Really good food

Food/Drink/Culinaria
1

Most people do not seem to be bothered to enjoy really good food.



Mainly because they do not identify with it.


I sat with the the villagers on July 14th and was amused by their glee and munchability asthey


found pleasure in a gizzard salad with bacon and walnuts and some diced apple. Not that bad and


very predicatable. Then along comes the confit of duck ....preserved, of course but in a Brake factory perhaps.....but not with a crispy skin, no hint of the garlic or thyme ( TOO much like hard work)


The potatos tasted like they were cooked on July 9th and we cold.


No vegies....of course not.



Cheese.


Then some sticky soft slices of cake fell out of the freezer that morning and landed on the long


wooden table that night.


Everyone was loving the food....French and Dutch, American and yes the Brits.


Price does not come into it.


Do something and do it well.


Have the French given up with cooking....in general.


There is nothing worse than jars of pesto and cardboard Pizza, grey looking steak


and the taste of " COOKED IN A FACTORY"


Is decent cooking becoming exstinct?


2

going off towards LANGEDOC via Toulouse .....not staying in Toulose

wondering if anyone can suggest great little hotel and restaurants ...

Not going untill next March.

Thanks for any ideas

3

At this exact minute yes...but am back next Wednesday and staying till September this time.

4

Where you are in 33 is a bit far for me to go, but love the idea.

5

The Indian chefs would come over for a convension and cook for us.

But we would look at doing an East meets west a POP UP RESTAURANT POSSIBLY FOR A COUPLE

of days maybe in my village.

I am up for a bit of food theatre

in a way that I can offer some fun to locals and others.

I am asking my chefs to see who is up for it.

Are you in UK Carol?

6

mmm...I could eat that now...love tempura...would live on tempura seafood....

7

Just seen the words 'new Indian restaurant' cant help you Barbara...no idea and non of my friends have eaten there...sorry!

8

Barbara! Goodness...how exciting! Ok....La Cour d'Eymet to our mind is fantastic. Ive read the odd not brilliant review but our experience has been wonderful there. Food is exceptional French Cuisine, the experience very formal, the ambience great. We have used it for anniversarys etc. Lunch excellent value...dinner a bit expensive, but worth it to our mind.

Now we havent eaten in either the Chinese or Indian restaurant. A couple of people told me the Indian restaurant used Colemans sauces.....basically Vindaloo..Korma etc...and just put different meat in the sauce. Its closed now...has been for a year or so. The Chinese we tried to get into the first night it opened...and gave up at 10pm and went elsewhere...again...havent eaten there. We love Chinese food...but have found the French versions not to our taste...used to the UK ones probably so we eat Chinese food in the UK and I make curries...one of my hobbies...love cooking all Indian food...I do all our Samosa's and Pakora's....breads etc. so no need to eat those out.

Brian..you are not far wrong...but we have a good Bistro in Pied sur Terre...and the Pizzeria is fun and always packed. There is one purely French restaurant that serves, well last time we were there, just one dish...which was cold cuts, a lot of duck...and salad. Le Pub...which does the steak and chips etc. Plus of course the vans...pizza and fish & chips...so yes Brian..you could say its a bit Brit led....!

9

Our friends who eat a lot of Indian food, vegetarian mainly, are a bit critical of the restaurants in places such as Eymet because they cater to the UK type of customer. If you bring chefs over, then perhaps you might look at other places and also do a bit of 'market research' on what French eaters might like to see. It is a great idea anyway.

10

Carol

what can you tell me about la coeur de Eymet and the new Indian restaurant?

i AM TRYING TO BRING SOME iNDIAN CHEFS over here to cook/stay

trying....

11

That is mainly Jonathon's style.

I cook a lot of traditional food ....the winter foder.

But I like those lighter fresher combinations too

We have just had fresh prawns,split, take out the black streak and

sautee quikly with garlic and butter.

Really tasty.

very naughty.

NEVER ever be size 10 again....

never mind.

12

You are right Vero....we eat in the night markets all the time...and its fine en masse catering...wouldnt expect more for the price and the choices are usually pretty extensive....way more choice than you get in the UK at similar fetes.

Its the restaurants that really are the problem. I now realise that if I have a meal that is just ok I am so relieved I will gush about how nice it was....whereas I used to be a bit more discerning....

13

I think you also have to compare like with like - for something like a 14 juillet village meal you are probably looking at mass catering by volunteers (who may or may not have some expertise) and the point of it won't be gastronomic excellence but something to eat and a get-together. So don't knock them too much, especially as you may be able to knock up a Roux-brothers style 6 course meal for 8 for 50p a head in your own kitchen but try transposing that to 200 people in the salle des fêtes kitchen...

Restaurants who charge as if for fresh produce prepared on site à la minute but in fact dish up what they got in Picard or Thiriet on the other hand I would have a huge strop about. Or the ones who give you old stale rubbish because they can get away with it because they are dealing with clientèle de passage, they need a rocketing as well.

14

Your meal sounds wonderful, tempura of squid and the pigeon and quail, yummy.

15

My OH is in hospital at the moment and caused hoots of laughter from the next door bed's visitors when he was aked what he thought of the food. Not wishing to cause offence he said he thought it wasn't quite up to the standard of the cuisine for which France is so famous!

16

Or a shoulder of lamb

Must admit it is not the sort of weather to do lots of oven work.

17

Or shoulder of pork, which I can order with the rind left on..

18

Sounds really yummy and most of the ingredients are surrounding you.

That is the best way.

Our land is really not so good for groing and our raspberrries just did not

seem to happen but we have redcurrants and are trying a few other things.

Nothing is impossible at home.....of course.

But it seemms to be hard to get the restaurants around here motivated.

Oh well glad that you are eating well.

Slow....REALLY slow cooked belly of pork is great brushed with honey at the last hurdle.

Got to have taties and green things with it

19

Hi Barbara,

Today we had for lunch a salad of escarole with lardons, croutons from our home made bread, oefs mollets, from our own hens and a walnut vinaigrette.

I had to go into the village to the pharmacie, so I bought two artisan cocolate cakes from our excellent boulanger, Champion du monde for baguettes in 2010, and we ate them with our own raspberries and some creme cru.

A couple of glasses of the local Maconnais white wine completed this repast.

The cost, without wine ,about 5 euros for two and simple to prepare.

20

ye gods....a simple assembly of mussels which paddle happily amongst

the white wine, cream, parrsley and roughly chopped oniouns.

That is fine...EASY to cook after you have cleaned them carefuly.

But a meal which is prepared for you with superb ingredients in a

lovely enviroment is worthy of a good price tag.

Served for you at the nicely presented table and not a thing to wash up

all day or evening....priceless.

As you may know we often provide what could be food exsperiences for

visiting clients.

They began with amuse buche....oysters with cream fresh and spagetti

of cuscumber, smoked mackeral cream on little toasts...Bordeaux cremant.

A LITTLE glass of brown shrimps in garlic and lemon mayo...icebug.

then tempura of squid with a little pot of chillie jam.

Decent sav blanc

Then duo of qual breast and squab en crepinette with duxelle

sauce with red wine reduction...Potato rostti and fresh green vegies

There was a bottle of St Emilion wine for that course.

Cheese was decline and dessert was baked pinneapple with vanilla bean,

and served with coconut ice cream and rhubarb sorbet.

Millions of plates and pots, glasses and demi tasses......To wash and return to their rightful place.

Need I say that no one can do that for 15 euros per person.