la maison Depollier is a cooking school. It is based in a house on the edge of the river Loup, in the village Pont du Loup, near Grasse in south east France. The house belonged to a wonderful lady called Marie Louise Depollier and the school is named after her.
Marie Louise was, as they say round here, an ‘enfant du pays’, born and bred here. A typical ‘mémé provençale’, (grandmother), of her generation she liked her ‘soupe’ best of all, and had it every day without fail all year round, varying the vegetables according to the season. She’d be fascinated and excited to see what was being made in the kitchen today.
Katie is the cook at la maison Depollier. She has lived more than fifteen years in the area and been cooking professionally for even longer. After cooking six years on sailing yachts in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and on the east coast of the States she settled in Pont du Loup. She continued to cook professionally, working for private clients and specialising in very small functions; intimate dinner parties and lunches. Her training began in the family kitchen, later on taking professional courses in London and Paris and always absorbing new ideas through travel and other chefs. It’s still a pleasure for her to cook, handle fresh ingredients and serve them to others.
Now, after many years of regular requests for recipes and suggestions that she write a cookery book or start a school, she has begun to give classes. They are fun, and serious at the same time, enriching her clients but herself as well through the passing on and sharing of knowledge.
