The Raymond Blanc Cookery School is the only cookery school in the world to offer visitors the chance to watch, learn and practice in the kitchen of a two Michelin star restaurant.
Meet with our skilled team and discover the talent and dedication of our Cookery School Head Tutor, Nurdin Topham, and Cookery School Tutors, Steve Lyons, Joel Moroney and Emily Sneddon.
Mark Peregrine - Cookery School Head Tutor
Raymond Blanc has appointed Mark Peregrine as head tutor of The Raymond Blanc Cookery School. Peregrine brings over 30 years of experience to the role.
Peregrine began his career working as an apprentice at Les Quat'Saisons, Raymond Blanc's first-ever restaurant, where over the course of five years – between 1979 and 1983 – Raymond Blanc tutored Peregrine on all aspects and elements of his haute cuisine.
After working as a commis de cuisine in France for two of Blanc's colleagues, Louis Outhier and Marc Meneau, in 1987 Peregrine returned to Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons for two years working as a sous-chef tounant. However, it wasn't until he worked as a chef lecturer at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School for two years that he laid the foundations for his tutoring skills.
Since then Peregrine has continued to develop a wealth of experience in all aspects of the culinary world, from running his own Patisserie The Pastry Shop in London, which supplied to establishments such as Harvey Nichols, John Lewis and The Wallace Collection, to being involved in the conceptualising and organizing of a Professional Patisserie course for the Culinary Arts in Massachusetts.
Steve Lyons
Steve joined Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons after he won the Raymond Blanc Scholarship in 2002. After spending six months in the cookery school, Steve spent the following 2½ years in Le Manoir's main kitchens undergoing an intensive training program on every section from Fish Preparation through to the Sauce section – helping produce dishes to Le Manoir's exacting standards.
Steve then spent 2½ years at Le Champignon Sauvage two Michelin star restaurant where he held the position of Sous Chef. Now he has returned to The Raymond Blanc Cookery School as Tutor.
Professor Jeya Henry
Professor Jeya Henry is the Head of Food Sciences and Nutrition at Oxford Brookes University, and Visiting Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
In February 2000, Professor Henry was appointed as a board member to the UK Food Standards Agency, a position he held till March 2003. Professor Henry's major research interests are in obesity, use of traditional plant foods in nutrition, Glyceamic index, and the development of functional foods.
His collaboration with Raymond began over 12 years ago when he was involved with Raymond's pioneering work on applying science to cooking, which culminated in his popular TV programme and accompanying best selling book "Blanc Mange".
