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Taste of France with Riana

Why use the word “cookery?” Because most of the expats in Languedoc where I live are English…I am learning British English to boot! Long ago, when I lived in Los Angeles, I took professional cooking classes and as part of the curriculum, for weeks and weeks we covered different regions of France. I treasured my knowledge of the rich cream and apples of Normandy to the herbs and vegetables of Provence. Years later, armed with this information and some well tattered course notes, I created a very successful “cookery course” in my home.  Funny thing, it started as a miscommunication.

I belong to an association of Anglophones in the South of France, AFAL. We have events like movie outings, quiz night, horseback riding, mushroom hunting—you name it, they plan it. Only 148 members belong to this small little group. And I am the only “Yank.” I met with the AFAL event planner one night per chance at a local restaurant. I was eating dinner with my husband and father-in-law and I overheard conversations in English coming from the other table. I joked that I was going to sit with “my people” to my father-in-law, who was pestering me about my poor French, plus they were watching Rugby, which I could care less about.  The table of my mother tongue speakers beckoned me over and I struck up a conversation and found out that we all belong to AFAL and the woman next to me was in charge of events. It was there, trying to hear over the loud match, that she asked me about having cookery classes. I enthusiastically said, “Yes, that would be a great idea!”  …And she said, “Great, you will be brilliant at it!”  She misunderstood that I had pro classes in America to mean that I had taught classes in America. She had consumed many beers by then and I shifted awkwardly in my chair unable to correct her error. Plus my husband was motioning for us to leave.

So I came up with a plan:  I researched regional French recipes, pulled out my old cooking class agendas that I had been schlepping around with me for years, made a sign up, and came up with a price (too low, my husband says, since the classes filled up by the fifth day for the entire 6 week course).  Each class started with an optional tour of the local open-air market (300 meters away) to purchase fresh ingredients for that day’s course. At 11am each student was given copies of the day’s recipes and we chopped, cooked and played in the kitchen together to make a sumptuous lunch that we all would then enjoy at around 1pm. It was so much fun and so refreshing to sit and linger over our homemade lunch and speak in English, even if it was British English. I have made wonderful friends and a little extra money on the side too! Now they are asking for the Fall schedule…

These are the topics and territories that I covered this Spring and will share with you. Most of the recipes and photos from the classes are on my blog:

http://frenchtoastfrance.blogspot.com

Normandy has long been one of France's finest gastronomic regions. On one side it is bordered by the sea which gives way to rich pastureland and lush orchards. It is well known for its seafood, dairy products, apples, pears, sausages and cheeses, such as Camembert and Livarot.  I always do a tasting of the local cheese and wines with each class to really get the flavour of that region. Our recipes for our Normandy course were as follows:

Moules à la Crème Normande (Mussels in traditional cream sauce)

Fried Pont l'Eveque Salad with Walnut Oil Dressing

Tasting of Normandy Cheeses: Camembert, Livarot, and Pont l’Eveque

Tarte Tatin (Apple Tart) with Calvados whipped cream

Served with tasting of Calvados

Alsace, located in eastern France, is bordered on the east by Germany. Because of the constant exchange between German and French, this region’s specialities are a unique and sumptuous mixture of hearty German cuisine with a little French influence. Grains to make rich bread, hops to produce beer, wines like Riesling and Gewurztraminer and orchards of fruits to make eau de vie are their main products.  In Alsace and Lorraine, pork is the most common meat and Sauerkraut is the local traditional dish. We didn’t make “Choucroute” (though I do make it for my husband often), but for this class we did make:

Flammekuche : Tarte flambée

Quiche Lorraine

Tasting of Munster Cheese from Alsace

Pain d'épices

Served with Alsatian Gewurztraminer Wine

Brittany has distanced itself from the rest of France, cherishing its Celtic roots and language. Its rocky coasts on the Atlantic and the Channel provide Bretons with plenty of seafood, and galettes and crêpes are their specialties. For this class, I handed over my oyster shucking metal mesh glove and knife with trepidation, but everyone did great! No trips to the emergency room.

Huîtres: (Oysters, how to shuck and serve with shallot-vinaigrette)

Buckwheat Crêpes with ham and cheese

Tasting of Brittany Cheeses: Nantais, Saint Gildas des Bois, and Carré Breton

Gâteau breton (a buttery pound cake)

Served with Cider and Calvados

Burgundy is world-famous for its wine and three-star restaurants. The cuisine of Burgundy is known for its richness: pigs fed on acorns, big bold red wines, butter and garlic snails, pungent Dijon mustard, strong Epoisses cheeses (my favorite) and succulent meats of Bresse chicken and Charolais beef. The first meal that I ever cooked for my husband was “coq au vin” with a pinot noir.

Coq au vin (chicken cooked in red wine sauce)

Escargots in garlic and parsley butter

Tasting of Burgundy cheeses: Montrachet and Epoisses

Chocolate Mousse

Served with Wines from Burgundy

Bordeaux is known for its world-class wine-based recipes. Bordeaux's most celebrated dish is beef: "Entrecôte à la Bordelaise" (char-grilled rib steak served with a bordelaise sauce, made from dry red wine, onion or shallots and juices from the meat). Bordeaux's most celebrated dessert is cannelé, small, moist, molded cakes flavored with cinnamon – so good they are enjoyed not just at the end of a meal, but at every conceivable opportunity.  We ate them before class and after dessert!

Purée de pomme de terre au Sauce Périgueux – (truffle sauce)

Entrecote à la Bordelaise – steak with red wine, bone marrow and shallots

Bordeaux Canneles (Canalay)

Cherry Clafouti (French baked pudding)

Served with a nice big Red Bordeaux wine

Provence, my ever popular neighbor to the East, is known for its olives, olive oil, fruits and goat cheeses. Often called the Cuisine of the Sun, these recipes make the best use of the vegetables and fruits that are grown in the area. My husband’s accent is also called the “accent of the soleil.” For this class we bought fresh eggplants, olives and anchovies at the farmers market.

Salade Niçoise

Ratatouille

Anchoïade, Aioli and Tapenade

Apricot Tarte

Served with Provence Rosé wines

Bon appétit!

Copyright © Riana Lagarde