LEARN, Cook, Eat, Stay – that is the invitation from Dorset chef Lisa Osman as she embarks on a new adventure, All Hallows School for Cooks and Makers at Wimborne St Giles.
Lisa is an accomplished chef, caterer, teacher, trainer and food judge, well-known and respected in Dorset for her dedication to local food and its continued sustainability.
At All Hallows, Lisa and her hand-picked team of experts in areas as diverse as cheese-making, food photography and willow weaving will be teaching, encouraging and motivating students of all ages in the Rose Cottage kitchen which is tucked away behind, but adjoins, All Hallows Farmhouse.
Courses will include morning sessions followed by lunch, full day sessions and residential week courses for people who want to make cookery a career choice; for chalet girls and boys to gain cookery skills, and for anyone who wants to increase their food skills and knowledge in a non-competitive setting.
Lisa says: “For many years I have been involved in training alongside my hospitality business Provisio, which is now well established in Dorset. I have longed for my own Cookery School to offer food education of all levels from recognised qualifications to sociable baking classes and have searched for a perfect spot to establish a different kind of venture.
“All Hallows is a magical place and I fell in love with it the day I first visited – which was many years ago. In fact I went to the farm to collect a Labrador and the image of All Hallows has always stayed with me. Wind the clock on a few years, and now finally I have the chance to build my new business at All Hallows in a place I think is perfect for teaching; the house overlooks watercress beds and we have a walled garden, orchard and potager especially for my herbs. It feels like we have come home and our first students have loved the setting so it must be catching.”
Many of Lisa’s courses will be taught in Rose Cottage which has been designed by Lisa to allow for hands-on, practical learning. For rural crafts there is a potting shed off the Walled Garden which is going to be the home of pots, plants, willow and moss. During each course students will have an opportunity to walk around the surrounding gardens with lunch or a coffee on the Magnolia Lawn when the sun shines.
The programme includes courses from cheese-making to baking bread, a canapé master-class to cooking game (a day’s shoot can also be arranged) and lifestyle skills are a large part of the calendar.
Lisa says: “It is important to me to be able to pass on the skills I have, especially for students to learn about hygiene in the kitchen, food preparation and the safe use of equipment – before they are launched into a kitchen setting maybe at university or as a chalet cook or nanny. Although there are hundreds of food programmes on television and new recipe books launched every week, I’m still often asked how to make an omelette or proper gravy – so these are some of the skills I will be passing on as well as teaching more advanced courses to accomplished cooks.”
Some courses will be challenging with detailed teaching and hands on practical sessions, others will involve watching a master at work and then eating the results of the morning session in the sun filled morning room at All Hallows. There will also be an opportunity to tailor bespoke courses for example for a different kind of hen party or team building event.
Lisa grew up on her grandfather’s farm in Dorset; she fondly reminisces of a time when she milked his Guernsey house cows and spent hours in the kitchen helping her grandmother. This rural childhood, surrounded by home produced food, set her on a path of cooking and making discovery. Lisa once worked as a private cook for a family who lived more in the style of Downton Abbey than 21st century Britain, where she created elaborate daily lunches lovingly cooked on their AGA; this led to requests to cook across the county for private dinners and shoot lunches.
In 2004 Lisa launched Provisio, offering bespoke hospitality and catering to a wider audience; she is a member of Slow Food UK Chef Alliance and a judge and arbitrator for the Great Taste awards.
All Hallows is a Georgian farmhouse on the estate of the Earl of Shaftesbury, in the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
For more information please contact Lisa Osman on 01725 551185, mobile 07837 214400, email cook@nullallhallowsfarmhouse.co.uk or visit www.allhallowsfarmhouse.co.uk