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I forget how much I hate flying in what they call ‘cattle class’ but on a recent trip I got a harsh reminder. It’s not that I’m accustomed to first class travel; with the bountiful leg-room, gin and tonic on demand and artisan nibbles, it’s just there is something rather tortuous about budget airlines. I always feel slightly cheated by the self-service check-ins; hot fidgeting queues; cramped seating, and this flight seemed to be worse than usual.

I had claimed several days off in lieu so sandwiching them either side of a weekend I freed a small window of time to take a little holiday. As the Weber Grill Academy had closed due to relocation and most of the moving had been done, it seemed like perfect time.

My itinerary was as follows: Fly from Heathrow to Toulouse, pick up my hire car from the airport then drive the 67km to my friend’s farm house in the middle of the French outback.

The flight started well; everybody was on the plane and strapped in. The captain had welcomed us aboard and the cabin crew were busying themselves with overhead baggage. All the ingredients for a perfect take of were there.

Then… nothing.

15 minutes passed and the air was already thick with anxiety and the sound of deep sighs, coughs and hushed speaking. Why won’t they turn on the air-conditioning?! 198 people in a confined space I discovered can rise the ambient temperature at an astounding rate. Finally the intercom crackled to life the captain had something to say.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. Firstly apologies for the slight delay to our 18:50 departure, we will try to get you off the ground as soon as possible. I have been informed by our traffic control in Toulouse that we have a sick Aircraft on the ground. We are just waiting for a relief crew to board us here in London, we should be on our way in a few minutes. ”

As the minutes ticked by I could see my fellow passengers losing their bravado as a sense of defeat settled amongst us. 45 minutes after the initial announcement by the captain the main doors heaved open and a sheepish line of air stewards and stewardesses shuffled in, to a very loud and sarcastic standing ovation. I don’t know if anybody has ever witnessed the majority of passengers on a commercial airliner performing a standing ovation. It’s very very strange. Firstly you can’t stand up straight everybody has to lean to either the right or the left. You also have to clap very carefully to one side, or it could be mistaken for slapping somebody. The whole spectacle looks very bizarre and remarkably like a scene out of The Walking Dead.

Finally we took off and slowly, very slowly the tension eased and I started to look forward to my little trip to France.

France really is beautiful. The colours, the undulating hills topped with small fortified medieval villages. France for me has always represented great food and the start of my interest in food and barbecuing, which I’m sure comes from being introduced to certain French dishes from a young age when on family holidays.

The house I was staying in was stunning; a classic French farmhouse with sweeping driveway, light blue shutter surrounded by tall pointed pine trees and thick ancient gnarly olive trees. It also boasted a knock out view. I also observed a rather old looking 47cm Weber kettle, which to my delight had half a bag of charcoal and a chimney starter next to it ready for use.

The day after I arrived it was decided we should visit a nearby town with a great market. Markets in France are the real deal. The town was beautiful and preserved from the eyesore of fast food shops, bookies outlets, mobile phone shops and all the other franchised chain stores that have become synonymous with the British high-street. This was authentic; a sprawling array of market traders selling bread, meat, fish, pancakes, chestnuts, mushrooms, unusual salads, long brightly coloured radishes to name but a few. The combination was a visual treat and the smells and bustles made for a very exiting spectacle.

I wanted to cook on the Weber kettle so inspired by the offerings from the market I selected my ingredients and made an Autumn salad of grilled duck breast with Roquefort cheese, juicy figs, green walnuts, tangerine and rosemary.

Bon Appetites!

Dan

Prep time: 15 mins BBQ: 20 mins cook: indirect serves: 2 skill*

Ingredients:
1 large duck breast
80g Roquefort cheese
3 dark ripe figs
30g walnuts
1 tangerine
Sprig rosemary
Cider vinegar
Olive oil

For the brine:
2 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground allspice berries
1 tsp black peppercorns

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients for the brine in a bowl and stir well until all the salt and sugar dissolve.
2. Add the duck breast and allow to cure for 12 hours.
3. Set up the barbecue for roasting (in-direct method) at around 180C-200C and roast the duck breast skin side up for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Then set to one side and allow it to cool. Remember the brine will season the meat so there is no need to add additional salt.
4. Slice the figs in to quarters, then peel and segment the tangerine, pick the roasmary leaves. Cube the Roquefort cheese and roughly chop the walnuts.
5. Once the duck breast has cooled down remove the skin and slice it in to very thin strips. Then slice the breast thinly and place on a board. Arrange all the other ingredients in a scattered style finishing with a glug of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a splash of cider vinegar.

As you may be aware the Grill Academy in Oxford “has put the lid on” for the last time, closing our doors at the end of September, in preparation for our relocation to a new school in London. Since it opened to the public in August 2010 the Grill Academy has gone from strength to strength, teaching over 7000 people the Weber way, we’ve seen demand for courses grow each year so much so that we’ve now outgrown our Oxfordshire location, and it’s now time to move.

But as with any move, before you settle somewhere new you have to pack up the place you’re in.

It’s unbelievable the amount of work it takes the breakdown a cooking school, Dan, Richard and myself started on 1^st October and it’s still in progress! The Grill Academy has been labelled by many at Weber as the Tardis in the past, an allegation that has been shrugged off by us, but now I can safely say it’s true! You simply don’t realise the volume of equipment, furniture, utensils and consumables you become accustomed to seeing every day, until you have to pack every single item in to boxes.

Happily we have managed to rehome all the now homeless barbecues from the deck and showroom to willing and experienced carers. We know our barbecues will see out fruitful and happy lives in back gardens, doing what they do best and not end up as street lamps.

So what’s next? We’re busy finding the right location for the new cookery school, and I assure you it will be worth the wait!On top of this we are working on individual projects, so we can continue to spread the Weber way of cooking.My projectfocuses onbuilding on some of the great relationships we already havewith cookery schools, to develop their offering across the country and to bring Weber Barbecues to you, I’ll be keeping you updated with more information in future posts.

It’s been an unbelievable four years at the Grill Academy in Oxford, I’ve met some amazing people and I’ve developed and grown as person during my time here. I hope all of you who have taken part in a course have enjoyed yourselves, we’ve certainly enjoyed teaching you, and hope to see you in London in the future.

Happy barbecuing!

Jamie