Raymond Blanc on eating soil and how to find the best tasting veg

"The garden at Le Manoir comes from my childhood"

Now Blanc is one of the world's most respected chefs and the chef patron of the hotel and two Michelin star restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, in Oxfordshire.

But he says the culinary principles of his restaurant and gardens originate from his humble upbringing. Blanc was one of five children growing up in post-war rural France, in a home where raising your own food was a matter of survival.

"The garden at the heart of Le Manoir comes from my childhood," he explains. "We were peasants, growing and making everything for ourselves. Back then, we didn’t use the word organic, but we did it naturally, growing without fungicides, herbicides.

"It was just earth, good compost and knowledge. That’s what I brought here, with the values my mum taught me – of no waste, of respect for food and for the garden."

Garden Organic is preserving rare seeds

Blanc is vice-president of charity Garden Organic, which promotes organic methods as well as saving heritage and local varieties of vegetable seed at risk of being lost.

Its Heritage Seed Library has collected and shared with members more than 800 types of veg and fruit, unavailable commercially but full of flavour and often adapted to difficult conditions.

It relies on dedicated "seed guardians" to grow and create more seed stock, so Blanc has established Le Manoir as one, protecting dozens of rare varieties of vegetable that guests can see growing in the gardens and learn about through his gardening school.

"It is vital we grow organically, but we must also have fruit and vegetables that provide extraordinary colours, textures and flavours," he says. "It’s what makes the Heritage Seed Library so wonderful, saving varieties that might otherwise be lost."

Raymond Blanc's favourite fruit and vegetable varieties

Best varieties for flavour

• Squash: Crown Prince – sweet and starchy, big on colour, perfect for ravioli.
• Garlic: Lautrec Wight – the best sweet flavour when roasted.
• Celeriac: Ibis – sweet, delicate almost nutty flavour.
• Lettuce: Reine des Glaces – good flavour, cooks well and shreds easily.
• Apple: Chivers Delight – perfect for tarte Tatin, firm but melting. Sweet with refreshing acidity.
• Aubergine: Moneymaker – good flesh, no bitterness.
• Radish: French Breakfast – crisp and mild with clean flavour.
• Apple: Cox’s Orange Pippin – good for cooking, eating and juicing.
• Pear: Doyenne du Comice – among the world’s best pears. Intensely perfumed.