Kathryn Hobbs talks us through the new cookery classes at Waddesdon Manor

More than 130 years ago, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild completely transformed a barren hill in the countryside into Waddesdon Manor, where he held “Saturday to Monday” house parties attended by politicians, artists and royalty.

Waddesdon Manor was, therefore, built for the purpose of high society entertaining, and it has seen its fair share of celebrity guests over the years.

Queen Victoria famously visited Waddesdon in 1890 when she took lunch and planted a tree in the gardens (her menu is evident below), and The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was a regular visitor.

Today, the Manor itself is a National Trust property, attracting more than 350,000 visitors each year.

Many of the original features of the house still exist, and nowhere is this more obvious than in the atmospheric setting which is now the Manor Restaurant, originally the old kitchen.

Huge black cooking ranges still dominate the room, along with a large funnel-shaped extraction vent in the centre of the ceiling, and there are vast wooden dressers groaning with copper pans and large format wine bottles.

For a foodie there couldn’t be a more inspiring location to learn about the art of food and entertaining, and luckily this is the location for the Waddesdon Cookery School, where head chef Shaun Blythe, along with his team, will lead a series of cookery demonstrations every day from Monday, February 22, until Friday, February 26. It seems an appropriate setting.

Each session explores a different theme, with the first (Monday, Feb 22) covering the art of creating both savoury and sweet canapés.

In-house wine advisor Peter Tompkins will also be on hand to lead an informal introduction and tasting of champagne.

On the Tuesday, guests can learn how to create an afternoon tea to rival any of the best hotels, and on Wednesday the skill of creating terrines, pâtés, mousses and mousselines will be their’s for the taking.

Thursday is dedicated solely to desserts, when head of pastry Craig Clark will demonstrate his craft with an array of mouth-watering desserts to try at home.

Wine advisor Peter will again be on hand at this session to discuss dessert wines.

The last session on Friday looks at cooking with fish and seafood, with an opportunity to learn various techniques and skills from cold smoking to salt curing, to give guests the confidence to try these unusual techniques in their own kitchens.

Once the cookery students are done, and hopefully feeling suitably inspired and peckish, there is a delicious two-course lunch with a glass of wine (or an indulgent champagne tea if attending the afternoon tea demonstration) to enjoy.

At the end of the afternoon, everyone will also receive a goody bag including a recipe folder with all the vital information required to try out the techniques and skills learnt during the event at home.

What finer way to spend a cold February day than learning some new kitchen skills at Waddesdon Manor?

Sessions cost £48 each, for full details or to book on to one of the demonstrations at www.waddesdon.org.uk or call 01296 653226.