Dave Hatfield

L'Oustal del Berry is the other place that got the Bib Gourmand from Michelin this year. They've been very up & down over the past few years, but are up now. Let's hope the chef stays! Whilst around Gaillac you could do worse than having a meal at Chateau Salettes. New chef there who is pretty with it. Have fun!

John - Good suggestion. Najac is pretty special. Although no great restaurants the 2007 Red book gives two of the local eateries a Bib Gourmand rating, not bad for a small place. We happen to like the local pizza place which serves not only good pizzas, but all the traditional local dishes. The bakery is very good & Villefranche de Rouergue is not far away for heavy duty shopping. There is also a small, but nice market during the summer months. Can't remember which day, perhaps Saturday. PS: You flatter my hiking abilities, but Najac is only about 15 kn. The problem is the series of steep hills in-between us.

Lets face it the FDA rules make no sense & change all the time anyway. I'd just send it and say "gift" on the customs declaration giving a modest value. On the shipping I think you'll find that there are different sized Collisimo boxes. Each costs a set amount to send to different countries, BUT up to a maximum weight the price is the same. If I recall correctly the biggest Collisimo box costs 38 Euro, but you can put up to 8 kilos in it. Check it out. I've had friends do this as a cheap way of getting things to the states. Well, cheaper than excess baggage anyway now that the airlines are hot on charging you.

I've been pretty lazy of late & just buying my tried and true favourites, but we were having people in for dinner so I decided to do something a bit different. Just two cheeses that looked a lot the same, but were very different. As you'll see it didn't quite work out that way. The first was a Poirou. A cows milk cheese made locally. White, reasonably firm and mild tasting. The second was a St Felicien. Before I unwrapped it, it looked much like the Poirou. When I "decanted" it, it looked like this Very nice & ripe. What we lost on looks we gained on flavour. A wonderful cheese this one. So, I didn't succeed on the looks front, but did on the tasting side. Both good & very different. The St Felicien goes on the 'A' list.

Wow! I see lots & lots of good advice here. Must be difficult to choose a place. For what its worth I would remind everyone that visiting some place is not at all the same as living there. Great vacation spots don't necessarily work well for all seasons. If you are to be somewhere for a year your criteria are somewhat different. The day to day practicalities of life loom a bit larger. Let's face it we don't go out to top of the line restaurants every day. So, my advice is to pay quite a bit of attention to the basics of living. ( does that charming village house have central heating? Is there a good hot water system? Is the house a year round place or some body's summer holiday home?) Other than a few obvious spots you will find good food, markets and charm all over France. Its hard to go wrong. I've stated my preference for the South West, but there are plenty of other areas that are almost as nice. Keep having fun with this. When are you actually planning to come?

Abra - I think you'll have a wonderful time no matter where you choose. Rather then specific advice I can share with you the decision making process Linda & I went through when we were preparing to buy in and then move to France. (mind you we had already spent a lot of time in France over the years.) First we decided no cities. (easy as we're country lovers with dogs). Then we eliminated the North on weather; too cold & grey. Then we eliminated Provence as too expensive & too many 'foreigners'. We eliminated the Loire & Dordogne as being too much Eastern England given the number of British. The Rhone, Jura & Massif Central just didn't appeal to us for reasons we can't quite figure out. So, this really left the South West. Roughly from Montpelier over to Coulior on the coast & up to Biarritz & Bordeaux on the West. Why? Good climate, relatively low house prices, great food & wine. Most of all friendly people. We then spent several weeks starting in Montpelier & working our way sort of North & West. We ended up in Parisot in the Tarn et Garonne. Have regretted it for a minute. Don't know if this helps or not, but I guess I'm saying that you should eliminate the non-starters then focus on where you think you might like. You'll know the right place when you see. it.

There is actually very little difference between tomme de Cantal and tomme de Laguiole, as the differences between cantal and laguiole cheeses are not dramatically wide. Although the Rouergue and particularly the Aubrac are politically included in Languedoc, they are culturally closer to Auvergne. ← Right as usual. If I remember correctly the main difference between Cantal, Laguiole and, for that matter, salers is the breed of cow that the milk comes from. Politics, however, come into play. Jeanne lives in Najac which is in the Rouergue so it has to be a local variation.

It's definitely a hard cheese, but nothing like a bowling ball- it cuts fine with a knife or with a cheese peeler. I don't know what the brand name is- the piece is small enough that all I can see on the rind is "ord" and "noo". But I bought it at DiBruno's, and here's their product page: 10-year old Gouda ← I'm still interested in the 10-year old Gouda. If anyone who is reading this thread has access to this cheese, I'd LOVE to see a picture of it. I am really interested in the color and texture, and also in the size of the whole cheese. There are no pics of this particular cheese on the DiBruno's website. Please PM me if you have a pic and want to send it to me, we can do this outside the thread. Thanks. I'm with Gariotin on this. Very sceptical. Would it be possible for somebody who does regular business with DiBruno's to ask a few questions? Chufi - You live where the Gouda is made. Can you find any 10 year old? Or can you ask some of the specialist cheese shops about it? I'd love to find out more. Here in France we can readily get 3 year old and also 5 year old (but with more difficulty) I love the aged Gouda's & would really like to try a 10 year old. Nothing like a good mystery is there? ←

hooray!! Spot on as usual, Ptipois. Wish I'd written that. Living on the edge of the Auvergne as I do I can echo everything Ptipois says. This is a dish that MUST be made right to TASTE right. I rarely try to make it at home since its a lot of work and I can buy it at any of our local markets. Also, of course, its served with many of the meals at the fêtes around the area. I like the Monterey Jack idea. I'm not sure if the consistency would be right, but it should be worth a try. Jeanne Strang has a good recipe in her "Goose Fat and Garlic" cookbook. She specifies "la tomme fraiche de Cantal" Which is really the same as tomme blanche except that its specifically from the Auvergne. Try it!

Paula Wolfert has a good recipe in her Cooking of SW France book. Juniper berries are a good add, I think. Just make sure you don't use too many & that they are well crushed. Horseradish sounds like a non-starter to me, but you could always make the rillettes then try eating them with horseradish to see how it tastes.

Very nice pictures indeed! I was very pleased to see that most of them were NOT taken in restaurants, but in shops or markets. Keep up the good work.

Make lunch your main meal. Stop where the truckers do. Lunch (4 courses) including a 1/4 litre of wine should be less than 15 Euros.

This all brings back memories of growing up on the Northern Californian coast. Yes, we got the really BIG guys back then, but the way we did it was very different. NO scuba diving, wet suits or the like. Back then you studied the tide tables & waited for an exceptionally low tide. When one came you went to your favourite (usually secret) spot with your tire iron or crowbar dressed in your oldest jeans & sneakers. You then waded out amongst the rocks, slipping on the kelp all the while, and if you were lucky you spotted an abalone & prized him off of his rock before he could clamp down. Frozen, but happy you took your catch home to pound & sauté in butter. I'm firmly convinced that the coming of wet suits & scuba diving were what killed off the abalone population. The native Americans & the sea otters & abalone had lived in harmony for a long time without any problem until the new technology spoiled things. Last time I had abalone was in Japan & it was delicious, but cost a small fortune.

Try a google search. Lots of stuff there about pate de foie gras.

I agree with everyone! We decided to retire to France for two reasons: - I could eat a different cheese every day & not repeat myself. - I could do posts & take pictures just to make all of my cheese deprived friends in the states jealous. So far the plan is working.

Given your limited time I suggest that you try Toulouse. Its easy to get to, has inexpensive places to stay (due to the large University population) and there are many many excellent restaurants both starred & not. Restaurant prices are reasonable compared to other areas. The market is a joy to wander as is the city with it's beautiful rose coloured brick buildings. Sit in a cafe on the Capital & watch France pass your table. Have a great time!

GTO, I'm with you a great cheese. Thought you might like to know more about it. So, here's a link to a very informative article in Wikipedia. My sister-in-law lives not a million miles from Wensleydale.

Here's a follow up to the exciting live story of the ageing cheese. cheesecam! You saw it on e-Gullet first!

10 out of 11. The Polish fish got me.

I'll bite. Le Galopin - because its near, cheap & good. 11 Euro four course lunch with wine. Le Vieux Pont in Belcastel - because they do everything right, the food is excellent and reasonably priced for what it is and to see what the Chef (chefeuse? What is the femine?) has been up to as the menu changes frequently. Seglier - Good food, fun & the people watching is great. Artisan's, lorry drivers and other assorted characters. Otherwise we spread our custom & are always on the lookout for new places.

On your way to Pech Merle on the main N20 road you will find a hotel/ restaurant called "La Bergerie" Tel: 05 65 36 82 82. Well worth a stop as its one of the hidden gems of the area. Doesn't look much from the outside, but the dining room & the food are outstanding. The rooms are simple, but clean should you want to stay & breakfast is excellent. Very reasonable prices. Some English spoken. Also, at Pech Merle you can pick up a printed English version of the guides spiel as you enter. You have to return it though! Happy John?

A bit further on, but the caves & paintings at Pech Merle West of Cahors are amongst the best. Added advantage is that after seeing the caves in the morning you can toddle down the road to a starred restaurant for lunch. Just look it up on Michelin.

John, I'll be following your further tests closely. I only wish there were a way to get your Parisian baguettes down to here & vice versa as I'd like to see how some of my local favourites fare against the big city types. Hard to do as as you point out freshness is critical. Happy munching!

This competition escaped my notice until I picked it up on the viaMichelin newsletter Looks interesting. The best baguette in Paris has got to be one of the best baguettes in the world. Can anybody chime in with their personal experience of or preferences amongst the winners? Or is there a baguette lurking out there that wasn't in the competition?

We have a local Averyronaise dish called Estrafinado (see here) which is made with dried salt cod, mashed potatoes with butter & cheese and is topped with walnut oil.