carlux

One of the things I can't bring myself to do is to heat my oven for an hour to cook one or two pizzas on a stone. No matter what it costs, this just seems a waste of electricity. My induction cooktop uses less electricity - and works wonderfully. Not an energy saver, but whenever I wash salad I use the water in the garden.

Well, 'for me' my Miele induction cooktop is terrific. The best thing next to gas, which I can't have in my small French village - or better, as it's so easy to control. And extremely easy to clean. I can't imagine ever having anything else. That said, I have recently bought a cheap single burner induction cooktop for the rental unit we stay in for 4 months in Cape Town. It works, but the quality is so much less than the Miele it's amazing. I guess I always thought that induction = induction for the most part. Not always so. But I would assume that Gaggenau is up there with Miele.

http://www.franceinter.fr/player/reecouter?play=464087 assuming you can get it wherever you live

"Would you put your dog in the freezer?" Listening to one of my favourite French food programs (of course) someone mentioned that if she had too much cheese, she put it in the freezer. Guests and host of program horrified. Of course cheese is a living organism - thus the question. I do love this country. http://www.franceinter.fr/emission-on-va-deguster-les-fromages-francais-sont-ils-dangereux. Well worth listening to if you have any French.

My most recent experience of potluck is what we call in France and 'auberge espanol.' Same idea, everyone brings soemthing. Doesn't seem to be a problem with amount or variety, and as it's our local canoe club that sponsors it, we sit by the Dordogne river and eat and drink - sublime. One of many times in the 18 years we've been here that I feel I'm in a French film. And the nice thing is that it is so much more informal than most French meals, where there are usually two starters, mains, salad/cheese, dessert. Not that I object to that, but the relaxed atmosphere of a potluck is a welcome change.

I'm surprised that you would be using the same pots with an induction cooktop that you used with a gas stove. I was told definitely not to do this, as the concentrated heat from the gas flame would distort the bottom of the pan, which should stay as flat as possible so that it can be in contact with as much of the surface as possible. Maybe it turns out to be not sucah a big issue? In my case it wasn't an issue at all, as the stainless pots I had were definitly NOT compatible, and so I bought new ones. Luckily here in France we can get good quality induction compatible pots in the supermarket.

If you google ventreche de porc, you will see a number of images showing you what it is like. Here in the south-west (of France) it is often barbecued.

I have a Miele induction cooktop which goes from 0-9, (plusa booster control for a quick start) and I love it. I havent noticed a great jump between any one setting to othe other. What I particularly like is that I know, and can go back to, a particular setting for a particular dish, which is more difficult with gas. In my part of rural France I too can't get 'town gas' but I think I would still choose induction.

Frankly, with an induction cooktop, as soon as it gets anywhere near boiling over, a few clicks of the control and it's back under control.

Just, please, dont ever use coupes for champagne, despite how they are marketed. All the bubbles are dispersed into the air.

Has anyone used the Kenwood Triblade hand blender? It's available in France, and a number of the ones people mention are not. That is, assuming I really need one. I have a Kenwood Chef with a blender attachment, Magimix 5100 Food processor with mini bowl for small amounts. So far I havent felt a great need, but the Triblades I've seen are tempting me.

I haven't made puree with ratte potatoes,and wouldn't, as they are waxy, and you need softer, starchier potatoes. I dont know what to recommend where you live, but here in France, supermarkets actually sell potatoes marked as to what they are used for. In the farmers' markets, where I shop, if I have a question about a particular type, I just ask the vendor. So you need to get yourself the proper potatoes for puree/mashed potato. You really dont ever want to make potatoes in a blender. All that starch really will produce glue. I use a vegetable mill, or you could use a potato ricer.

When we re-did our bathroom, I wanted useful cabinets, preferably with lots of drawers, and didn't like anything in the bathroom stores. So we went to IKEA, got 3 white cabinets, two with doors, one with 5 drawers. The two sinks went in the cabinets to the right and left, and the drawers in the middle. Even better, the IKEA drawer organizers are great for keeping makeup, medications, etc., separate. We dont need a medicine cabinet above the sinks, and instead, have a whole wall of mirror. Our plumber was amazed when he came to install the granite countertop -' most people have custom made cabinets with heavy, expensive granite.' But the IKEA ones worked for us, and look good in the bathroom. They hold towels (in slide-out steel drawers, cleaning supplies, soap, all the stuff that accumulates in a bathroom.

Sorry, some of us over 60 like pork cooked properly - not overdone. But since where I live here in France, I practically know the pigs that my butcher has, I dont have to worry about the Upton Sinlair affect.

Reminds me of someone who said that she hadn't realised how much you had to know of the vocabulary of anything you were doing. She gave cooking lessons, and in front of the class said, 'First, separate the eggs.' Someone in front of her looked puzzled, and then with a huge smile, indicating that he'd finally figured it out, moved one egg away from the other. It was the idea of the beaming face that really got to me. He was so certain that he'd sussed this one. But why not? He'd separated the eggs, after all.

I have had the Miele Induction cooktop for several years, and I love it. I also like good cookware. Since I have all my pots hanging on grids in my kitchen, it's important that they look good and work well. Living in France, I don't know most of the brands that you mention - in fact the major supermarkets here have some very good and attractive stainless suitable for induction, as does IKEA. My advice is not to get too hung up on this. Certainly here most good pots are made to work with induction, and marked as such. One thing to remember if you do have something you have already used, and consider it to be suitable is whether the bottom is completely flat. If it's been used on gas, it may have developed slight warps, which will make the contact with the induction burner less efficient. Hope you enjoy it. I wouldn't have anything else.

Where did 65 Euro menu come from? I've never heard of a ferme-auberge with an expensive menu. How about 22 Euros, as shown on the Les Eyzies site? http://www.leseyzies.com/index.php?id_site=2&id_page=115

I have had a Miele Induction cooktop for the last 5 years or so, with no problems, and I love it. It's installed above a Miele oven, in the typical set-up (but with sufficient airspace in between) Both work really well. I'd never have any other type of cooktop.

I think someone has indicated that the name of the restaurant in Albi is something completely different, but you might like to know that the term 'Violon d'Ingres' is often used for what we would call a hobby - something for which you have a passion, other than your real job. Comes from the painter Ingres' passion for playing the violin.

Reporting back that I decided to go with a Miele wall oven, H5140BP. Expensive, but I hope the quality will be worth it (I have other Miele appliances that I'm very happy with.) It also has the features I was looking for - self cleaning, large capacity, at 66 litres, when many are only 53, shelves with stops so they don't slide out, temperature that can be regulated down to 30 degrees, for rising bread - no built-in programs, which I don't need. And it's beautiful! I managed to get it a little cheaper than list price at a warehouse type place in Sarlat. If we ever move it's coming with me.

I should probably put this in the Kitchen Consumer forum, but I live in the Perigord, and haven't had much luck getting recommendations for European appliances. Although there's lots of information on the Web, my actual physical shopping opportunies are rare. And most of the so-called 'reviews' I've come across so far are of the type' I really like this oven!' So I'm trying here. I have had a Siemens oven for 12 years, and was very happy with it. Then this week it died, and it will cost almost 400 Euros to repair it. Hardly seems worth it. I have been looking at new ovens. I want a good one, which probably means German. Self cleaning, reasonable capacity, I don't need lots of pre-programmed functions. I do a lot of cooking, baking, and although there are only two of us, I'd like to be able to put several dishes in the oven at once, which was sometimes diffciutl with my previous oven. I thought of buying another Siemens, but I have, and like, the Miele dishwasher and induction cooktop, and so another possibility is to go with them. Then I was told today in Darty that De Dietrich was a better brand. The one they recommended,(DOP 785) however, was ALL electronic, all pre-programmed, which I really don't need. Does anyone have any comments on the various makers - Miele, Siemens, De Dietrich, Scholtes? Or experience, positive or negative with any particular models. I want this one to last at least another 12-15 years, or more. Obviously should be something that can be bought, and serviced,in France, either through a local shop or online Thanks for any help

It's really not that hard to grind your own meat - I have a Kenwood Kitchen machine for which I bought a grinder attachment so that I could make my own sausages. KitchenAid have a similar attachment, and of course there are manual grinders. It helps that we still have proper butchers in France so that I can be sure of what I buy - each animal has full 'traceabilite' and the butcher displays the name of the local producer from whom he bought the animal. He also grinds meat for hamburger to order, so you see exactly what goes into it. I still like to do my own to get my own seasoning, fat content, etc. Well worth doing.

Well, I guess I'm spoiled because I live in south-west France,where we get fresh, local strawberries from mid-March to mid-October. And even later this year because November was so mild. And they are better than California strawberries. But for most of the time we eat the way most of the French do - what's in season. Root vegetables in winter, asparagus for the weeks in spring that it's in season. There are obviously people eating imported tomatoes in the winter, because the supermarkets stock them, but I'd rather have red peppers or tinned tomatoes. (Even when we lived in Canada I was never a fan of off-season tomatoes, so it's not just the change of country and climate.)

Reporting back: I have been using half echine, half poitrine (maybe it's a waste, but it seems to work) Have found a recipe with fennel seeds, paprika, lots of pepper, which so far has wowed my French friends and neighbours and visiting American buddies. Still experimenting, but so far it's fun, and successful. Too bad you left your Kenwood behind, Dave. I brought mine, at 115v, with me from Canada, and used it successfully with a transformer. I just got tired of lugging the machine and the tranformer onto the counter when I wanted to use it. So, given the original machine was 30 years old, I decided to upgrade to a Kenwood Chef Titanium, attractive enough that I could leave it on the counter, and nix the transformer. If you get one, just hope you never have to get service for it - on another thread I have detailed (some of) my 8 months without a machine and with no response from Kenwood , following a visit to their authorized service agent. Too bad, as the machine works well, and the meat grinding accessory in particular is strong and well designed.

Thanks for the suggestions. Dave, the reason I want to make my own is so that I don't have to use chair a saucisse. Not that it's not good, but I want to know what I'm putting in. I have a grinder/sausage making attachment for my Kenwood Chef, which seems to work well. It's quite exciting seeing them come out and filling the casings. Sorry about the bad English - I thought 'raw' sounded a little off. I think I will end up speaking two languages badly, or at least 'quirkily.' The references to sausagemaking.org is great, as is the Jane Grigson reference. What I would really like is something like that written for France. I haven't found it yet.