bleudauvergne

I am savoring every word and photo in this blog, Lori. Thanks for doing this, it's beautiful so far.

Coming from someone who has never actually made boudin noir from scratch but eats it fairly often, yours looks really really good, Abra! It really looks wonderful. I don't slice it up before cooking it - what I do is take the sausage piece like you have there above, pierce it in various places with a fork, toss some fat into a pan (the butcher gives me a piece of fat to go with the sausage) and then and heat the sausage in one link circling around the outside of the pan over medium heat. I slice up some potatoes and apples and place them in the space in the middle, and let them cook slowly with the sausage, covering for aminute or two to let the steam heat the sausage through, and then taking off the lid to let the liquid evaporate. If your heat is too high and your sausage too cold the sausage skin will break, be careful. You can turn the sausage once the one side gets crisp. The apples will melt with time, and flavor the potatoes. Eventually you'll have a nice crisp on the outside and meltingly delicious on the inside sausage and the potatoes will begin to caramelize with the natural sugar of the apples. Don't forget to pierce the sausage and letting it heat to room temp before cooking it will help keep it from breaking while cooking. The fat inside will melt but make it nice and juicy. Hope that helps.

Noted that pure vegetarian tasting menus are extremely rare if not non-existent. But if Babern38 were to go into a michelin starred restaurant and tell them that he's a vegetarian, what's going to happen? Would his experience be totally ruined? Would they kick him out? Do you think they wouldn't make an effort? I also seem to recall some buzz not long ago about a vegetarian restaurant gastronomique with a nice tasting menu in Paris...

Moderator's note: I have removed several posts from this topic that have nothing to do with John's proposed topic and unfortunately digressed into unpleasantness. For this reason I ask to you please return to the original topic: World cup food: What'd'ya eat? .

Anna's right when she mentions the meal as opposed to one dish. Let's face facts. A dish is a dish. And a dish is one component of a meal. The true test of a cook's skill, in my opinion, is the meal as a whole, from soup to nuts. The ability to execute one dish to perfection, no matter how great it tastes, is only one element of the skill of a cook. My goal is for my family and friends to leave the table happy and comfortable: a mix of conversation, ease of presentation, good choice of wines, dishes matched for flow and evolution right up through dessert and coffee, prepared with everything from that day's weather to the nature of my friendship with the guest (if I have a guest) in mind. The temperature of the foods and plates are important as well, as well as how the table looks. It took me a long time to understand that striving for balance when making choices: simple and complex, self moderation, timing, not taking shortcuts, knowing my limits, and the flow of the courses are just as if not more important as the ability to execute a certain dish. If you have ever been a guest at someone's table who serves a meal so heavy or packed with attempts to wow or offers for seconds that it makes you tired, overwhelmed, or just plain stuffed, no matter how well prepared each dish is, there's no way you can really enjoy it. I can't taste one dish, plain or fancy and say - this person is a good cook! I can sit at their table and eat a meal that they have prepared, and only then can I tell.

Wow, these are super photos. The meal looks like it was gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing them with us.

Doing an advanced search on Keyword "Lyon" with the tool available in the first line at the very top of the page (above the blue bar containing the egullet Logo) will give you a whole lot of information. BCinBC provided us with a very nice trip report quite recently Here which is something you worth a look. Some reccomendations for Bouchons can be found Here. Have a great trip!

I have never been to that festival, but it really looks like lots of fun. VisitProvence.comhas a short writeup in their calendar for the event. They set up large tents and have 12 different chefs preparing dishes, starting at 1€ a plate. Wish there were more details. I called the mayor's office and unfortunately they don't have any info other than a paper brochure, which I have asked them to send me.

Clearly these gents have never tasted real Cheddar cheese. Here is a list of places you can order cheeses - some ship to France.

Thank heaven for mothers. Mine hauls several pounds a year from New York (where the best cheddar is made ) to Lyon. She says that at a security check they raised an eyebrow because her cheese hauling goes against the natural cheese flow. Not many people understand. But those of us who know a good cheddar know it's all for a good reason. When she goes to see my siblings who live in the States, she also takes them cheese from home - even as close as neighboring state Pennsylvania they don't make cheese like this. At the St. Antoine market for a couple of weeks this Spring one of the fromagers had a wheel of cheddar. It wasn't very good, though.

Looks like the folks active in the Italy forum are having a great time with The Cooking and Cuisine of Sardinia. Lots of insightful historical information, beautiful images coming from kitchens all over the world inspired by this topic. Bravo.

With whose culture? ← Both. The United States of America is a relatively new nation and has not yet gone through the cycles that are necessary to create a true 'culture' found in countries that have had thousands of years of history with wars, uprisings, decadence etc. When the french, as most europeans, go abroad they do not generally expect foreigners to speak or understand their language as do almost all americans. It is exactly the same comparison with smoking. The primary reason that many restaurants offer non-smoking sections is due to the american demand, which is understandable due to the fact that the americans leave a lot of money here. But the number of times I have heard americain people looking for 'local bistros' with 'no tourists' and 'non-smoking sections' it is hilarious! It is obviously not an authentic experience, then as this is part of french life and french culture. California does not exist in France and vice-versa. They both have their positive aspects, and that is the reason to go to both places. I would sacrifice someone smoking next to me in Ledoyen so that I may enjoy a filet of tubot with black truffles on a bed of fork-mashed potatoes with truffle emulsion, I can say. ← Its strange but I can't see at all this comparison with English language and non-smoking as two things wrongfully imposed on the French by tourists. Most of my French friends can't stand being smoked at while they're eating, and always request non-smoking if they have a choice. Furthermore, I have dined with French people who ask smokers to stop when their meal is served, and their request has been honored without comment or conflict. I'd say claiming smoky restaurants to be a 'French thing' is an exaggerated cultural stereotype.

My thought is that the beef cut makes a whole lot of difference, and the French don't cut the way Americans do French cuts are often a combination of two American cuts - and vice versa, they overlap. I find that when I'm in the mood for a big fat juicy steak, a thick cut slab of marbled Charolais aloyau from my butcher can take me right back. Do you have a butcher in town that sells Charolais beef? That is excellent quality beef. lots of fine marbling and flavor. Normally your butcher ages beef - ask him his thoughts on this.

Perhaps we can make a list and place a few calls. I don't mind taking a few minutes and getting this year's closing dates for a few restaurants. Which restaurants should I call?

A hearty congratulations to Christine on earning her diploma! Where do you go from here?

There are two types of food blogs for me, the kind that are people sharing their thoughts and images about food and food in their lives, and then there are the ones that are meant to inspire me to do more with my own food photography and writing. Some food bloggers also have blogs that deal with the technical and aesthetic issues of food blogging. There's one I check often to see if she's got something new up - Still Life With. It's a blog entirely about food photography with some really interesting information that she's putting up regularly. One thing I love about this blog is that it is full of tips for someone working at home and technical stuff I've never even thought of. When I decided to start my own blog for my friends and family at the beginning of this year, I signed up at the Food Blog S'cool which is run by Sam at Becks & Posh and there have gotten feedback and help from other members on technical issues. There is a lot of giving going on there. I like that.

Save the pies!

If partridge were compulsory, Carcassonne cassoulets could only be made from October through January. Unless of course there's a confit de perdrix I haven't heard of. I wonder if in Carcassonne they might put up anything like the Confit de perdreau gris à l'ancienne served by Pierre Gagnaire in his champagne menu.

What's in the bistrots and cafes this month?

oooh. What a delectible idea. It's gorgeous! Give me some notes on scale. That's about the size of a saucisson, yes? I'm starting to get that urge again... Guest coming Friday, let's see...

Now lets also get some perspective on this, I was recently very dissapointed when I ordered a "cassoulet de ..." or something or other and got a watery ragout resembling ratatouille and nothing close to cassoulet. Restauranteurs all over France are cashing in on the name. It's one of those things that is not officially defined or protected in the common sense except by people who delve into food history and have a vested interest in the matter - like people who claim to have the recipe. I agree that there are some principles and each group has a different list of heretical ingredients to be avoided at all costs - some say chicken in any form is wrong, others say mutton has no place in the dish, whereas there's someone else saying that without it it can't by definition be a cassoulet, etc. Years ago, Paula Wolfert tried to find the true cassoulet and then changed her project to looking for the one that tastes the best when she realized the polemic goes in all directions. There are cassoulets "in the style of"... from all over the place. As for the beans, I was discussing the issue of the cassoulet with my butcher not long ago in convincing him to guide me through producing sausages of the various kinds correctly with the best ingredients from scratch with his equipment during one of his down days. I didn't trust myself to get the sausages right, not being a professional. Normally I would consider him a very serious gourmand if not a gourmet in his own right, but this time I was shocked when he scoffed at the idea of his friend seeking out the soisson for his cassoulet. He said they were too expensive. After having tried them I will have nothing else. But some do not agree. It's true, the Soisson is produced in one single town in France, and the cassoulet is a phenomenon that spans much further. I saw some beans on sale in a sack with this on the label: type SOISSON Wrong? I thought so. But legal in any case. I think that everyone will agree that the bean has to hold up to long cooking. Will the fava bean hold up? I'm not quite sure. I would like to pose another question. Does la saucisse de couenne have a place in this dish?

A beautiful article. Thank you Shaun. I lived in Chapel Hill (Carrboro) and studied there at the university. Your piece started by bringing back fond memories of a time not so far away, and then developed into something quite special to me. I grew up in a Southern family transplanted to the North, and many of the ideas that you touch on were things I have mused upon over time. Kudos to you for a very well written piece.

I was thinking that instead of being irked by the tourists, she was irked by David's knowledge of chocolate which surpassed her own, her knee jerk reaction to that being the way she tried to make the group submit to her. Not nice either way.

Some photos from my Market, Marché St. Antoine in Lyon. Interesting tidbit of information, yesterday while researching the different species of chives, I learned that the name civet as in 'civet de lièvre' comes from the use of ciboulle in the original recipe. I bought 200 grams of these just to see what they tasted like - very nice - they stayed moist and flavorful with a good browning in butter, unlike some new potatoes I know, but I would not buy these every day. The price is just too high. We're getting a lot of asparagus right now.

Asking before snapping is a courtesy we'd all do well to follow, and given that the clerk made up some inane and obviously fictional policy just to tell David's group who's in charge is really not acceptable. Speaking of crazy "policy", I had a discussion with a lady at the St. Antoine market who transports an entire French patissiere to the quai side, macarons, tartes, etc. I rarely buy there because I feel that the conditions of shipment and being outdoors in all weather conditions doesn't do much for the meringue etc. But they do from time to time display some pretty handiwork. I was researching the Lyonnais praline tarte and there was one in the right place at the right time on her stand. I asked if I could take a picture, she asked if I was a journalist, I replied that I do sell my work from time to time, and then she refused to allow me to take the photo, stating that her husband works hard to produce these pastries and she won't have me making money off his work for free. Ludicrous reasoning already established, she added to the pile, saying that of course was different for an "established journalist" she said, who was sure to cite the name of their stand under the photo in a very fancy magazine. Something about that exchange still bristles with me mainly because it's that kind of bitterness that kills what's good in any exchange. Last photo refusal was last month when I was obsessing about "stacks of things", and asked one holiday fill-in stand if I could photo a stack of her Tommes de Savoie. (on some holiday weekends, vendors who aren't regulars at the St. Antoine market are able to obtain a stand if a regular vendor is taking the holiday). She pursed her lips hesitantly and nodded no, as if taking the photo would diminish their soul, and I moved on. It didn't feel good, but what can you do? The regular vendors at St. Antoine know me and all but two understand that I am honestly trying to record the beauty of the market (one is a mushroom vendor who I'm pretty sure doesn't want me taking pictures because she imports her girolles and marks them "France", and the other is a Comte vendor who has a paranoid vision of me taking photos as a form of spying on his prices). The healthy minded vendors know that any photos that eventually are circulated will only reinforce good publicity for the market.