The End, And The Beginning – Adventures in Food

I woke up early on Sunday morning. The ’brunch’ reservation I had made I cancelled, after the significant meal I had the previous evening there was enough ’goodness’ in me to keep the engine going for at least a couple of days and I was off to The Gascony Cookery School, a COVID delayed appointment for well over 2 years to see my dear friends David and Bernard, and spend 6 days learning more cooking techniques and spending time with some fellow foodies, that was the plan.

The pickup was back at Toulouse Blagnac Airport at 14:20, other guests were flying in from somewhere so after breakfast I packed my things and got a Taxi which only took 10 minutes to reach the airport. With a few hours to spare I camped down in a coffee shop, plugged in my mobile blogging kit and starting to write up day 1, trying to remember context, create a narrative, thinking of how I could teleport a reader into the experience I had felt, seen smelt and tasted since arriving in Gascony, Southern France.

Winnie and Shirley had flown in from Canada, friends with a common love of cooking. Jenson Button was on time to collect us, that’s obviously not his real name but his driving style was mostly with one hand, the other pointing out places of outstanding natural beauty or the aeronautical museum by the airport, he does not speak english but he is a lovely man, very kind and extremely funny.

We arrived at the small village of Gramont after approximately 1 hour 20 minutes, a beautiful drive across countryside not unlike where I live but with the exception of massive fields of sunflowers, they are everywhere.

Gramont is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France, it’s massive with 147 residents, I love the place. We decamped and went inside to meet David and the other guests, Rad from Manchester, a 30 year old tech engineer with a love of food and fellow blog writer, we got on very well. Also attending were Jo and Emma, I knew Jo, we had been on a previous course together in 2014 and shared the same birth year, her daughter had joined her, it was like an old school reunion!

The Cookery School is based at a Bed & Breakfast but with a professional kitchen and enough space to teach at least 8 students. There are numerous rooms at Le Petit Feuillant and this time I had the ’Gite’ a self contained apartment at the front of the building with kitchenette/lounge/bathroom downstairs, and bedroom upstairs which were all fully air conditioned, something quite unique in this part of France.

David was preparing our evening meal as we chatted, Foie Gras with Caramelised Apple, Duck for mains and Walnut Tart (which was bl@@dy delicious) for dessert. We all convened for dinner inside as it was still hot outside with the forecast heatwave, and David explained the itinerary which had changed since my last trip. Everyone then settled for the night, Rad and I sat out on the veranda chatting and drinking Rosé till silly o’clock!

Bernards, the ‘other half’ of the Gascony Cookery School had moved since I was last here, his new ’school kitchen’ was in his massive “chambres d’hôtes, Le Bonheur” in the village of Miradoux, some 11 ish minutes dash across the sunflower ridden countryside from Gramont.

We had a great breakfast to start the day, the expected Croissant, home made Jams, Awesome Scrambled Egg, home made Bread, Tea, Coffee, Fruit Juice you get the picture and soon, after the short drive we were entering Bernards ’manor’ to start the weeks cookery.

This course is ’intense’, the itinerary is provided on the website to indicate what is going to happen, if you want to laze around this is not really for you, if you want to stretch yourself, learn loads with fellow foodies then book it now.

The mornings lesson was dealing with sectioning duck, to Confit some and get the remainder prepped to cook Duck a l’Orange for later in the week. The kitchen is massive and airy, Bernards’ previous kitchen was a lot smaller and didn’t have the magnificent views of the countryside to enjoy.

After a mornings watching, cutting and sectioning we settled down for a delicious lunch as is normal at The Gascony Cookery School this time including delicious Chicken, a Mushroom Egg ’mini-flan’ and Creme Brûlée served with lovely wine, we all chatted and discussed what we had learnt so far.

David came to pick us up, and in a flash, we were in the other kitchen, getting ready to tackle a favourite of mine, Quail. To be honest nearly all food is a favourite of mine, except sprouts, I detest sprouts, a childhood ‘do not leave the table until you have eaten all up’ type detest, its definitely scarred me and I am sure it’s not a loss with all the other food I adore, like sweetbreads etc.

Dealing with the quail was great fun, David (and Bernard) are excellent, patient tutors and watch as you progress with a knife, guiding your cuts to ensure you don’t break the skin, very critical, so when the stuffing (Farce) is added you can re-create the shape of the bird without the central ribs and bones, as you can see above.

There was a great sense of accomplishment after we had all completed the task in hand, and as we were to find out later, the end result was delicious, especially with the rich accompanying Calvados Sauce that was made with the bones of the birds we had dealt with so delicately, and the rich buttery Pomme Purée that acted as a pillowy bed for the bird to rest on.

We still had dessert to deal with, Poached Pears in a Lattice Pastry case, yumm. The Pears were peeled and the core removed them poached until just cooked, left to cool and finally stuffed with a frangipane mix and put to one side. The lattice work had to be done very quickly as the kitchen was very hot with ovens on and the temperature outside, not ideal for working with buttery pastry.

We completed the task successfully finishing with a dusting of sugar and a blast with the blow-lamp!

Everyone drifted outside onto the veranda, the weather was beautiful and the sun still doing its stuff and the chilled Rosé flowing nicely, cooling us all down. Discussions continued, what we had achieved, a collective of amateur chefs we all felt that we had accomplished something great and added skills and new techniques to our repertoire

As I finish this blog post back at home, the championship winning sausages are on low and slow and there is a Potato Rosti doing its stuff with Garlic, Thyme, Salt and Pepper gently cooking in Ghee, something I saw Anton Mosimann cook many years ago. In the next blog post (the following day) we are off to the market at Fleurance, so pop back and see what happened.

………………………..Until Next Time………………………L8ers……………….

Japan, Switzerland and Stéphane Tournié – All In Toulouse!

It was the day after the night before, I have always wondered about that particular use of english but I am sure you know what I mean. Jules (2) had a midday train to catch to Marseilles, to meet Chef Paul for some more foodie adventures before departing for the UK to meet family and friends.

As we sat down for breakfast at The De Brienne Hotel, before us an excellent selection of Pastries, Fruit, Bread, Meat and Cheese, you know, the usual continental affair backed up with Sausages, Beans and Scrambled Egg for the ‘Brits’ stuck in their ways and determined to keep up tradition, we carried on discussing the meal we had experienced the previous evening, and its location, a memorial night indeed.

As time was limited, I suggested we wonder over the road to the ’Japanese Garden’, a gentle stroll, there was a cafe too so we could have some refreshments as it was going to be a very hot day.

The garden was very quiet, peaceful and serene, nestled in a quiet suburb of Toulouse it definitely could provide an escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We heard a couple of loud ’splashes’, there were the traditional Koi Carp in the expansive lake that was central in the beautiful landscape, it was a lovely place to chill, even for a few minutes and contemplate life, the stars, the moon, whatever your soul felt needing some contemplation time. After getting attacked by Mosquitoes umpteen times we headed for the cafe and had some light refreshments, then back to the Hotel, sorted a Taxi and said our farewells.

I felt a wall picture was apt at this point, on my own until the following day, what to do, I was slightly tired, it was getting hot, I definitely didn’t want to sit in my hotel room and waste time, ah, I needed a hat as I could not find mine before I left so donned some footwear, and set out again to explore ’The Rose City’.

After the experience so far, at the market the previous day, some amazing food with more to come, the fantastic architecture Toulouse was a city I wanted to return to as it had a certain magic that was almost drug like, hypnotic, it was a great place to get away for a short break, less than 2 hrs by plane and it wasn’t expensive. I wondered around taking in the sights and stumbled across Primark! Ah, hat, and 10 minutes and 4 euros later, had myself a rather cute ‘Peanuts’ cap, nice.

In my previous post I mentioned ’TheCoffeePot’ situated near the Basilica Saint-Sernin pictured above in resplendent glory, it was just around the corner and I didn’t need an excuse to stop for a ’cold brew’ as it was getting really hot.

I sat down for a while, ordered the refreshment of choice and watched the day go by for a while, soaking in the calm atmosphere, watching Toulosains going about their business in the afternoon heat it was thinking time, what was tonights restaurant going to deliver, there was no menu describing dishes, no clues, fingers crossed it was going to deliver… I popped in to pay and started chatting about the amazing coffee to the person that served me. The coffee was Carmelites, from Copan in Honduras and he kindly wrote the details down on the receipt, a nice touch for a foodie freak like me!

It was getting close to main event time again, I decided to walk through the now familiar streets, the ones we had ’flowed’ through on Bastille Day with two zillion other people, like rapids heading towards a water fall not knowing the final destination. Luckily, this time I did, Le Jardin De L’Opera, a 1 Michelin Star restaurant on the corner of ‘Le Place du Capitole’ which is the historical heart of the city of Toulouse. I was a bit early, the restaurant had not opened yet, so I took a wonder around the massive square and boy was I pleased I did.

Years go, it would have been in the early 80’s I started to get seriously interested in food and one of my food heroes at that time (and still is) was Anton Mosimann, a Swiss genius who ran the kitchen at The Dorchester Hotel and achieved 2 Michelin stars. He had numerous TV programmes and on one, showed how to make by hand, Kirsch Stengeli, ’sticks’ of hollow chocolate, internally lined with a thin coating of sugar and filled with Kirsch. I used to get them at Frankfurt airport when I was travelling for work a few years later, and then they seemed to vanish.

OMG, I almost bumped into the Lindt shop, famous for chocolate so I popped in, ’Bonseur, ave you Baton Kirch Sil vous Plait’…. Oui, yes we have the lovely man returned in english, automatically realising the limit of my french….BOOOOOOOOOM, Yeassssss, 5 minutes later 2 boxes of my favourite EVER chocolate were in my hands, well a bag….. I started to think, bu@@er, its 40 degrees outside, they will melt, I started to panic, then think……

There was a McDonalds a few shops up, surely it would be air conditioned, I could hang in there for a bit, pretending to buy a hideous ‘Big Mac’. I hung around in there for a while but it felt hot, next door was a mini CarreFour, I dived in there, bliss, air conditioning on full, it was COOOOOL. Whilst I wandered around the chilled area I looked at the various fresh produce, ’ugly’ tomatoes that would never grace a British supermarket shelf, they looked enticing to me. It was nearly opening time at the restaurant so I took a dash and a few minutes later I was in Le Jardin de L’Opera…. Phew.

Apéritif sir, yes please, why not. After the ’Lindt Dash’ my was heart was pumping a bit, the combination of heat (40 ish degrees), and the excitement/panic of finding a lost friend and wondering if it would survive the evening or end up a melted sludge. After some chill time I caught the waiters attention and said I was ready to start, and within minutes the wonderment started, a 7 course degustation menu with matching wine flight.

Black Olive Crispy Tomato with Bean Hummus, Crispy Rice & Pollock Gravlax, Scrambled Egg

Hmmmm, this looks interesting as three differing receptacles of food were laid before me. I asked the waiter If they could write down what the menu was, for my blog and memory, they actually went further and emailed me Menu and Wine details a couple of days later, excellent. BOOOOOOM, here we go, this was just the amuse bouche, and my bouche was extremely amused, I cannot easily describe what I ate, suffice to say it was outstanding, fresh, light, tongue tinglingly scrumptious.

Smoked Eggplant with Garrigues Herbs, Eggplant Crisp, Sesame Cream

Garrigues Herbs are similar to a famous herb blend from Provence but with the hearty addition of rosemary, fennel, mint and bay leaf. The starter had texture in bounds, the smoked eggplant came in a pyrex dish with a lid and was served onto the plate at the table so you got a decent ’waft’ of the smokey herb/spice aroma, the sesame cream adding a delicate but tasty finish. the crispy slice of eggplant I suspect may have been in a hydration, it WAS like a crisp. Here we go again, BOOOOOOOOOM no.2.

Poached Oyster With Soy Sauce, Pork Croquette with Green Vinegar

BOOOOOOOOOM, no.3. At the beginning of the evening I had been asked the usual dislikes and allergies question and I had said none. I think if you are going to try a degustation menu, unless you do have a dangerous reaction to a particular food that could cause serious damage, proclaim it loudly, if not, go with the flow. I absolutely hate watching those cooking competitions on TV where someone, or a couple complain they don’t like this, or that, or whatever they shouldn’t be allowed to compete in the first place. Rant over, I am not a keen Oyster person, I am now a convert, the light delicate poaching, probably only seconds had firmed up the plump beauty and it was soooooo good, with the Soy adding seasoning and the green vinegar a punch of umami, jeez this chef and his brigade really know their stuff. The croquette was equally delish, dipped into the ’green’ vinegar that had the addition of sea weed too add colour and flavour.

Wild Cod In Peanut Crust with Carrot-Olive Oil Juice

Carrot Ice Cream with Peanut

Sorry……BOOOOOOOOOOM no.4. This dish was genius, I didn’t think it would work but it did, the quality of cooking, flavour balance, textures was outstanding and quite delicate, but enough to identify what was going on, I was in my happy place, amazing food, beautiful surrounding, great waiting staff, gorgeous matching wines….home made bread……ahhhhhhhhh, blisssssssss.

Roasted Sweetbread, Shrimps Tartare and Blanquette Sauce

Can you feel it, the excitement, the joy, taste buds shouting at you to dive in….BOOOOOOOM no.5. I love this kind of food, if you are going to eat meat, then use as much of the animal as possible, don’t waste anything…. I Love sweetbreads, this dish had a small amount of Lemon Gel mounted on top, I love Blanquette, it’s a sparkling wine that originates from Limoux, it’s how Champagne was started, a Monk stole the idea and marketed the hell out of it, I’ve visited one of the original wine producers at a local cookery school. This dish was knockout, there was a content feeling flowing through my veins, I was happy, extremely content and really chilled out.

Very Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder, Bean Puree, Garlic

Pork & Beans Cassoulet

Hmmmmmm………Lamb…….Cassoulet………BOOOOOOOOOOM no.6. I adore Cassoulet, I have made it, in Gascony, at the cookery school was I was attending the following day, again this dish was clever, very clever. It retained all the flavours of a cassoulet in a kind of deconstructed way, but as you ate it, the flavours came together, like a Cassoulet but lighter..

Lets talk wine next.

I was so busy tucking into a delicious meal I only managed a couple of pictures, but the wine that was served is as follows:

–          AOC Bordeaux Domaine Loumelat “Sauvignon” 2019

–          IGP Pays d’Oc Vingobles Ferrandière « Marsanne » 2018

–          Vin de France Vignobles Jean Claude Mas « Gewurztraminer » 2017

–          AOC Côtes du Roussillon Château Lauriga « Bastien » 2014

–          IGP Périgord Sens Dessus-Dessous

The wines worked very well indeed, I would say, for my palate perfect matches they slipped down very easily.

This dish was chosen in honour, and to remember amazing times approximately 8 weeks ago when I was in the region at my other favourite cookery school. I met two beautiful couples from Ireland, Joan, Seamus, Deirdre and Bernard and we shared many meals and cooking experiences together. During the week they realised I had a love of cheese, in fact I recall having cheese three times a day everyday, well, when in France. We had one particular meal in La Barbacane in Carcassonne Citadel, the medieval city and surprise surprise. I had the ’extra’ cheese course before dessert which was delicious.

So this cheese course was well crafted, Ardi Gasna, which means “sheep’s cheese” in Basque, it’s a French cheese found in the Nive valley of the Pyrenees Mountains. It is an uncooked, pressed, hard cheese matured for 4-6 months before being sold to the market. The cheese is available throughout the year, but the finest produce is available during the spring and summer months when the flavour of the milk is more pronounced. It was served with Nuts, a lovely fruit compote, some olive oil and a ’sauce’, absolutely scrumptious. BOOOOOOOOOOM…….. well, it’s cheese and I am an addict, but this was exceptional.

Around The Raspberry And The Hot Vinegar

Orange Blossom Pistachio & Honey

BOOOOOOOM…. No.7. Well the whole meal was, I think, the best meal I have ever had (ever), only beating Paul Ainsworth No.6 by less than a millimetre, it was that close. Clever wine pairing, a journey of flavours, sometimes intense, sometimes dreamy, sometimes rich, often subtle this is one meal I will never forget, and the main man will apparently pop out after service and say hello to everyone, that does it for me…. Awesome.

Jeez, whats going on now. I was presented with a flower pot and asked to look for a nugget of treasure whilst Rum Baba and Chantilly cream were placed in front of me. A small truffle, with a liquid centre was discovered and another play on textures flavours and an excellent finale to an amazing evening. Food 10/10, Service 10/10, Restaurant 10/10.

Cheers Chef Stéphane Tournié, you and your team made my trip to Toulouse something very special, the food was the best I have ever eaten, and yes, I love Sweet Breads and Frogs Legs, apparently it’s something us British folk don’t like. We chatted for about 10 minutes about food then it was time to go, I had to get those Baton Kirsch into the Fridge back at the hotel before they melted, TAXI!!

……………………….Until Next Time………L8ers………

TONGUES, TESTICLES & TOULOUSE – ANOTHER FOODIE ADVENTURE!

I am at Toulouse Airport at the moment, waiting for my lift to part two of my second French Adventure for 2022, the first also being food related and a previous blog post. I have been coming to this part of France since 2014, a happenstance moment of flicking through some cookery school web-sites and stumbling across the Gascony Cookery School, todays final destination.

The flight had been perfect, not so keen on the 3:00 a.m. wake up and a blocked M4 due to an accident (hope no-one was seriously hurt), but with all being well I arrived in plenty of time, and the short flight from Heathrow to Toulouse-Blagnac went without a hitch. There are numerous ways of getting to Toulouse from the airport, I have been here some 7 times, but always in transit to somewhere else, I had never actually been to ’The Pink City’ which was famed for the red brick used throughout many of its buildings, and radiating a pink hue accentuated as the sun set; it is truly a beautiful place to visit and I was even more excited to be meeting a fellow foodie I had not seen for years, Jules, we met on a fish course at the very same Gascony Cookery School i was returning to for the third time, and she was flying in from Tasmania on the other side of the world!

The end of the Line!

When I had done my research in planning for this trip I was looking for a sensibly priced Hotel near to transport systems, not too far from the restaurants we wanted to visit and preferably in a quieter part of town so the Hotel de Brienne was chosen, it was a 10 minute walk from the Compass Caffarelli Metro line. It’s a lovely 4 star Hotel close to the Canal Brienne, which links the Garonne to the Midi Canals, and the centre of Toulouse is within easy walking distance.

I decided to take the shuttle bus from the airport, the easiest option and within 10 minutes I was walking towards the hotel and bumped into a……….Pizza Vending Booth….. jeez….never seen one of those before.

I am sure somebody must use them at times of abject desperation maybe after too many bieres on a Friday or Saturday night…..not me though as we were dining in style later in the evening, and before long I had checked in to the Hotel and caught up with my friend from Tasmania, Jules (2) (I am Jules 1!) she is English, in her younger 70’s and was to visit family and friends after we had spent a few days together seeing the foodie side of Toulouse.

We set off to wonder, a random escape into the unknown, the mysteries of Toulouse and its culture, history and food. It was a very hot day, but not the hottest which was due later in the week and after a shortish stroll of discovery we settled down for a coffee and a catch-up and the first of our ’foodie’ experiences at ’The CoffeePot’, which was near to the Basilique Saint-Sernin at 2 Place du Peyrou.

“Fancy a cold-brew” said the waiter, “I don’t drink alcohol before 18:00” I replied, no he said it’s a coffee that’s left to steep in cold water for a long time, less bitter than normal ’cold’ coffee’s, more natural and as their is less risk of the coffee being burnt, it’s a much nicer drink. OK, let’s have two of those please.

They were sold in jars, with paper biodegradable straws, and extremely tasty too so we had one more each and set off back to the hotel to get ready for the evenings entertainment.

Our table at Le Cenacle was booked for 19:30, it’s near the ‘Pont Neuf’ bridge in Toulouse nestling in the ’La Cour des Consuls Hotel and Spar’. The chef Clement Convard is innovative and pushes the boundaries with many of his dishes so the night was going to be a gastronomic night of fireworks, perfect as it was July 14th, Bastille Day and expectations were high.

I didn’t get a chance to write down the amuse bouche description, suffice to say, it tickled the tastebuds preparing us for the delights that were to come. We had picked ’The Cenacle” menu option, a selection of 6 dishes along with a wine flight of 5 different wines chosen to match the food. This was my friend Jules first Michelin star experience so I was somewhat nervous with what she would think, and whether the experience was overpriced and underwhelming!

We were then surprised with another course which I didn’t see on the menu, It was a Smoked Burrata, with Tomato Gazpacho, Onion Crisp Tomato and Pepper. And then along came a freshly made Brioche bun that was still warm and a Butter whipped with Thyme Flowers and put through some kind of noodle machine to make a ’worm pile’! Both were extremely tasty indeed and continued to tempt the taste buds.

The first course, Mackerel & red pepper Smoked and grilled, Squid ink crisp & Tomato ice cream was served in a round dish, the disk suspended the ingredients above a cavity full of a delicious full flavoured thick ’soup’, although it wasn’t. BOOOOOM, here we go, Michelin quality at its best. When you broke the disk and ate all the elements together, dancing on the tongue, in the throat, all over everywhere. YUMM

And what do we here, we questioned the waiter. Service so far had been immaculate, patient, great interaction and explaining to a couple of native english, not much french speaking food fanatics each dish, and when questioned even further, did their utmost to ensure we knew what was on the plate.

Lets go with Lobster In salad with zucchini Tagète herb granité. This was a delicate dish, delightful, tasty, subtle. At this time our waitress suggested trying some of the granité on its own, and then pile onto the dish and ’dive in’. BOOOOOM another hit, the delicate flavours of Lobster, the tiny Courgette adding texture the granité taking you in a completely different direction with its chilled herbyness, delish.

The next dish was somewhat fascinating, Sous cloche Bucatini pasta dome Toasted pine nuts & basil Cream of vieux Rodez cheese. Some might say it was a ’classic’ pasta and cheese sauce and in some ways yes it was, but in others it was so much more refined and delicate. The cheese sauce really packed a punch and was ’mighty’, the pasta perfectly cooked, texture from the Pine Nuts drew everything together beautifully.

The next course, Mediterranean Red tuna semi-cooked Eggplant Millefeuille & rillettes Tomato and verbena foam was outstanding, I wasn’t sure If I was going to like it, yes the Tuna, one of my favourites should have been great but this particular construction…BOOOOOOM another winner, in fact all the dishes so far had been outstanding. We had been offered copious amounts of delicious home-made bread throughout the evening, wine had flowed (more of that in a bit), and each dish meticulously put together with so much expertise, my friend Jules and I could not stop talking about each dish, comparing our views, she was having a great time and I was happy she was having a great time after travelling over 30 hours on a plane, she deserved a nice meal and she was loving it.

This next dish was awesome, Pigeon from la Coulonnière Roasted, almond and popcorn crust Potatoes cream with almond and Amaretto! Read the description at least three times! Amaretto in Potatoes, jeez it really did work, this was so so clever and even more delicious, you have to come to this restaurant and try it, just brilliant and clever food, thank-you Clement Convard and your brigade. I am guessing it was the subtle (ish) almond and popcorn crust that helped the potatoes along but its was mind blowing.

Dessert finally arrived, Apricot from Le Lot poached and confit Raspberry sorbet & jam Light foam, transparent crisp. Yum Yum Yum ’nuff said’, it finished the meal perfectly and cleaned the palate at the same time.

So, I mentioned the wine flight earlier, it was very good indeed, we did think though that the last ’glug’ a sparkling wine, was not sweet enough to match the absolutely stunning and delicious end to our fantastic meal.

We had a range of really excellent wines and all except the last were perfect matches, the whole meal was bl@@dy awesome, sorry for the slight language, it was damn good and my friend said it was the best meal she has ever had…. magic.

This day was a relatively short one, quick wander, amazing coffee, awesome meal, and then as we were leaving, as it was Bastille Day, there were thousands of people streaming off the bridge as the celebratory fireworks were finishing.

The next post will be covering the following day, a visit to a market and another different, but amazing meal.

……………………Until next time…………….L8ers…………………..

Restaurant S Comme – An Experience at Château de Palaga

Everyone has been busy in the kitchen and probably put on the odd ounce, the Chocolate cake above is a multi layer affair, I produced the first, coco-pops with added tempered chocolate, mixed and formed into a circular crispy base (not as simple as it sounds), then a layer of piped Chocolate ‘cream’ as glue, a flourless (ish) cake and more piping with some hazelnuts to dress, it was rich and decadent.

Today has been intense and I did warn them about Jean-Marc, he has a Michelin Star, is beyond professional and probably one of the the nicest people you could ever meet! Actually my new Irish friends loved him, he is an amazing guy, very calm, extremely patient and whilst first impressions may have you wondering, after a while you get where he is coming from and everything falls naturally into place.

It’s actually midnight, I have a bottle of Corbières 2018 open and the excitement and adrenalin of the last few days is rushing through my veins. We have a lie in tomorrow but that seems to pass me by, birds are very active singing their hearts out from about 04:30, it’s beautiful and melodic, rhythms echoing from tree to branch to bush, mesmerising and strangely calming.

As usual I won’t provide a running commentary of my trip as I would rather you come and experience it first hand, I know what you are missing as do my new friends. We have turned into food analysts, critics, judges, discussing how we might change, tweak adjust certain recipes to suit our own styles and preferences.

With that in mind, another one of our evening excursions was to a brilliant little restaurant called ‘S Comme’ in the village of Palaja which is a short distance from Carcassonne. On the way there, our driver Neil was able to stop at one of the best viewpoints of the Citadel and I was able to capture its ‘atmosphere’, a delightful view (above) which really underestimates the impressive structure in all its glory. The atmosphere at the restaurant was calming, the food delicious and very unassuming, the two Belgium’s that cook, take the orders and serve did an amazing job of explaining the menus and producing stunning plates of mouth watering fare. It’s well worth a visit if you are in the area

I fell in love with Carcassonne on my 1st trip, not just ‘La Cité’, the medieval citadel of the fortified city which is stunning, but its rich and generous surrounds, and reaching further out to the ancient and historic region of Gascony and its many castles, rolling countryside and attractive villages and market towns. And without forgetting Domaine St Raymond, the base of The French House Party, with its elegance and stunning sunsets.

Time for a cuppa, it’s 07:30. I did get some sleep and now look forward to a morning of chocolates.

……………….Until next time…………L8ers………..

The Michelin Experience “Chefs Table” L’Ortolan Style

It’s my last night in Padstow after attending the Rick Stein Cookery School for two days on a Fish and Shellfish course, and eating my way through 5 restaurants, the last being Paul Ainsworth at No.6, which is happening later. To say I have eaten well is a complete and utter understatement, and a bit surprising considering the horror stories of supply chain, availability of ingredients etc. When you hear the difficulties faced by restaurants it a miracle any of them are open, but evidence of the passion and effort they put into making it happen and cooking fine fare available at a price that enables them to pay staff and contribute towards our economy.

Following our recent trip to L’Ortolan in Shinfield near Reading recently we received a thank-you note, and an offer for a discounted “Chefs Table” at a future date, well, why not, none of us had done a Chefs Table, we understood the principle and had loved the previous visit so an ‘intimate’ insight into the workings of a Michelin starred restaurant seemed too good to miss, so we booked a date.

We arrived on-time and were ushered into the conservatory for a glass of Champagne, and very nice it was too. the premise of being invited into the kitchen during a live service was playing on my mind, what would we see, what would we hear! what was going to happen, how long etc. After 15 minutes relaxing we were escorted into the kitchen area, a large historic wooden table that was so robust it would seem equally fitting in a castle awaited us, directly opposite the pass, by a gap of about 3.5 feet, enough for the waiting staff to pass by as they collected dishes to be taken to the diners!

James Greatorex, the Head Chef walked around the pass to say hello, describe the evenings events, and then gave us an introduction to each member of the team and their role in the kitchen, then returning to start service and call out the orders as they arrived from the dinning room, it was utterly fascinating, seeing how each section jumped into gear with each call, ‘oui chef”, well it is a French restaurant!

The Chef’s Table uses the Tasting Menu with the odd subtle change so some dishes were familiar (but still delicious), and others new and exciting to try. Throughout the evening James would prepare dishes for us, and serve us personally explaining the composition, the provenance of the components, why particular ingredients were chosen, which made for a brilliant foray into the life of a kitchen and how particular dishes are constructed, even Justin our 15 year old and my better half of 32 years found the whole experience really interesting, and the food of course was probably the best we have ever eaten, and James could have been my son nearly twice over, he is just brilliant.

I love the above picture, when we arrived at the Chef’s table there was only one ‘Check On’, an order on the way so to speak, and now it was like, oh my god, what is what, who, which table, jeez. Not at all, the skill by which James ran the pass and managed the orders just has to be experienced, especially as there were a combination of people ordering ‘a la carte’ and the tasting menu which requires impeccable timing to start dishes at the right time, assuming how long someone might eat a particular course, or an awkward git like me that often says ‘can we have a 10 minute break between course 3 and 4 please’, it was an example of superb organisation, timing, control and management of a team of chefs and waiters in perfect unison…….. And only to think that if a Michelin inspector is in the restaurant on a ‘bad’ night, you could so easily loose that precious star!

So, we had another fantastic evening, it was a worthwhile investment, it was entertaining, educational, interesting (no fascinating) trying to get your head around what really happens in a high end eatery, we were able to ask James questions all evening about restaurant life today, and he was very open in explaining the highs, lows, challenges in obtaining ingredients, staff etc. The food was amazing (again).

I would thoroughly recommend anyone with the slightest interest in good food, to save for another week or two, or however long it takes and and go for a Chef’s table. It’s a intimate insight into the working of a high end restaurant with, personal chef, waiter and educator, comedian and entertainer all in one and I would like to think that it’s an experience we will continue to repeat as time (and budget) allows, its worth every single penny.

Thanks James and the L’Ortolan team for our best ever eating our night………… ever……

Next time I will be focussing on the Rick Stein Seafood Cookery School I attended for two days, and start on the 5 restaurants I tried whilst on my mini ‘foodcation’ to Padstow.

……………………………………………………..Until Next Time……………………………L8ers……………………………..

The ‘Michelin’ Experience Part Deux!

I am definitely of the opinion that once you have tasted ‘good’ food, then ‘excellent’ food is something very special. So we had several excuses to eat out again, my birthday of course, new job, feeling happy, lockdown easing, I was desperate to actually ‘get out’ being in the class of ‘at risk, stay at home at all costs’, the last two years have been like a prison cell.

It’s a stunning day on the 2nd of my Padstow trip, the sun is shinning on the Estuary, the ferry started crossing to ‘Rock’ earlier, a trip I am taking later to try another eatery. Last night was epic, thanks to Senior Sous Chef Sam Bessant who was heading the brigade at Caffe Rojano, and to Jade and Mauro who’s front of house skills were to be applauded, more of that another day!

Hey Justin, fancy a trip to another restaurant for lunch? Yes please Dad, so we booked L’Ortolan in Shinfield near Reading, another 1* Michelin Restaurant with James Greatorex heading up the kitchen. At Under 25, he is very young to have such an honour bestowed before him, but hey, age is not everything and youth has its advantages, like energy, passion, commitment, a young brain has the ability to soak in lots of information so we were sure it was going to be a great experience, and we were not wrong.

After some obligatory but nonetheless delicious bread and cultured butter was served we were presented with a tray of ‘tasters’, little morsels of deliciousness on a tray indication land and sea. The land was a Wagyu Beef tartare with a little egg yolk in a delicate pastry case, the second was a Cod Brandade Ball, fried, with a topping of a delicate spiced mayonnaise which was utter delight. if this was the of things to come the lunch was going to be fabulous.

Again, a delicious looking tasting menu was on offer, and was a easy choice, let’s see the ‘mettle’ of the chef and we were glad we did. Dad, can we have the ‘Oscietra Caviar‘ course please, booom , that came from nowhere, oh and the Waygu Beef, I have heard its really good! This meal was going to be more of an investment at this rate. So the caviar came and was woofed down by all of us, it was a delicious plate of food, perfectly cooked pommes soufflée a light Crème fraîche, Trout Roe and the Caviar……Yum

Next came the ‘Salad’ of Lamb, with Isle of Wight Tomatoes, Anchovy and Seasonal Leaves, another delicate but accomplished dish the lamb was rich and full of flavour, the tomato, acidic, cutting through the richness, the anchovy adding some seasoning and leafs ,some texture. Another fantastic dish, so where to go next, this was a cast of the rich and famous already?

Let’s cure some beautiful Tuna with Citrus, and serve it with Apple, Cucumber and Nasturtium a real play on Mexico cuisine in my humble opinion but not do much in your face like the traditional ceviche, flavours dancing all over the palate. Yum. Service was unhurried as we tackled each dish, discussion between us the merits of quality (expensive) ingredients treated with the utmost respect, by an extremely competent chef, aided by his equally competent brigade.

Sorry to say I am a sucker for Foie Gras. I have an annual cookery trip to France, to Gascony, where such produce is revered and commonplace on menus in restaurants and in the home, and I was fortunate to be taught three methods of preparing this highly prized ingredient, cru (cured with salt and Piment d’Espelette), mi-cuit (half cooked), and used as a wrapper for a French style of gingerbread. This was a Terrine with Fig and Walnut, I was in heaven, rich, umptious, sweet and savoury it tickled every taste bud available at time, and for many minutes after as it searched out more.

Now something interesting happened, in my previous posting we had Gigha Halibut from the island in Scotland with white beans, snap, here it was again, but with brown shrimp and foraged seaweed, completely honest and back to nature type tastes which went perfectly. And again, I was the bean fan, my wife and son not being so keen. It was interesting to see something so familiar but subtly different cooked in a quality restaurant, another yum. The fish was cooked perfectly.

Are we there yet! at this part of the adventure our son had opted to go for the Waygu, which he stated was the best beef he had ever eaten, after already saying that at the previous restaurant, it looked good and smelt great. Myself and the better half went for the Fallow Deer, I am a sucker for game and regularly get such produce from our local butcher, who also supplies this restaurant too, great minds and all that. It was a very ‘earthy’ dish aided by the addition of beetroot, savoury and grelot, a small French Bell Onion served with a rich sauce, utterly beautiful another winning dish.

The ‘pre-dessert’ arrived, an interesting and delicate looking morsel, an ice-cream sandwich but not as we had ever had before! beautiful crisp wafer layer, encompassing a citrus ice-cream, with a lemon centre, it really cleaned the palate a treat, I could have eaten several of those one after the other they were that delicious, and then we had the finale……

Yes, I know we had already celebrated my birthday, but, we had tried to get bookings in two restaurants and when they both came up it was a kind of ‘sod it, let’s do both of them’ moment, so we did! This was another extremely clever, and delicious dessert, Peach, Yoghurt, Verbena and Szechuan Pepper, it definitely had an after kick, that was very pleasant indeed. I think when you look at how to finish a meal, the results are often over-heavy and leave you feeling a bit ughhhhh, not here, it was a light tasty and perfect finish to a wonderful tasting menu, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

For someone so young, James Greatorex has more than ticked all the boxes and shown what awesome cookery and presentation should be like, the front of house did a sterling job and we all felt the experience was more than worth the investment.

So the question is would we go back…………. We have already, this time to experience a Chef’s table, that will be the next post but for the moment, thank-you James and the team at L’Ortolan for making my second birthday a celebration to remember it was a delight……

……………………………..Until next time……………..L8ers…………

The ‘Michelin’ Experience Episode 1

It’s been a crap couple of years, that’s of my chest! This year I have managed to take corrective action after getting man flu and moving to new employer which has does wonders to my happiness and mojo. I cannot believe my last post was in March, time in the kitchen has been limited but that is slowly changing.

So action was needed to kickstart a new chapter, and with a birthday approaching it was decided that a treat or two, or three was in order. A long search on the net and a couple of restaurants stood out that we had not tried before, and 20 minutes later they were booked.

So, I am currently in Padstow, just been for a stroll, my restaurant sitting is booked for 20:45, but that’s not what this post is about, it’s just that I have taken a week off to immerse myself in food, and have some down time to catch up with the blog posts I have been meaning to write! This trip will follow in the next couple of weeks when I have recovered.

We are really proud of our 15 year old, he has been through a torrid few years with bullying, ADHD and General Anxiety Disorder which has disrupted pretty much everything He does love good food and eating in ‘posh’ restaurants, and doesn’t follow the usual Pizza, Pasta routine and can cook an excellent ‘Fish en Papillote’ as well as make macarons from scratch. When we asked would he like to come, there was no stopping him.

Out first expedition was to ‘The Nut Tree Inn’, a quaint restaurant to the North East of Oxford, it was heaving with rain on the day, so when we arrived and were seated by a protected open fire it was very welcome. Service was very friendly and relaxed at this 1 Michelin Starred Restaurant, very welcoming and not at all stuffy. Starting with some delicious bread and ‘cultured’ butter it just felt great.

As you can see, we went for the tasting menu, let’s see the chef strut his stuff, he should be good having held his star since 2008 that’s not bad going. Mike North is an extremely accomplished Chef and it showed with his Cauliflower velouté  and Tartare of Loch Duart Salmon, absolutely delicious. I was watching an episode of Saturday Kitchen recently and they showed the proper method of making a velouté, its actually quite complex to get the correct velvety texture. Things were going really well so far.

So now we get adventurous for a 15 year old, Chicken Liver Parfait, Brioche Bun with a Pork Skin Crumble (aka Airbag) and Plum. Jeez it tasted awesome, really rich, lovely balance of plum and beautiful parfait which was perfectly smooth and melted in the mouth, it was a knockout dish. I cheekily asked our waiter if he could ask the Chef how he ‘glued’ the Airbag to the Bun, as I have some at home which I love using, she came back shortly and explained it was egg white, as it does not make the Air Bag soggy and prevent it from puffing up, fantastic tip to add to my list of ‘cheffy cheats’.

Fish Course next, Gigha Halibut. Gigha what, it’s an island in Scotland that produces sustainable Scottish Halibut which was also to feature on the next restaurant we visited. Find out more HERE it was served with pancetta, white beans, artichoke and lovage and was yum, although my two fellow companions were not too keen on the texture of the beans but that’s a personal thing.

If someone gave me the choice between Beef or Fish, I would normally pick Fish, I love it. My beloved of 32 years is the other way round, Beef is always her first choice, same with our son. Now when you all say, ‘that’s the best Beef I have ever had, ever, ever, ever’, you know the Chef must have got something really right and created something really special, the Beef was OUTSTANDING………. I would go back for this dish alone, it was AWESOME…… note the capitals it was THAT GOOD.

It was served with a smoked potato puree, if you read the menu at the beginning of the post, it stated 50% dairy, I think my mash normally has nearly 250grms of butter, it how to make proper rich mash. A king oyster mushroom and cavolo nero completed the plating nestled in a delicious reduction.

They remembered it was my birthday celebration (well at least one of the them), the pre dessert was a mango and coconut meringue pie, it was genius. Served in a sterilised Egg Shell, it was light and sharp and really cleaned the palate nicely, getting you ready for the final course.

Lets have a Valrohona Guanaja Chocolate Souffle with Tonka Bean Ice Cream. Another belting dish, I love Tonka Beans and have used them in a variety of dishes at home. It has a unusual flavour, like, but not like Vanilla, it’s difficult to explain, but paired with the souffle went perfectly.

I have to start to get ready now, for tonight’s meal at a very special bistro, but more of that on another post. Just to say that if you want a wonderful, expertly cooked, unhurried meal, with lovely service and staff that chat with your like you have known each other of years, head to The Nut Tree Inn we will be returning to this lovely homely restaurant.

……………………………………….Until next time………….L8ers…………………………

The Last Supper! Well Worth The Effort.

It was time to prepare ‘The Last Supper’ at The French House Party and after a morning creating chocolate sensations (in our own minds at least), we were back in our favourite kitchen with Jean-Marc, pen at the ready he showed us on paper what we were going to prepare.

How about Crab Crumble, Avocado, Papaya, Whipped Mustard Cream and Sorrel Shoots for starters, another lesson in flavours, cooking and food construction techniques.

So we made a Mayonnaise, and referred to the plans as we prepared the dish. As usual, nothing went to waste. Once we had prepared each item we then went about the construction, layers of Crab, Mustard Cream and the other items were carefully layered into an oblong ring. You will notice a red item on the top of the finished dish in the picture below, this is a ‘tomato crisp’. The Tomatoes we used to dress the side of the crumble were de-skinned in boiling water and the skins placed in a low oven to dry out completely, and they were really delicious, as was the finished dish, the Mustard Cream was unreal, the fruit balancing the taste.So on the main event Lightly Salted Cod in Aioli à La Languedocienne! For this we learnt (loose phrase) to turn vegetables, and very fiddly it was too. The Aiolli was problematic as we were running low on Eggs, we had one! A quick search in the fridge and a couple of yolks from the day before were discovered and we were on our way.It was an extremely tasty dish, despite all the effort to make the various elements, but the dessert was the ‘piece de resistance’, a Gateaux St. Honoré. I made some Choux Pastry with Gill whilst the others knocked up a Crème Patissière (Creme Pat, as we came to call it by this time)! Then there was the Puff Pastry Base, and the piping, oh, the piping.This was very testing indeed, home made Choux Buns dunked into Hot Caramel,  filled with the Creme Pat, constructing Swans using a piping bag, it was baking and construction and everyone contributed to the elegant dessert, which was very very good.

And that was it!

The end of 5 days intensive cooking and baking with Laurent, Remi, Jean-Marc and Chocolates with Marion, interspersed with fine dining in the most amazing restaurants, and the odd tasting of the origins of Champagne at Limoux,  the marathon was unfortunately over too soon.

So, that was my third trip to The French House Party, it won’t be my last, great fun, great people and always lots to learn it’s a home away from home, thank-you Moira and the team for putting on such a fantastic vacation.

 

…………………………..Until Next Time………………L8ers……………..

 

Ah, just one more thing!

Cronuts!

When I was in New York Last year I had great intentions to hunt out the inventor of the Cronut, a mixup of of Croissant and Donut. I ran out of time and did not make it! I was on Instagram the other day and found Dominique Ansel has an outlet in London, so I will be visiting this fine establishment and testing said ‘Cronut’ as soon as I can!!

 

Marion Les Chocolats, Création Artisanale, Lets Make Some Chocolates!

The last full on day cooking at The French House Party Gourmet Explorer holiday came much too soon, but it was to be a fantastic time as usual.I have done a bit of chocolate work with Mark Tilling, he was 7th in the world in 2009 and won the first ever Bake Off Créme de la Créme in 2016, it was a privilege to be able so to spend a day with him learning all things chocolate, and the morning we spent with Marion in her ‘Chocolate Boutique’ was to be no different, it was brilliant fun and the end results were really very good, a testament to her teaching and her very good English, much better than my hopeless French.Marion’s ‘Boutique’ is 5.2 miles to the North Of Carcassonne in ‘Pennautier’, in fact 16 rue Pierre Loti 11610 to be precise! It’s very close to the impressive ‘Château de Pennautier’. I have marked the boutique, in the fortified village on the map above, it’s very historic and well worth a walk around if you are in the area.Her small ‘chocolate kitchen’ is near the centre of the ‘fortified village’, where sessions like ours are run and she sells some of her fantastic products, her husband shares the premises where great organic wines are also available, what a partnership!

You can also buy the chocolate mail order HERE: We started off by making a caramel, to fill some of the chocolates we were going to produce later. It was fascinating (to me), to understand how a professional knows when the sugar has reached the correct stage before adding the other ingredients, you will have to spend a morning with Marion to find out though, she runs regular ‘ Stage d’initiation au chocolat’!There was a lot going on as we went through various stages of delicious Chocolate production. Gill, one of our ‘team’ is making ‘Rocher’ in the picture above. You remember the advert, the big pile of circular golden delicacies balancing on the waiters tray, that annoying music playing. These were much better than the mass manufactured version, but then I would say that!

A centre of home made, hand rolled Hazelnut Ganache, a coating of Almond and Caramel ‘shards’, and then a coating of quality Chocolate, we had the choice of White, Milk or Dark.We also made ‘Orangettes’, and ‘Lemonettes’ and ‘Gingerettes’, I made up the last two but essentially a firm, sticky fruit stick, dipped in my case, Dark Chocolate. There were filled Chocolates, and yes, we made a box, out of Chocolate, mine White and Milk, with a Cocoa Butter Patterned Transfer, I have some of those at home so must find an excuse to use them one day soon.It was soon time to go, and on the way out some bars of Chocolate were too tempting to not purchase, Caramel, Gianduja and Fleur De Sea, yum.

Thank-you Marion for a fantastic morning and Moira, our host for organising. The next post will cover the final session with Jean-Marc and wow, what another great session it was.

 

…………Until Next Time………………..L8ers………………………………….

 

Lunch done, Let’s Prepare Dinner!

Monday morning’s time in the kitchen with Jean-Marc was really good fun. We had been chopping, mixing, constructing, making sorbets and ice creams,  and to be honest, what we ended up with tasted very good indeed. Dessert was simple (a slight relief), but even simple can take your tastebuds to the moon and back.

‘Fraises’ or Strawberries as we know them, they were abundant in all the markets and featured heavily in our dessert combining a Puree, a marination in Balsamic Vinegar Basil Ice-Cream, and some ‘Nut Crumble’ we had left over from the previous days efforts to provide some texture, it was very good and you can see the dish in the featured image at the head of this blog post.Lobster is a delicate meat and was to be part of our evenings menu, very nice indeed.

The next few hours were going to be even more testing with ‘Pastilla’ as the main feature for this evening. A Moroccan dish traditionally made with Pigeon, this was an interesting  interpretation and one I was looking forward too as I had made a ‘Yotam Ottolenghi’ version some months back, and posted the exercise on the blog, it took hours to make! Having cooked the Lobster for a couple of minutes after dispatching it using a knife through the………you don’t want to hear that I guess, but we were using the freshest high quality produce as is always the case at The French House Party.

Jean-Marc, who owns Le Puits du Trésor (The Treasure Well), a 1 Michelin starred restaurant in nearby Lastours (The Towers), brings the most amazing ingredients that are fit for only the best restaurants, but still available in the High Street or online so we could reproduce all that we made.

Nothing is wasted and the Lobster Shells were cooked on a high heat before adding Shallots and Garlic, Water and Tomato Paste to make a rich, tasty lobster sauce which was reduced by over half to make it thick and umptious, yummy!Anyone for Daiquoise with Apricots? My piping needs a lot of practise, it started well, going from the centre but I was a bit lop sided and you can see what it ended up like. As it was going to be covered in all sorts of yumminess it wasn’t a problem.The starter was to be a simple but tasty Spring Vegetable Vol-eu-Vent with a Garlic and Basil Oil, we all had great fun preparing the evening meal and when we had finished we sat down to enjoy all three courses, plating each one in turn learning more culinary skills. Oh, and the usual Cheese course which I really enjoy, I have a thing for Cheese!

So that was Dinner. Spring Vegetable Vol-eu-Vent with Garlic and Basil Oil, Lobster Pastilla with Mild Spices and Honey (and you can see a sprinkling of grated bright orange coral in the picture above),  and Hazelnut Daiquoise with Apricots, oh, and some locally sourced Wine to help it down of course.

Phew, that was a marathon day. At least 6 hours in the kitchen, interspersed with the odd break for tea/coffee in the afternoon, and ‘bubbles’ in the early evening it was well worth the effort.

Jean-Marc Boyer is cooking for the French President, Macron in August, he is pretty good having held his star since 2007 and if you check out his BIO it’s very impressive indeed. We were extremely lucky to have him as our Chef Tutor, he a lovely man and personal friend this being my third time cooking with him over the last few years at Moira’s amazing French House Party.

And then comes…………………………Chocolate 🙂

 

………………………………Until Next Time……………….L8ers………….