready source of fresh ingredients for the hotel and school kitchens, and cut flowers during the summer months.

Chef Rosemary Shrager

Rosemary Shrager, the ebullient and vivacious chef, moved her cookery school from Amhuinnsuidhe Castle on the Hebrides to Swinton Park in 2003.

Her school has been running since 2001 to wide acclaim, and has been voted one of the top ten cookery schools in the UK by several publications (The Observer October 2001, House and Garden May 2002 and The Independent August 2004).

She has previously worked for Pierre Koffman at Tante Claire and also with Jean Christoffe Novelli. Heralded as 'the wizard of the new cookery school by the Tatler, Rosemary is passionate about food and she teaches with an infectious enthusiasm. Claire MacDonald said her “passion for the subject and desire to impart her knowledge, which she does with warmth and verve, cannot fail to fire those fortunate enough to be her pupils”.

Rosemary has starred in many television series such as Soapstar SuperChef and in her own series Rosemary Shrager’s School for Cooks, filmed at the cookery school. She also recently starred in the successful ITV series called Ladettes to Ladies, as the vice principal and cookery teacher of a finishing school with a difference.

In December 2008 Rosemary led her team to win the ITV cross county competition Taste the Nation. In 2009 she co-presented a new factual entertainment series for ITV called All At Sea. Since 2005 she has been the resident chef of the Alan Titchmarsh Show and in 2011 she continues to appear regularly with Alan in the studio. Rosemary has done Georgian cooking on Supersizes for BBC2, made appearances on Market Kitchen and can often be seen on This Morning.

As a presenter of Royal Upstairs Downstairs, a twenty part series for BBC 2 shown in March 2011, Rosemary travelled in the footsteps of Queen Victoria to the stately homes, castles and houses that she visited during her reign, exploring the rich culinary history that existed during the era.

Rosemary is the resident chef on the Alan Titchmarsh Show every week and has been for the past 2 1/2 years, and a chef on This Morning. She was the mentor of the winning team of Taste the Nation in early 2009, and has continued to make two seasons of Ladette to Lady for an Australian tv network channel 9 in '08 & '09, as well as an American edition. She has been fronting National Baking Week for the past 2 years.

Her third book 'Rosemary Shrager's Absolutely Foolproof Home Classic Cookery' published by Octopus is on sale from May 2nd 2011.

COOKING COURSES

DAY COURSES

The programme for day courses at Swinton Park covers a wide range of techniques and styles of cooking. The recipes for each day have a theme, and a wide range of complementary dishes are prepared. Each course suits all interests and levels of experience and ability. Guests of all ages are welcome, but please bear in mind that much of the day is spent standing and comfortable footwear and clothing are strongly recommended.

John Rogers’ courses

The Dinner Party courses (consisting of three modules allowing for returning guests to expand their skills and recipes) are run by Cookery School Chef, John Rogers. John is also joined by experts in their field - Richard Townsend from Yorkshire Game for the game courses; and Susan Cunliffe-Lister, the "hands on" mastermind behind the restoration and design of the walled garden and parkland at Swinton Park, for the The Kitchen Garden: Grown and Cook your Own courses.

The Game courses offer an insight into game, countryside practises and the different breeds of bird, followed by an introduction to the seasonality of meat and various ways in which each cut needs to be hung, prepared and cooked. This is interspersed by John with masterclasses on sauces and vegetables to accompany a dish, hands on boning and preparation of a dish along with a pate or terrine, and a tasting of complementary wines.

Susan Cunliffe-Lister starts The Kitchen Garden masterclass course with a tour of the walled garden, explaining her principles of design and her recommended planting programme for a fruit and vegetable garden. Guests will enjoy the hands on experience of collecting the fruit, herbs and vegetables for the day's course and then joining John in the cookery school kitchen where he will combine demonstration and hands on cooking for a fresh and innovative introduction to cooking in harmony with the seasons.

John Rogers also runs the Food of Love courses in February, with a tasty concoction of indulgent and exotic food, and the Festive Fare courses in November and December for those wanting some inspiration and some fresh interpretations of the more traditional dishes. The weekend courses start on a Friday afternoon and finish late Saturday afternoon. The style of cooking is based on Modern British, with a focus on seasonal ingredients, many of which are sourced from the hotel's four acre walled garden.

Gilly Robinson's courses

The Children’s Cooking courses are taught by Gilly Robinson and are aimed at encouraging children to master the basics and encourage them to enjoy and experiment with food, in a friendly and fun environment. All children will take home an apron and recipe card at the end of each course. The courses available are as follows :

Mini-Chefs:
Aimed at budding young chefs, aged 6 - 9 years, who can enjoy lots of hands on experience and master the basic skills. An afternoon session, which Includes a goody bag to take home.

Basics for Beginners:
For the older age group (10 - 14 years), designed to give them confidence in the kitchen learning skills they can try at home. Essential skills such as bread making and basic knife skills will be included. The morning session ends with lunch served at the demonstration table.

Confident Cook:
For children aged 10 - 14 years, who will have been on a Basics course or had enough experience in the kitchen to be able to cook with confidence and, for simple tasks, unsupervised. This course will inspire a young chef to experiment with more styles and themes of food than before, and cover some fairly complicated techniques.

Gilly also runs the very popular Christmas-in-a-Box courses which consist of an afternoon's cooking and preparing the entire meal for six. This can be taken away and frozen to be served at a later stage at your convenience. Additional servings can be prepared but advance booking is required.

The Day's Schedule

The John Rogers day courses (including the Game and Provenance Food masterclass courses) start at 9:30am and end mid afternoon after a late lunch, which is usually served at 2:00pm. The maximum number of guests on a course is fourteen. The courses offer a mostly hands on experience (the only way to learn!), which is not only great fun but also very rewarding, but there are also short demonstrations during the course of the morning.

Partners are welcome to join guests for lunch on Rosemary's and Robert's courses, but due to high levels of demand, we recommend that lunch guests are booked for lunch at the same time as the course is booked.

The Family Food courses start a little later at 10:00am, running until 12:30pm with lunch in the demonstration kitchen, allowing time afterwards for guests to enjoy the hotel facilities, grounds and spa treatments in the afternoon.

The Children's Cooking courses also start at 10:00am, finishing for lunch in the demonstration kitchen at 12:00pm for the 6 - 11 year old group (with the course finishing at about 1:00pm) and finishing for lunch in the demonstration kitchen at 1:00pm for the 12+ year old group (with the course finishing at about 2:00pm).

Sushi for Beginners

Simon Phillips will introduce you to the origins of sushi and the essential ingredients and skills during the course of the day, including knife skills and filleting fish, mastering the basics such as seaweed rolls and sticky rice. His fusion style of food incorporates other Western ingredients. A complete sushi meal is served at the end of the day.

Wild about Food course

Join Chris Bax (as seen in BBC's Countryfile), who has combined his love of the great outdoors and natural food with his skills as a chef, to create a day course that will inspire you to take wild food seriously as a staple ingredient of your diet.

Join him on a ramble in the parkland and surrounding countryside, learning about the shoots, roots, berries and leaves that are safe to eat, nutritious and, above all, tasty. You will spend about three hours walking with him as he shows you where to look and how to harvest the wild food growing in abundance on the estate.

This will culminate in a meal cooked for you at the cookery school around the demonstration table, where you will see the ingredients you have harvested being prepared by our cookery school chef.

The Wild about Food course starts at 9.30 am and finishes at 2.00 pm and includes a three-hour walk in the parkland.

ROSEMARY SHRAGER'S TWO-DAY COURSES

Rosemary Shrager's cookery courses at Swinton Park concentrate on the classical preparation of food, and mastering the essential techniques. These would include patisserie, baking, sauces and soufflés, boning and filleting, amongst many others.

The programme for each course is extremely versatile and suits all interests and levels of experience and ability. Guests of all ages are welcome, but please bear in mind that much of the day is spent standing and comfortable footwear and clothing are strongly recommended.

The kitchen is always busy and you will be amazed by the scope of each course – our underlying philosophy is that the only way to learn is by hands on experience and we ensure that every guest cooks to the best of their ability.

The two-day courses (along with the various day courses) run throughout the year. The maximum number of guests on a course is fourteen.

People often ask what is involved on each course, which can be very hard to illustrate as so much is involved! During the course of a day, each dish for the day's meals will be prepared and each cooking session is also interspersed by a master class - concentrating on a particular ingredient and various ways of cooking with it or on one dish and all its variations - or a demonstration. Lunch will be a fairly light two course meal, whilst dinner is a more formal three course meal.

The two day courses are themed on various styles of cooking, such as Mediterranean Food, Fish and Seafood and Modern British. The courses start at 4:00pm and end after lunch two days later.

A special accommodation rate is available for guests wanting to book accommodation with a Rosemary Shrager two-day course or day course, from £105 per room, per night (bed and breakfast).

SUSHI DINNERS

Join our sushi expert, Simon Phillips for an evening’s introduction to sushi and its origins along with other Japanese dishes such as sashimi, teriyaki and noodles. This course gives you the opportunity to try some hands-on skills yourself and master the basic skills. Your meal will be served by Simon making sushi to order at the demonstration table.

BITE SIZE DEMONSTRATIONS

These half hour demonstrations offer some useful insights into cooking and the ingredients used, allowing for just enough time to whet the appetite before lunch or dinner. The dishes demonstrated by Robert will follow along the lines of our restaurant menu, keeping in tune with what is in season. The demonstrations are ideal entertainment for guests going on to dine in the hotel restaurant for Sunday Lunch or dinner.

CURRY CLUB

This is a Friday night event at Swinton Park, and one which offers a truly unique way to unwind and relax at the end of the week. Join Prett Tejura from Curry Cuisine for an informative and entertaining series of Curry Club nights running throughout the year.

Each evening will start with an introduction from Prett on that evening's style of cooking, focussing on the region, culture, climate and traditions, along with the principal ingredients most commonly used. This is an opportunity to really immerse yourself in the exotic culture of food, as you explore Punjab and Rajasthan with its succulent and hearty meat curries, Gujarat (lentils and vegetables) and Goa (fish and pork), the seafood and coconut flavours of Southern India, Thai, Bengali and Sri Lankan food amongst others.

This is followed by a relaxed and informal demonstration from Prett, with an opportunity for some hands on cooking. The evening ends with the group enjoying a delicious and authentic Indian meal served in the demonstration kitchen.

Guests staying at the hotel on a DB&B basis can attend the Curry Club as an alternative to dinner in the restaurant at the same price.

CHEF'S TABLE

Selected weekend dates throughout the year.

We are delighted to offer you the Chef's Table dining experience, one of the first of its kind in the North East, available for both guests and non-residents.

The dinner will be hosted by the cookery school chef, John Rogers who has trained at Michelin starred restaurants and joined the school in December 2011, having spent over three years in Swinton Park’s main kitchen.

Guests will be able to enjoy the unique experience of seeing an expert at work, whilst at the same time being able to savour a delicious meal in the relaxed and informal surroundings of the demonstration cookery school kitchen. What is unique about the Chef's Table at Swinton Park is that John will be cooking for these select guests and no other, without any of the usual distractions found in a commercial kitchen. The guests will have his undivided attention and will be able to converse with him throughout the evening should they choose, with plenty of tips and suggestions up his sleeve for those wanting to take some home with them.

The Menu du Jour meal will start with an introduction by John to the ingredients selected for that evening's meal and the dishes he will be preparing, during which time champagne and canapés will be served. John will then demonstrate each course as the guests observe, which will then be served to them at the demonstration table.

The Chef's Table will take place on selected weekend dates throughout 2012, and can also be booked as a private event - it is particularly popular for celebration or birthday dinners or for corporate entertainment. The meal costs £48 per person, and guests staying at the hotel on a DB&B basis can attend the Chef's Table as an alternative to dinner in the restaurant.

SPA TREATMENTS DISCOUNT

For guests attending any of the cookery courses in 2011, we will be delighted to offer a 10% discount off any spa treatments booked during your stay.

ACCOMMODATION

If you choose to stay with us, you will be staying at the exclusive thirty-two bedroomed luxury Swinton Park hotel which has 4 Red Stars and 3 Rosettes awarded by the AA for excellent facilities, high levels of service and quality of cuisine . . . this is the highest rated hotel in Yorkshire and Cumbria.

The bedrooms, on the first and second floors, are individually designed and decorated on the theme of a Yorkshire town, dale, castle, abbey or garden, according to the aspect of the room. All are equipped with two direct dial telephones, a modem point, CD player, satellite TV, trouser press, drinks tray and coffee and tea making facilities.

Constable Burton	Harlow Carr
York Suite	Ripon

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CONTACT DETAILS

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