Dave Hatfield

Felice, Thank for sharing and for the tip. My question is that if I read this book will I ever eat again? Or, will I turn vegan? Or will I simply give up on food entirely and go onto a 100% wine diet?

You might also want to try the i nteractive eGullet map of restaurants outside Paris. For that matter you might want to check out the Paris map as well. There are tons of recommendations for Provence by eGulleteers. Just expand the map so you can see the precise locations. Go here for the link. Have fun!

Friday or Saturday yes, other days no. Sunday lunch Absolutely. Let me know what you think.

Abra, Ok if you are feeling brave try this. Get off the Narbonne - Toulouse Autoroute onto the A66. Fairly shortly thereafter turn West towards Auterive. Go through Auterive to St. Suplice. In St Souplice have lunch at: Le Commanderie 1 PLACE DE L HOTEL DE VILLE F - 31410 ST SULPICE SUR LEZE Téléphone : 05 61 97 33 61 After lunch continue on to the A64 & turn West to Pau and from there you will get to all the peppers. Make sure you reach the restaurant BEFORE 1:00PM (13:00)

Crispy skin. Cut through the skin in strips about 1/2 inch apart. Try not to cut below the skin into the meat. Lightly rub olive oil over the skin & then salt with coarse sea salt. (Not too much salt) Make sure you rub some of the salt down into the cuts. Cut 3 or 4 onions in half & peel. Put the onions cut side down into a roasting tin, spreading them out so that they support the belly when you place it on top of them. Heat oven to between 70 & 110 degrees C. Temperature depends upon how long you want to cook the belly. I generally do about 100C & cook for 4-5 hours. Lower longer, higher shorter. I don't recommend anything higher than the 110C. About 10 minutes before taking the belly out of the oven turn on the top grill & finish off the skin. Watch very carefully as its easy to burn the skin. When nicely crisped take it out of the oven. It won't take long. Gently lift out the onions which will be delicious. I like to slice the belly along the cut lines in the skins which makes slices like thick bacon rashers, each with crackling attached. For a sauce just pour off most of the fat, de-glaze the pan with white wine, reduce, add some Dijon mustard & perhaps a bit of sage, add full cream, reduce again & serve. Simple. Our guests go wild over this. edited to correct typos.

Hard to say. There are three starred restaurants in Carcassonne to chose from, but maybe they're too slow for what you need. Try a Michelin search, then trust to your luck. Given the driving times indicated on your blog are you sure its not a hotel you want?

We went to La Cros in La Cros for Sunday lunch today and I was reminded of how good it is. I came home determined to see if it was on my restaurant map. To my dismay it wasn't. I was sure that John Whiting had done a post about it as a result of one of his periodic forays to the back woods of the Rouergue. After struggling with the inestimable eGullet search engine I eventually found that he hadn't, but that he had talked about it on his own blog. Go here for John's excellent write up complete with pictures of food. (as some of you may remember I don't do restaurant food pictures.) We have been to La Cros numerous times and it is always excellent. This time of the year they are only open for dinner on Friday and Saturday and for Sunday lunch. The price is still 15 Euros including wine. Today the entree choice was between an Autumal salad with carrot chips and a buck wheat galette with forme d'Albert. There was also locally produced foie gras for a small supplement. We had one of each. Our guest is from Chicago where they seem to have outlawed foie gras so she had to have that. Hanna thought it and the local Gaillac doux were delicious. Linda loved the salad and the 'chips' were tasty & crunchy. My galette was wonderful, steaming hot and savory. Plats were either comfit de canard with Lyonaise potatoes or a beef stew with carrots. Again, Hanna had the duck on the premise that's harder to get and not normally as good in Chicago. She was delighted. The 'stew' was a new treat for Linda & I; lots & lots of carrots slowly cooked with nice chunks of beef and served with boiled potatoes. The carrots had imparted a sweetness to the beef which in turn was fork tender. French country soul food in my opinion. The cheese platter was brought & left. The selection was of 8-10 varieties including local cabeques, a very nice ripe camembert and a blue de causses. Dessert was a pear poached in white wine served with a chestnut mousse or Banoffi. Both were delicious. (if you don't know what banoffi is as I didn't be sure to try it at the first opportunity.) A very satisfying lunch.

Whitebait are very popular in England (there they are very small fish; baby I don't know what's) Mostly they are doused in flour then quickly pan fried. I've also had them marinated in lemon or lime juice with shallot, salt & pepper. Great that way. I've never actually marinated them myself so can't advise on recipe or timings. A googe search should turn up some technique.

David, Great recipe! And great pictures. Looks delicious. Your Tarte Tatin technique is somewhat different from mine,but looks similar at the finish. I am doing one next week so will take pictures and describe my method for comparison. We agree on Granny Smith's as the best apple for this; we do our crusts very differently and our cooking technique differs quite a lot. Should be fun comparison.

Don't know that you are doing anything wrong, but I do question the necessity/desirability of confiting a pork belly. If you have brined it (again a bit of an overkill for pork belly) then just slow roasting should do the trick. Do the usual with the skin to set up for your cackling then just let it roast very slowly for a few hours. I've never tried it with a pork belly, but my fear would be that after the time in the fat the belly might be falling apart. Now then comfit of pork shoulder is a whole different ball game. See Paula Wolfert's recipe in South Western French cooking.

Wild Mushrooms! Picked them from a nearby field. Butter, garlic, fresh bread and some cheese not to mention a bit of wine. Great lunch. For a complete pictorial description go to my blog. Link below to French Food Focus.

Abra et al You missed out on Tarte Tatin. Also, I don't see it on recipe gullet. Therefore, I promise to do an illustrated recipe next week. Things with walnuts in them are very popular this time of year when the walnuts start dropping. (We had rain yesterday which caused most of ours to fall. I out scrambled Rupert to get most of them) A local favorite is a walnut gateau with wild honey & decorated with toasted walnut halves.

I tend to agree. If you look at how we eat those simple carbs it is also usually with loads of fat, or if a low fat version we delude ourselves into thinking we can consume huge portions with no ill effect. Curious as to when you say the French version of Atkins- do you mean an actual plan or a lifestyle or? Did notice a lack of emphasis on white products in your lovely EG blog- what whole grain products do you favor? ← French version I was referring to is the Montignac method. I first tried this in 1990 with his book "Dine Out and Lose Weight". I was at 207 lbs when I started, got back to the 180 lbs where I should be in about two months. (Note that I was living in the Uk and traveling around European countries and visiting the States on a regular basis during this time; eating in top restaurants) I pretty much stayed between the 180 & 185 as long as I more or less kept to the method. Several friends who went with Montignac had similar results. Living in France I'm lucky in that if I want bread I have a choice from any of several bakeries. One makes a 'multi-cereal' that's excellent another a terrific Rye bread. Fortunately, I don't have much of a sweet tooth so giving up almost all sugar is not a big deal. Wine, however, is another matter. After a very indulgent summer I'm over 195 lbs so will get strict with myself at the end of this month. (we have a succession of friends coming to stay over the next couple of weeks so I will continue to eat wrong things & drink more wine than I should) I'll report results just before Thanksgiving.

I'm a firm believer that the real culprit is simple carbs. Sugar, white flour, potatoes, alcohol. I find that the French version of Adkins (less severe) works for me and anyone else I've persuaded to try it. This diet is a regime of eating protein, fats and COMPLEX carbs. Seems to me this is pretty much what our fore bearers ate. They didn't have refined sugar, white flour or potatoes. They did have alcohol, but probably couldn't afford that much. Or, like most French, drank sparingly. In any case it certainly works for me.

You'll hear no more from me on this topic, but I will end with this. The topic was Restaurant food photos - IN FRANCE. When the French (other than the occasional blogger) start taking pics in restaurants then I guess it will be Ok for guests in their country to do so as well.

Suspect that after the match (especially should France win) some nice black crow might be roasted and eaten. If no crow is available roast coq might do (if France lose)

Ah Ha! Common sense coming through on this topic. My hat's off to the anti-pix camp. I find it notable that even the photo takers seem to be somewhat apologetic about it. " I do it quickly" " I turn the flash off" " I have a tiny camera" Why do it at all? Has language failed us? As I said in my first post on this topic; if one wishes to be seen as and regarded as a crass American then snap away. And yes a few French bloggers feel they must join in, but I notice that they are really very nervous about taking pictures in restaurants. Obviously, the likes of me won't stop the shutter bugs, but at least I have this forum to voice my opinion on.

Things have been a bit quiet on this thread lately so let's see if I can liven things up a bit. Please go here to look at a cheese oriented post I did on the France forum. I'd like some opinions. The stronger the better.

Thanks so much! You have a great point, and I will be sure to explore as much of the country as possible. Regarding the camera, I'm pretty determined to bring it everywhere in the most tactful way possible (no flash, quick pictures, just of the food, etc ...). Photographing food, I've found, is really helpful for me to remember the experience. Also, it's a great way to share with others. My initial plan is to not hesitate and to respectfully photograph what I can ... let's see how that goes! ← There are other options which are less intrusive and more in keeping with European manners. You can for instance make sure you take a card for the restaurant. These are almost always available and will include basic information. You can also ask for a copy of the menu which, again, most restaurants are pleased to provide. This can be used as both an 'aide mémoire' and after scanning an accurate record of what you ate. Of course you can take pictures; very few places will make a fuss. But you will be regarded as an American tourist, not as a person who is a true lover of food. Face it, dining is a very personal experience. We can attempt to reproduce that experience in words to convey the sensual e4xperience. Pictures no matter how good or pretty just don't do that. I don't wish to be too harsh about this, but frankly they seem to me to be a form of bragging. Annoying to others in the restaurant no matter how discrete you attempt to be. Still do whatever makes you comfortable and have a good time enjoying it. Good luck & (to raise another French forum hackle) Bon Appète

Ajgnet - Since you have a whole year Please please remember that Paris is not France. Its a wonderful and sometimes magic place, but it is not the 'real' France. Get out and explore a bit (the TGV makes this easy) Try regional cuisines in their places of origin. See some beautiful countryside & meet wonderful people. Do leave your camera at home when you are eating out. Yes, the French bloggers take pictures, but even they aren't comfortable doing it. Above all, have a good time. I still have fond memories of my first visit to Paris some 45 years ago.

Here's a cheese course puzzler for you. This is a true story which only happened two weeks ago. The place was a 2 star Michelin restaurant in London. The participants were a friends of ours who were entertaining two young relatives (both University graduates in their mid-20's) who were used to dining in top class restaurants. When the cheese trolley arrived with a large selection of cheese it was manned by a waiter who was French & was acting a bit superior. The young male relative was a bit piqued by the waiter's attitude and proceeded to select 10 different cheeses. Way over the top most of us including our friends would agree. When the bill came the restaurant had charged double for the young man's cheese course. The puzzler is this: Who was the more tacky and out of line? - The young man? - The restaurant? You tell me.

I'm very happy to report that when we dined at Jardin des Sens in Montpellier this Saturday evening there was not a camera in sight. Quite a few Americans there for the rugby, but none taking pictures. Thank goodness. We throughly enjoyed our meal.

Abra Try some of the food & wine magazines. Several of them do extensive tastings of the wines offered by the big chains. Or, use the Trader Joe's technique. A plastic cup & corkscrew in the car. Buy a few bottles that strike your fancy & do your own tasting in the car. Go back & buy what you like. We did this last year & ended up with a terrific bargain Corbiers. This year we scored with a 2003 Buzet at Euro 2.50. Great? No, but everyday table wine Yes!

I'm way too old. Sometimes think I was born before WWI let alone WWII. In any case I can add a memory or two of Girardet. The first time I went was before the big renovations/additions/ remodel. The place still looked like a typical Gasthaus. The dining room was nice, but typical of a country place. I can remember being presented with dish after dish that seemed to be both innovative & perfect. My clearest memory of that occasion was a wonderful cheese cart populated with nothing but cheeses from Switzerland. I was flabbergasted. Next chance to go was a bit funny. I was newly married (2ond try) and we had planned a vacation which started with a tour through the Rioja wine area of Spain & continued into SW France. Less than a week before we we were due to leave I got a call from my buddy Pierre. "I have a reservation four 4 at Girardet next week. Can you & Linda make it?" Can a duck swim? I went home & informed my bride that plans had changed. Good sport that she is she promised not to divorce me until after the meal. She still talks about the sorbets, 6 types I believe, that we were served. By then the great physical changes had occurred and the place was beautiful. The 3rd big meal at Girardet was as the result of an incentive program. Pierre's crew were selling a new product we'd come out with like there was no tomorrow. (these went for about $75,000 a pop.) They'd beat their plan by July. So Pierre says to me what are you going to do to keep us motivated? My answer: A meal for each sales person & their SO at Girardet for every two additional products you sell. I ended up hosting lunch at Girardet for 16 people! Best incentive program I ever came up with. At that meal which we had in a private room we were offered seconds of the roast chicken with truffles we had as a main course. (the only complaint coming from the ladies who did not get offered seconds.) I've never had that happen before or since in a top class restaurant. Still my all time favorite restaurant. Girardet had it all.

Bleu - Have you ever tried fromage blanc for cheese cake? I've got a yen for cheese cake, but have never made one. I'm thinking that the consistency of fromage blanc might be better. Help!