From the Archives: The Manger Workshop or...my (not quite) week with The Thorissons Part 1

Words and photos by Susie Sandford Smith

Arriving in St Yzans and first day nerves.

Oooooo...this post has been eluding me, not least because I've been fabulously and horrendously busy since getting back from Médoc but also because it's been a LONG while since I blogged and, since I moved to this blog nothing has felt as easy and as natural as it did on the old blog. But the main reason is that I want my Médoc posts to be perfect, they're inspired by Mimi and Oddur Thorisson and their (Mimi's) blog Manger.

I fear I may be a little evangelical about the Thorissons but seriously, they are bloody, outrageously, and seriously, lovely. Reading Manger has, over the past couple of years that I've been reading it, soothed and comforted me, making me feel joyful and optimistic, at times when I've really needed it. As my little family fell apart and I felt too sad to make any effort with friends I drew comfort from reading about this young family, living an interesting and amazing life in the countryside in the South West of France. Whilst the blog is ostensibly about food it is so very much more than that – it is about family, love, warmth, celebration, friendship, generosity, beauty, togetherness and on, and on.

Mimi and Oddur have inspired me and given me a kick up the backside, reminding me that I am still young and that it’s time to start living this life as well as I possibly can. As the band Wild Beasts say in their song Palace “You remind me, of the person I wanted to be, before I forgot” (actually, have a listen to the whole of that song – it’s very applicable in the wake of Mr Robertsgate - only fans of Manger will know what that means, soz). Tee hee *nervous laugh* that really is a bit emo, but it’s also true so…

When Mimi announced on the blog that she would be running cooking ateliers in her home and that Oddur would be throwing in a photography session, I didn’t know how I was going to scratch the pennies together to make it out there but, I knew that there was no way on earth that I was not going to be attending (unless Mimi couldn’t accommodate my allium intolerance, that is).

As I set off for France, my daughter sent me the sweetest text saying, in part, that she was really proud of me for going for it and doing new exciting things and I thought YES! That is exactly it, I’m back to doing and, it is a bit exciting – heading off on holiday on my own. And so set in the nerves…

I had agreed with Mimi that I would be collected from Bordeaux train station but the evening before I set off (I was already in France having taken the opportunity to catch up with my friends in Paris) I received an email from her saying that there was a clash and would I be okay to catch a train from Bordeaux to Lesparre where Oddur would pick me up?...Waaaaaatt…I have to get a little local train on my own and, more than that, I’m going to be picked up by Oddur, on my own, and…you know.., going to have to talk to him, on my own. (I haven’t yet said that I felt a little bit scared of Oddur, have I?* honestly, what an ass I can be). I dutifully replied that that wasn’t a problem at all and proceeded to panic mildly!

*Oddur was actually incredibly hospitable, funny and, I think, made a big effort to make sure that we all felt comfortable during the workshop, sure he took the piss out of us but, only in jest (pretty sure it was jest..)

The train out of Bordeaux was delayed by quite a bit. For some reason everybody waited at the end of the platform, rather than walking down it, so I thought I’d best do the same. When the train arrived I was super glad I’d paid the extra few euros for a first class seat because most of the other passengers hadn’t and, as it was pretty damn hot, it was nice not to have to sit next to anybody. I get quite car sick and as it’s a reasonable distance to St Yzans from Bordeaux (I had no idea as I hadn’t even looked it up – oops) the train, though delayed further by breaking down (think it had overheated too), turned out to be the perfect option.

When I finally arrived at Lesparre there was no sign of Oddur. What the hello!? Relief and panic at the same time. But, I was recognised by somebody (Oddur’s mum Johanna) who came and greeted me warmly, apologising for being the chauffeur – oh but the joy (sorry Oddur)…which quickly faded as.., the first thing Johanna did was to point out a big dent in the front passenger door which had happened when she had a small crash out doing a similar pick up (of Mimi and Oddur, not a workshop attendee). She hoped I didn’t mind, tee hee – she’s so sweet. I wanted to say err….actually, if it’s all the same with you I’ll catch a cab but of course, quite rightly, that’s not how it went. In any case we drove to St Yzans without incident and Johanna proved (not for the last time) to be the most charming chauffeur, pointing out where the children go to school and telling me about her annual trips to the UK and her love of the British Royal Family well..., royal families in general.

Johanna dropped me at my gorgeous accommodation, La Hourqueyre, otherwise known as the ‘Three Sisters’. I’d exchanged a few emails with Corine who runs the B&B and already knew that I was going to feel very comfortable there. Kathleen one of the other workshop attendees was also staying there and Mimi had asked Corine to prepare a small supper for us. It was so nice to meet Kathleen before the workshop started as I’m actually quite shy and reserved (I can hear my friends guffawing at that). We sat down to a lovely meal of vegetable soup, followed by a scrumptious vegetable quiche – so simple but also tasty, washed down of course, with a pichet of wine. Kathleen and I chatted away and found out a bit about each other and I thought….ooo yeh, think I’m going to be okay.

I can’t recommend La Hourqueyre highly enough, honestly, if you’re going to one of the workshops yes, it would be tempting to stay somewhere a little more ‘fancy pants’ but Corine’s place is charm personified, it’s within walking distance of Mimi’s (well, Corine gave us a lift each morning..ahem) and really, you’re going to spend so very little time there that it’s just not worth staying anywhere else. And I was quite happy, when overwhelmed somewhat one afternoon* – yes, it can get quite emotional there if you let it – I was able to head back to my room for a little snooze which did mean that I ALMOST missed my lift to Lesparre to buy wine but more of that in part deux.

*Hungover more like.

When we arrived at the house the next morning my nerves set in in a BIG way. It was really odd to see the kitchen, the famous Table, the little recess that’s always shot overflowing with fresh produce, the stove, and to get a sense of scale. The Table (enough...it shall from now on be known as the table) was laid with croissants and brioche and patisserie galore. Overwhelmedness began to set in AGAIN and I felt a little like I’d quite like to run away and then…in burst Sweet Joy (real name), oh what a character she is, so lively, so enthusiastic, so…sweet. Sweet Joy and I had started following each other on Instagram so were already a little ‘acquainted’.

Oddur made us coffees and the children flitted in and out breaking through any potentially awkward moments. We discussed how the workshop would run and specifically what we would make and do on that day (a pattern that was repeated each morning) and we were given a grand tour of the house which included the restaurant to be (too exciting). Oh the shame of it - at the time of FINALLY finishing this post (when I REALLY can't remember the details - thank goodness for Kathleen who has been helping me out) Mimi and Oddur have not only run several more workshops, they've also completed the restaurant AND had a season of running it and NOW.., they've just announced the workshop dates for 2016!! Tut. Oddur met us part way through the tour carrying a tray of espressos in delicate little china cups and saucers. At one point I lost the group as I’d stayed behind to referee a little spat that had broken out between Louise and Gaia. Luckily I bumped into Oddur and he took me off to catch up with them – good job as I’d never have thought to head off in the direction that we found them.

Somehow, in the process of all getting to know each other, the morning flew past and before we knew it we were in danger of missing the market if we didn’t get going NOW.

And all of a sudden we found ourselves all bundling into the family car and zooming out of St Yzans in the direction of the Gironde Estuary and the (will be closed if we don't step on it) market at St-Vivien-de-Médoc. Oooo...our first outing, and to a market - there are so many shots on the blog of Mimi and the children out buying produce at markets so it was fun to be tagging along and to one of Mimi's favourite markets no less.

I sat in the front alongside Oddur and we chatted away quite merrily, Oddur proving to be a great tour guide and boy racer at the same time. After a fair old drive which left Kathleen and I a little green around the gills, we pulled into the little square that hosts the Wednesday morning market. Because we were a little bit on the late side, and possibly because we hadn't quite found our feet yet, we didn't really go off on our own but all trailed along behind Mimi instead. Oddur kept going off and returning with big bundles of fresh produce, I had my first attempt at being Oddur, taking a shot of the market, a stall holder and one of Mimi doing a bit of shopping. I was a very timid photographer on that first day and one thing I learnt from Oddur is...there's no room for timidity - one has to be bold and brave (oooer.., I'm working on that one still, I'm improving but definitely not there yet). We did pop in to the General Store which was full of all sorts of great stuff including excellent fruit and veg seeds - I have no idea why (probably not to be left out) I bought a packet of seeds for some carrots - not holding out much hope of those getting planted, certainly not this year as the garden has been rather taken over by builders.

Buying some white asparagus which was to be used in one of our starters the following day. Apparently white asparagus is all the rage in the South West.

What a first day - this was also Allegra's (in the foreground of the photo) who had come to work as one of Mimi's assistants in the kitchen. Allegra had literally just arrived back in St Yzans and we'd picked her up from her digs en route to the market and that was that...straight to work.

Bottles of the sparkly stuff (Perrier) were opened to settle tummies and see that loaf tin..?..that's the exact spot where I, a few days later, spectacularly break a cork whilst trying to remove it from a carefully selected (by me) and rather expensive bottle of wine. Teehee. Oops. That was quite embarrassing.

If you flick through Mimi's cookbook or scroll through the blog you'll see that aprons feature heavily, I had taken one with me just in case but I needn't have as one of the first things we did was choose our aprons! Everywhere you go in this house is picture ready, it's fantastic.

I'm not sure at what time but, we did finally get down to do some cooking! And I learnt something straight away - once you've got the little broad beans out of their shell, you're still not done! You still need to take the outer skin off of them (which renders them about half the size so you really do need to do a lot if you're going to eat anything worth eating) which should take away that bitter taste that they can sometimes have and that is often what people that say they don't like them are objecting to. I think, even though I'll go the extra mile and a half, and then another mile again, I can be quite a lazy cook - coz I've cooked fresh broad beans before but I've never taken off that inner/outer skin - that's something else that I learnt. It's not necessary to be ridiculously over the top, simple is just as good, but it is necessary to do things well.

The sum of about a table full of shells. These went into making an absolutely scrumptious, yet criminally simple, broad bean (fava bean) soup which was garnished (Mimi style with the garnishes put in the soup bowl first and then the soup ladled on top of them) with crouton bits, crispy bacon, shallots (not me, I didn't have shallots).

Kathleen and my Chard and egg pie. This is the kind of thing that I would never do, cutting out leaves and decorating so sweetly, for an 'everyday' lunch but is just the type of thing I expected to do on this workshop (I hadn't thought this through exactly but I hoped to pick up a bit of that attention to creating and appreciating beauty that Mimi and Oddur have in spades).

I'd been talking to a lovely woman who had attended one of the earlier workshops as a part of her honeymoon (think her husband just took the opportunity to eat incredibly well for a few days) on Instagram and we'd been discussing what might be brought to the table that might (to my palate) be a bit unattractive...and...ta daaaaa...here is what I'd realised I wouldn't be able to avoid. But, for their first outing they were served flash baked with a cube of fois gras and a splash of Sauternes and..Oh. My. God...simply stunning. I could not get enough of them.

Each meal followed roughly the same format: cook whilst chatting loads, cook whilst having a drink of wine, drink more wine whilst Mimi finishes off the cooking..haha (actually, Sweet Joy was always a very eager cook - so too was Kathleen, to be fair. I was a bit of a lazy arse though - well, I got caught up with wanting to take photos), drink more wine whilst having some sort of salty nibbles (the oysters, or charcuterie etc), move from the kitchen table to the dining table which was always beautifully set, eat our way through a wonderful three course meal accompanied by more wine and lots of chatter. It really was rather lovely and very special.

Dinner on night one was, quite frankly, a bit of a showstopper - duck breasts cooked over a sarment open fire (sarments are vine branches - the majority of which are cut from the vines early in the year and then dried and used for cooking, lending a particular smokey taste to whatever is being cooked. It's very Bordeaux.) in the kitchen. We were sent to table before the breasts were done to have our starter of broad bean soup and Oddur was left alone in the kitchen finishing off the cooking.

Day one ended late, as did all the days, and we all went back to our hotels feeling full, happy, and excited for the days ahead.

In part two, which will be in about another five months at the rate my life is currently going, you'll learn the many ways in which our little trio proved to be the Worst Workshop Yet. Pah ha.