[Sca-cooks] Just back from France

Susan Fox selene at earthlink.net
Tue Nov 1 09:55:01 PDT 2011


I'm digging that they offered him a job.

Were the cookery classes in French or English?  There's a dream vacation 
for me.

Selene Colfox

On 11/1/2011 9:01 AM, Michael Gunter wrote:
> The proto-wife and I have just returned from a two week tour of France.
> Of interest to the list:
> Had a cooking class in the home of a chef professor at The Institut du Paul Bocuse
> (Made squash soup with sauteed scallops, Duck breast in reduced fig sauce, and
> Baked Apples in Creme Anglaise)
> We visited several open air markets with produce the envy of any food distributer in the
> US. My one real regret was not having a kitchen in order to play with all these wonderful
> new toys. I got to talk with fruit and vegetable vendors, cheese makers and charcuterie
> specialists. And the meanest of their products blows away any megre attempts I have
> produced. The quality and skill is so amazing.
> We visited a winery and stood in a vault dating from the 9th Century that was the very first ever used to
> store what is now considered Chablis wine. It also housed the bones of a saint for a
> time. We walked away with a bottle of expensive but amazing wine.
> In Beaurne we visited a hospital for the poor that was more beautiful than most palaces. It also had
> restored the kitchen to 18th Century standards. I got to watch the workings of a clockwork spit.
> I attended a daylong class at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. We made Mussles in Curry sauce, Blanquette
> of Lamb with baby vegetables, and Grandmother Tart (apples, pears and nuts cooked in custard in
> a shortcrust shell).
> I discoveret "Raclette" in Cambaray. It is a half a wheel of cheese with heating element placed over it.
> The cheese melts out onto a plate where it is scooped up and eaten with bread or cured meats. It is
> the perfect dish when viewing the French Alps.
> After eating one of the best meals of the trip in Beaurne I was invited by the chef to go tour his kitchen.
> At Les Halles in Lyon I was offered a job to help a butcher on the weekends.
> In Dijon I visited the Maille mustard shop, where I bought a jar of grainy mustard that was pumped into
> the container as you would do with beer. When I told him about my "famous" Digby spiced mustard he
> offered to sell it in the shop if I provided it.
>
> We went to Guedelion, a 13th Century castle reproduction that is being built in a totally period manner.
> I got to be friends with the Project Manager and was offered the opportunity to come out and design
> their kitchen and conduct cooking demos. Of course I can't take the time to do that, but is is fun to
> think about.
>
> Wonderful meals: The "freshwater fish stew" that was more like fish in cream sauce. Eating too much
> bone marrow at a bouchon. Lots of duck confit. Having a "Rabbit Salad" that I figured to be roasted
> rabbit mixed with a buerre blanc with tarragon and thyme and molded. I will definately be reproducing
> that! Strangely enough having Chinese steamed dumplings in Lyon and fantastic Italian food in Paris.
> Eating crepes bought from a sidewalk vendor in Paris.
> Fois Gras with fig preserves.
> Ouefs en Meurette sauce.
>
> There was much more but I have to say it is very nice to be home. I have two cookbooks, several recipes
> and some stuff in my head that I will be using in the near future.
>
> Gunthar 		 	   		
> _______________________________________________




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