Dave Hatfield

Really looking forward to this blog. Our last place of residence in the states was Rhode Island so we got a taste of New England. Still, its a big transition for a native Californian (although there is, I think, a rapport between those who grow up on a coast whether it be East or West or North Sea a la my wife Linda) who lives in France and in a part far from the sea. Blog on! I'm anxiously awaiting. Catch lots of lobsters & make me totally jealous.

There was until recently, but I wouldn't have dignified the thing they served with the name hamburger. They were truly awful. It used to be (before MacDonald's, Burger King et al) that the best place to get a hamburger in England was the appropriately named "The Great American Disaster" ! !

I agree with Pam. They're great on the grill, but equally great fried in a very hot pan very quickly. It is essential to cook them quickly & to not over cook them. We did 30 of them for a hamlet party here in France the other day. Our French friends loved them. They were very tender. whole shoulder is even better.

Over the course of more business dinners than I care to remember I gradually worked out that, if things are being done right, the host starts eating first. She/he should say something like dare I say it? Yes! "Bon Appetite" Or "get going" or the polite equivalent. The reason the host should start is because as host He/she should be served last. That is if the restaurant staff are well trained & with it. Even if they aren't and the host is not served last she/he should still start as soon as the last guest has been served and should say something like the reviled: Bon Appetite! This seems to work in most countries where I have done business.

As in your thread title. Its filled with Chinese. A bit gruesome, but some Asian food habits are. Joke

Where's the blog? Where's the links? Where's the pics? I'm dying to see this renovation! As you'll recall this sort of thing is dear to my heart. Please quit teasing. I want to see!

So much nonsense being promulgated. As a cook with over 50 years experience my opinion is simple: - I've tried or been forced to try every form of electric stove top known to man. None, repeat none match up to a gas hob. Response is just not as good. - With gas you not only get instant response you can actually see what you are doing. Try that with induction which blinks on & off like a neon light. - Electric ovens YES. Electric hobs whether old fashioned, radiant or induction just don't match up to gas. Sorry to be so adamant, but I feel strongly about this.

Great answer! And one that I heartily agree with. I do most of my cooking by 'formula' I guess, but I never have though of it that way. I've just always thought in terms of ratios when cooking. It certainly makes scaling up or down easy especially if you're numerically challenged.

Think you are right about the size, it did look a pretty big wheel. Maybe I'm spoiled by all the the wonderful chevres we get locally, but the Selles although good was nothing special. I tried the last of it today just to be sure. Also, I bought a chevre from one of my favorite farm stalls at Limogne market this morning, we'll try it for comparison this evening. Also bought cantal entre doux, some hard little cabeques and some gaperon. Life's tough over here. 1200 cheeses wow! Where's the meeting?

What with blogging and general business I've been neglecting this thread of late, but here's a catch up attempt. We went to a town called Saint Yrieix de Peche today. Main purpose was to buy Limoges china, but I remembered a very good food shop. Great cheese selection: Cheese cabinet #1 Cheese cabinet #2 As you can see lots & lots of nice cheeses. Gaperon, one of my favorites, several varieties of Tomme, proper raw milk Brie and so forth. Exercising great restraint I only bought two cheeses: Here they are. A chevre from Selles sur Cher which turns out to be very mild and really nothing special. BUT: The Bleu de Gex is fantastic. Where has this cheese been all my life. I thought that I knew most decent blue cheeses made in France, but Bleu de Gex is new to me. I don't know how I missed it. My references say it has been made in the Jura for well over 600 years. Wow! The cheese is a delight; sharp, nutty, full of flavour. If you can find it buy it! I'll try to do a full trip report on the blog below tomorrow. (wait til you see what else I bought)

Don't have a favorite per se. I like restaurants where all the cheeses offered are local, Belcastel being a good example. Not quite sure what you mean by "cooked"?? In any case there are few cheeses that I don't like. Brie de Mieux is great, if aged properly and served at the right stage of "doneness"!

To my suprise I couldn't find a previous thread on this topic so here goes. I was prompted to think about how much cheese one should ask for/take when the cheese course arrives at your table by a comment on another thread something like; "the cheese plate was left on the table for us to eat from to our heart's content". My impression gained by both experience and watching the French is that politeness dictates no more than small portions of three cheeses. This seems to apply whether one is being served or whether the cheese plate is left at table. Rarely are large(er) portions taken nor are seconds taken when the cheese is left on the table. The question is: Am I right? Or way off base? Or??? Being a lover of cheese I'd happily take more if I didn't think I risked being labeled a crass American. I am, here, strictly refering to cheese courses in restaurants. Many of our French friends set out an array of 4-6 cheeses and would be very disappointed if one didn't try a small morsel of each. Comments please.

Was only kidding & reacting to the idea of a potato slicing competition. 2-3 mm sounds pretty doable. I can get stockfish and would love the recipe. PM, perhaps? It really is a fantastic dish which is why I want to learn to make it. Also, if I can master it I can then try to see if any other dried fish will work so that its makable outside the Rouergue.

Ptipois, great post. I love trouffade, but have never tried to cook it. You've inspired me to have a go. Wonder just how thinly I can get my mandolin to slice the potatoes. We'll see? Maybe (because I know you'll do it better than I) you could comment upon the third great potato dish from this area, Estafinado. I've eaten it and have sort of a recipe, but I'm by no means an expert; in fact hardly an amateur when it comes to estafinado. Last time I had it at a Troisiemes repas we had three kinds of walnut oil on the table; each made by one of the guys at our long table. All were good, but each had it's own distinctive flavor. Looking forward to your words of wisdom.

Abra, Here's a link that may help. For places to stay go to via Michelin, search Espelette, then local hotels. You'll get a list of about 20. Same for restaurants. You can also try Logis de France.

I don't understand why one of our favorite meats is so hard to get. And expensive. When we lived in Chicago the situation was so bad that we would share a whole lamb with friend who lived in Spokane. His local butcher would cut it up to our preferences, package it & flash freeze it. Our friend would then FedEx it to us. Fairly expensive, but it worked. Here in France we have no problem. The French love lamb. We get most of ours from Bernard who is a local sheep farmer (less than half a mile away) We normally buy a half lamb at a time for 10 Euros per kilo. (about $6.00 per pound) He is very 'green' in his raising & goes to a special 'humane' abbitoir. The meat is beaturifully packed when it arrives. Its some of the best lamb I've ever tasted. The cost per pound is about the same, perhaps a little less than beef. Pork is the cheap meat here, and very good pork it is too. Beef is the problem here. The French like it very lean & they don't hang it for very long. The result to the American palate is not very flavourfull and relatively tough. THe local supermarket got in some Irish beef ribs the other week which were great. We bought as many as we could find room for in the freezer. If anybody wants a recipe for most any part of a lamb just let me know. I have a lot.

Congratulations & good luck on your blog. I'll be wishing you all the best And following with interest!

Your translation is pretty good. Yes to both plus the ice cream with cardamome. I didn't have it, but those who did were delighted. Linda & i had the apricot dessert and were over the moon!

You're right about the tubing. And, it's a corkscrew for 1/2 bottles. Dave (just joking)

Abra, I don't think 'weird' is quite the right adjective to describe the Belcastel menu. The chef would probably prefer 'innovative'. Here's what I think she was trying to achieve. The veal trotters are a very mild flavor. Shrimp a bit more flavorsome & often served with citrus. Voila! Grapefruit for a change, But the grapefruit is too strong & needs a carrier. Enter the mashed potato. Thus some logic to the dish. I didn't have it so can't comment personally, but those who did pronounced it delicious. Its not all that unusual to serve white fish, cod in this case, with shell fish, oysters in this case. These oysters were chopped up & mixed with mashed potato then formed into little balls. They were then skewered with whole potato pieces & browned. I did have this dish & can say that the oyster/potato mix complimented my perfectly sauteed cod beautifully, but subtly. I'd eat it again given the opportunity and am even inspired enough that I might try to cook this dish You are going to have a ball eating weird food over here!

Ok, Sunday night and time for my last food blog post. (of course I will continue to answer any questions & respond as appropriate.) I am both amazed and delighted that roughly 9,000 of you chose to take a look at my blog. (of course I looked myself at least 8.999 times) I appreciate all of the kind comments and perceptive questions. I've done my best to respond. There are other things about food, cooking and living in France that I'd like to share. I just ran out of time not to mention the fact that Linda, who has been incredibly patient throughout this week, would like to get some time on the computer. Some other time perhaps. Just remember that its all about taste & enjoyment. I leave you with a last image: The mystery object's little brother!! Twins!

I think Occitan is pretty safe, but to be sure it is now being taught in schools at the elementary level. The food terms are quite different as are the languages. Occitan has the same roots as Catalan. I think the food traditions in SW France are primarily Occitan since the 'French' (Northerners that is) are relatively newcomers. As far as I know, today, there is no local difference in the foods eaten & the way they are prepared between speakers of the two languages. But, its hard to tell since most of the older generation (my age) spoke Occitan at home & only learned French when they went to school. I can certainly say that their accent is very different. I have trouble understanding many of them. I'm much better with Parisiens. Yes, there are huge differences in style within a given appellation. Since until recently almost all French wine was a blend of grapes from the region so you had differences in the amount of each type of grape in the blend; then there are the stylistic differences between the individual wine makers and then the differences caused by the various aging methods. For example, we drink a lot of Cahors since its grown near us. They are 'all' hearty reds, but range from paint stripping tannin levels to mild full bodied blends even though of the same vintage and from estates within a few miles of each other. Here you get to know the appellations so as to know what to expect in general just as in the states you get to know the varietals. Then as you say you have to go further within the appellations to learn the styles of particular vineyards. Not easy, but the learning process sure is fun. Not sure why the difference. You are certainly right in the the table wine here is fine. The vin ordinaire you buy in restaurants (or that comes as part of a set price meal) is almost always very drinkable. Usually its either local or is bought by long standing arrangement. It certainly wasn't your cheap travel. Yesterday, at Belcastel I ordered the upmarket equivalent of their house wine (20 Euros each). As I mentioned both were superb.

At the risk of getting too far off topic I'll give you a short answer here. If you like we can carry on via PM's afterwards. The big issue you would find in trying to spend a year or more in France or anywhere in the EEC is that of getting a job. To get one you need to speak the local language and be able to get a work visa. (there are lots of illegal immigrants in the EEC, but I don't think you want to go that route) The Uk might be your best bet as you speak the language, sort of. However, the UK is very different from France. The normal way to get a work visa is via an employer who will sponsor you. Finding such an employer mostly means having a special skill that they need. When I was working I was for my first term of living in Europe sponsored by my American employer who wanted to set up a European office in Brussels & asked me to do it. I then went to England, this time sponsored by an English company. From there it was easy to start my own company and, later, establish other companies. Because by then I had both special skills & experience it was easy for me to get a visa. Now that I'm retired it was easy to get a visa as all I had to do was prove that I was financially viable & wouldn't be a burden upon the state. Also, we found out later, since Linda is a British citizen I as her husband automatically qualify for EEC residency. We chose the SW of France for a lot of reasons and in the end choosing Parisot was finding the right house in a place that met our goals. Trying to come over here and live for a year is very possible if you can save up the money to live on. Or can find a (legal) way to support yourselves. PM me & I will answer more fully.

Here's the piece de resistance so to speak. Our lunch at Le Vieux Pont in Belcastel. Before I start I have a confession to make. I just can't bring myself to take pictures of food in restaurants. Linda kindly agreed to take the pictures and our fellow diners were kind enough not to complain. Thank you dear wife! The bridge is one of the first things you see as you enter the village. The village street. The steps at the left lead to the restaurant. View from the bridge looking up. The church on the other side of the river. Having wandered around we went into the restaurant. Having ordered various aperitifs (Linda had a Kir & I had a glass of white port) We were presented with the menus. And our first amuse bouche. A local sausage, smoked ham & avocado with green lentils. Being as there were 8 of us we had just about everything on the menu. Before the entrée there was a second amuse bouche. Somehow we didn't get a picture of it. entrées: Tomato stuffed with quinoa de chair, fried rouget & tomato juice with basil. Veal's foot with shrimp in a confit of grapefruit & apple with spring vegetables. Second course: Veal sweet breads with vegetables marinated in Celery oil Lotte fried with 'notes' of citrus, almond cream, peas with ham & peas with lemon. Plats: Fried cod with potato & chopped oysters and green bullion with anchovies. Rack of veal served pink with eggplant & tarragon marmalade and a potato brochette with veal sweetbreads. Next came the cheese. All from the Rouergue which is the local region. In case you are wondering; yes that is Roquefort at the back & it is local. Then we had our pre-dessert. Now for the real desserts: Strawberries three ways. Apricots, also three ways. And, you guessed it! Chocolate three ways. We were also served another dessert type (a foam concoction) with coffee. The wines we enjoyed were a Cotes de Roussillon and a Cahors. Both excellent & both the choice of the sommelier. Terrific bargains at under $20.00 each. As always a wonderful meal in a great atmosphere. We will continue going forever if possible.

Hathor, I'm not sure what will happen. We seem to be keeping a reasonable number of young people & young families. Our school is well attended. The government program to ease the building of new houses that young families like & can afford seems to be working. We've had 5 new houses in the past year or so. So, fingers crossed. We hope the young people will continue to appreciate the advantages of village life AND be able to find good employment.