I grew up in the UK and I still believe that there is something exceptionally special, even poetic, about a scene of rolling green hills, carpet-like green grass and well-fed cows. In short: the British countryside. Add to that the plethora of pink cherry and apple blossom in spring, tulips of all colours, creeping wisteria, woodlands of bluebells, gardens and immaculately-cared-for parks and throw in a gastro pub lunch and a magnificent country manor house. There you have it, Britain at its very finest.

And despite the unpredictable weather and the occasional stiff upper lip, there is nothing quite as infectious as the British sense of humour. They have the ability to laugh at themselves as well as at everyone else. They colonised half the world, lost it all and still smile. It is no wonder that the British have taken to spicy food like duck to water. It has nothing to do with their time in India... it’s just that their own cuisine is so lacklustre that it really needs a bit of a kick. However, cakes and teatime is what they excel in and there is nothing to beat a cup of tea and a crumpet, scones and jam at 5 o’clock.

IN LANDSCAPE MODE

So we started our 10 days of wanderlust around the beautiful British Isles, in Sussex. I love Sussex. I went to university there and it has great memories for me. We started in Brighton, an hour’s drive from London. It’s a seaside town with a quirky feel, full of ex-Londoners and impressive Georgian enclaves. A few minutes’ drive from the coast are the ‘Sussex Downs’, green hills and dales as far as the eye can see from a spot called Devil’s Dyke. This is where the painter John Constable derived the inspiration for many of his landscapes. Further east, we visit friends near the village of Heathfield.
Heathfield, and more specifically South Binns, country home of Carole and Ian Franks, is the epitome of a British country house. Carole recently sold her thriving event business and now concentrates on her lifelong dream of creating a perfect English garden... or gardens. On four acres they have a stunning five-bedroom manor house, a formal parterre garden with neat flower beds, sculptures and seating, ponds and a stream in a wooded landscape, apple orchards, wild flower meadows, a greenhouse, an American oak in the driveway, a seasonal flower garden right outside the kitchen and an enviable paved patio which overlooks it all. 

There was even an oast house next door with the trademark conical roof — a place where hops were dried to make beer. This has now been converted into a small house. Their ‘garden’ will be open to the public in August as part of the National Garden Scheme, which is run for charity. The Franks take us to Pashley Manor Gardens nearby, another beautiful manor house open to the public with a riot of colours with hundreds of different tulips in bloom. This is romantic English landscaping at its best with ponds interspersed with sculptures by well-known artists. There’s a delightful cafe, picture perfect kitchen garden and a woodland studded with violet bluebells. Carole admits this is where she draws inspiration for her own garden.

We spend a weekend in the market town of Winchester with friends — more bluebells in woods and quaint country pubs — before we head to Oxford to see Corpus Christi College where my husband’s grandfather and his uncles studied. After a quick lunch at the Bodleian Library in the middle of the town, we drive a short distance on winding country roads to the exquisitely understated Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons — the highlight of our country meanderings. 
 

MICHELIN IN THE GREENS

I have been a fan and follower of chef Raymond Blanc for many many years (which tells you how old I am and indeed he is). The country hotel and Michelin-star restaurant is what they call ‘Oxfordshire heritage meets French flair’. Nestled in the picturesque Oxfordshire countryside, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons has been the touchstone of haute cuisine for over three decades. Yet its reputation is not limited to the dining room. This 15th-century former manor champions what Raymond Blanc would call l’art de vivre (fine lifestyle). “The good does not interest us,” he says, “only the sublime.”
As the maitre de maison, Raymond Blanc’s passion permeates through the hotel — from the individually-designed suites to the restaurant’s seven-course tasting menus. Just a year after he created Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, it was awarded two Michelin stars. Today, it is Britain’s only country house hotel to have held this badge of honour for over 30 years. It has also been awarded many accolades in its long history, the most recent being the top Luxury Hotel in the UK and number two best restaurant in the world, both by Trip Advisor’s Travellers Choice 2017. In the same year, The Times and Sunday Times, London, voted it Best hotel in Europe and the UK.

When the hotel opened in 1984 in the middle of the countryside, I remember reading an article on what a challenge it was to entice diners and indeed guests to come all the way. But soon the word spread. London lawyers chose the venue for special meetings, corporate clients came to show off and others came to celebrate. 

Le Manoir became that “exclusive” location people talked about. Today it isn’t just the fine restaurant and hotel which beckons. They have an annual Festival of Music and talks from visiting designers, florists, wine experts and sports personalities. They add another dimension to the culinary adventure with the Raymond Blanc Gardening School. The expert team shows you the secrets of garden to plate, and gives you top tips on how to make a success of your gardens at home. Keen to share his expertise with kitchen novices and budding chefs alike, Raymond opened his eponymous cookery school at the hotel in 1991. Courses range from half-day to four days and fill up fast.

The Manoir is truly a house for all seasons. Lush gardens are an abundance of colour in summer, while the honey-hued manor is warmed by open fires through winter. Our suite was called ‘Provence’ with furniture and ambience of a villa in the South of France. Defined by rustic charm, it has exposed beams, a dramatic floor-to-ceiling window, a private terrace and an open, wood-burning fireplace. The soaps and toiletries in the bathroom are large and generous, made with olive oil, and not those mediocre mass-produced, fiddly small things you lose during baths.
 

THE MORE LOCAL AND ARTISANAL, THE BETTER

After relaxing in our suite, we saunter over to the main manor for a drink and dinner. There is a tastefully appointed bar but most people are sitting in the lounge enjoying their drinks as you would at home. We did too. I won’t wax lyrical on the much-awaited menu for the evening, except that it definitely met my very, very high expectations. The style was contemporary and creative. I have to confess that I expected more traditional French cooking and was overwhelmed by the simplicity and international flair. The duck, which was one of the seven courses on my tasting menu, for example, was accompanied by a mango and papaya salad. I love the seasonality of the wild garlic soup, the garlic for which was plucked from their vegetable garden a few hours before and is only available in the months of April/May. 

The perfectly executed Gigha halibut with a gentle lemon confit, spiked with a tiny amount of squid, chorizo and smoked red pepper was a dish to dream about. This white fish comes from the Scottish isle of Gigha where the farming is totally sustainable and the products artisanal. The main course which left us all speechless (since we all picked from each other’s plates) was the Pyranian lamb with spring vegetables — baby milk-fed lamb (so it is completely free from antibiotics and hormones) from the foothills of the Pyrenees in France. The result, especially when it is slow-cooked on a low temperature, is simply sublime. 

We chose the classic selection of wines to accompany the tasting menu, not the prestige. I’m not a great fan of Riesling and jumped eagerly to the Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru 2015 — a white burgundy worth writing about. Delicious glasses of champagne were followed by a well-chosen burgundy red and a desert wine called Barsac les Cypres de Climens.

What is different about upmarket food today is that it is not about hours of fiddling with plate presentation and complicated recipes. Of course, it still involves a great deal of skill. Today’s mantra seems to be ‘less is more’. What is important is the provenance of the supply (the more local and artisanal, the better), the familiarity of some of the dishes written simply and clearly in a language we all understand and the seasonality of the fresh produce.

This is what I fly thousands of miles for… to experience something unique and special, which is prepared with care and love, thought and intelligence and most of all with a generosity of spirit in every detail.

Karen Anand is a culinary consultant, food writer and entrepreneur. In recent times her name has been synonymous with farmers’ markets. Follow her on www.facebook.com/karenanand