eG Foodblog: Abra and Chufi in SW France - Tantalizing Tales of Tripe

[sharonb]

About epoisses: it's actually not that stinky. It's one of those cheeses that smells much stronger than it tastes.

It is strong, though. Though that reminds me of a dispute between my friends from Touraine and Alsace - they claimed (and I agree) that goat's cheese (Crottin de Chavignol and company) is odorless yet extremely pungent tasting, whereas Munster is smelly but doesn't actually pack a punch (whence the use of cumin seeds in it to bring out some flavors).

I have been following, and loving, your triple blog. Why on earth fear offal? It's the best stuff around! You guys should, in honor of bleudauvergne, take some leftover tripe and bread it and fry it to make tablier de sapeur with some gribiche sauce... I have been craving that ever since I started reading this blog.

[Chufi]

We finished a dinner of leftover chicken, shredded and swimming in that delicious broth. Some of Lucy's wonderful salad, a hunk of yesterdays bread with some époisses. A glass of the leftover wine. A little slice of the prune and quince tart. It was a very good dinner. Now we're sitting by the fireplace, trying not to fall asleep.

We're not sure what tomorrow will bring. This blog won't be going for a whole week - (I must have a tiny bit of real vacation ) but we'll try and show you some interesting things before we say goodbye!

[therese]

This blog won't be going for a whole week - (I must have a tiny bit of real vacation  ) but we'll try and show you some interesting things before we say goodbye!

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Excuse me? We're being short-changed? I demand more! We'll all just have to come up with some virtual equivalent of the eager audience that won't leave the hall but instead stands and claps and whistles and stamps their feet until the performers return, grinning sheepishly, for more.

[pennylane]

Why don't you come to Paris now, and instead of making tripe we can make apple pie and buttermilk pap, hehe?!

[Priscilla]

Nice to see Beppo featured in 2 blogs simultaneous-like. Funny how his countenance seems to take on a French aspect... the power of suggestion, or a testament to feline universality?

This has been ultracool. Thank you A., B., C. -- such cooking opportunity done complete justice. Not to slight the social component, of course.

[Abra]

After due consideration, a certain amount of persuasion, and a dose of reality, we hereby decree that this blog shall continue for our mutual amusement through tomorrow night. So we'll spend one more day together, just you, us and a pile of bones we happen to have in the fridge.

We don't have the whole day planned yet, but dinner is looking like marrow bones with parsley salad on toast, then oxtail and chestnut stew with a Brussels sprout and potato stamppot, for that Franco-Dutch flair. And then for dessert we need something not too rich, but good enough to end a blog with. We have a mountain of apples and a big bowl of walnuts. Any suggestions?

Oh, and the Champagne delivery lady came by today, so tomorrow night is bound to feature us trying out the new stash of bubbly.

And now, we're falling all over each other to see who can fall asleep first. Bonne nuit and Welterusten.

[Smithy]

If it isn't inappropriate, I'd like to know how trash and garbage are handled there, as opposed to in the USA or (Klary?) the Netherlands. For instance: that chicken head that went into the bin. Do you have to worry about animals getting into the trash? (Does Beppo find any foodstuffs irresistable?) Is there recycling there? Composting?

Have there been surprises for either of you? I admit, some of these questions have come from reading Abra's blog, so if it seems out of bounds, I apologize.

[therese]

And then for dessert we need something not too rich, but good enough to end a blog with.

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I vote for a souffle: impressive, light (as air, indeed), and lovely with champagne.

I wouldn't use either the apples or walnuts, though. Souffles call for whimsy, and apples and walnuts are lacking in whimsy.

[Smithy]

While a souffle would be lovely, I'm thinking that a walnut tart might be a fitting end, although it might not be especially light. A walnut cake, perhaps? What about an apple tart studded with candied walnuts? Or could one pulverize some of those walnuts and use walnut flour in the pastry crust?

[Marneuse]

Oh, and the Champagne delivery lady came by today, so tomorrow night is bound to feature us trying out the new stash of bubbly.

Champagne delivery lady?? To your house?? You've got to be kidding me!!! How much more can we take??

Mercy, merci!!

[heidih]

We're just getting ready to sit down at the table but I wanted to add one thing, there's another cook with us.  The one we've been referring to as "she". 

"She said it should take an hour and a half..."

"She said that it was originally made with puff pastry..."

"She thinks we should do it this way,"

If I were Paula, I would be very happy knowing that she is going to be referred to for generations as the "she" we look to not only for inspiration but valuable knowledge she gathered and shared for us to transmit.

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And by some strange international synchronicity, the Los Angeles Times Food Section today (Dec 12) had a piece on an apple croustade, and mentions the one you made from Paula's book, and the phyllo/puff paste options. Good food- the international language.

[Ling]

Oh I am so sorry to hear this blog will be ending soon! It has been one of my favourites. Can we not persuade you to stay a little longer...?

The tripe and trotter dish had me salivating, as did the risotto and the sweetbreads with the lovely olive oil/cepe mashed potatoes. I think I will have to make a version of those potatoes very soon! That restaurant looks like a gem. I do hope I'll have the chance to visit someday!

[doc slaughter]

what a treat this has been. I love the food choices , quite out of the ordinary.

Edited December 13, 2007 by doc slaughter (log)

[Kent Wang]

Wow, the truffles. Are they much cheaper in France than here in the US?

[KatieLoeb]

Ladies, please do continue for as long as you're able, for you shall most certainly have an audience! I am certain I am not alone in my praise of the prose and accompanying photos. Your escort throughout this culinary journey has been without par. I can't think of a more evocative foodblog in memory. Brava to all of you for the collective effort. It's been a breathtaking journey.

[Abra]

deleted because we have our identities mixed up

Edited December 13, 2007 by Abra (log)

[Chufi]

If it isn't inappropriate, I'd like to know how trash and garbage are handled there, as opposed to in the USA or (Klary?) the Netherlands. 

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Re garbage handling: I notice that here you take your little bags of trash and dump them into some sort of communal bin. In the Netherlands that is becoming more common, but where I live in Amsterdam, we still do it the old fashioned way: trying to remember to take out the large garbage bag the night before the garbage truck comes by to pick it up! In NL, we do recycle glass and paper. There was an experiment with recycling the green compostable stuff (you had to present 2 different garbage bags on garbageday) but apparently that didn't work so now we're back to 1 garbage bag for everything except glass and paper.

The tripe and trotter dish had me salivating, as did the risotto and the sweetbreads with the lovely olive oil/cepe mashed potatoes. I think I will have to make a version of those potatoes very soon! That restaurant looks like a gem. I do hope I'll have the chance to visit someday!

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Ling, that potato dish was something that you would have loved! I have been thinking about the flavor of that ever since lunch yesterday. Chef Mariani said he only usues fresh cèpes, but if I were to try and make this at home, not having any fresh cèpes, I think I would make it with a combo of dried porcini and fresh chanterelles or other flavorful mushrooms.

It's another cold but sunny morning in the South of France. We had breakfast (pics will follow in a minute) and we've planned the day. There will be a country walk, a visit to a nearby town, some shopping, some cooking, some eating, some drinking. Just about the perfect vacation day I think!

[Abra]

Now that I have my identity back, let me correct my alter-ego on one fine point. We do have our own garbage bin and put it out once a week, whereas the recycling bins are communal and are all over town. Sometimes we've even been known to drop recycling off in other towns, but possibly that would be considered rude.

And no, I don't think truffles are cheaper here. That was about $100 a person for lunch, obviously a rare treat, but one that was really worth having. The truffles were wild mountain truffles, as opposed to the ones more commonly found here, which although they're not exactly cultivated, are watered to increase their size thereby diluting their flavor.

So, this morning I awoke to the excellent news that I've sold a little article to a major food publication. If that wouldn't make me eat a nice bowl of tripe for breakfast, I don't know what would.

Chufi's breakfast was much more normal.

So now we're off into the cold for a good cross-country walk. All we've been doing is eat, and I think we're both twitching for some exercise and fresh air. We'll be back, all rosy-cheeked and out of breath, after a bit.

Meanwhile, what about those dessert ideas?

[Swisskaese]

How about the Walnut Raisin Torte (Nigvzis Torti) you made last year?

or

Mila Psita sto Fourno: Baked Stuffed Apples

[Chufi]

We had an excellent walk.

It took us to a nearby town where we found a pottery shop with some really beautiful stuff:

I bought one of those little gratin dishes and I can't wait to take it home and cook something in it!

We also visited a very interesting bakery/mill, where they mill their own flour and bake their bread with spring water that they bring in from the Alps. This bread was baked with flour that was milled just this morning:

Home for lunch:

Now we'll be making some grocery lists and head to the supermarket, one I haven't been to yet, so that's another fun excursion for me. Abra is getting worried that I'm not having enough 'fun' on my vacation because we're basically just cooking and shopping and eating. But, doesn't this seem like any eGulleters dream vacation to you?

[racheld]

Now THIS is a magical moment:

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It's as it has been, as it was in the AGO, not one bow to modern or latest or new. The shine of the wood and the sun through the windows---I can see it, I can SMELL it, with the baking aromas dancing with the wood scent in the air. Even the clearish bags, holding their waiting burden---just a bit of imagination makes them a translucent silk, with the freshest flour on Earth there for the dipping.

And those barbell breads, looking like immense crusty scepters wielded by kings---you MUST have taken one home, nestling it warm to your body for the trek through the cold, hardly able to keep from tearing off great chunks for the journey, and crackling through that crust for the palette painted on that lunch plate.

Our own doings and preparings have been so satisfying and nourishing that I have taken this as a great bonus to the joys of the season.

No real envy til now. But I covet, I do.

Edited December 13, 2007 by racheld (log)

[hathor]

I wasn't able to get near a computer yesterday, and it was KILLING me....thinking about what you were up to! Oh my, my, my.

I think that I'm in love with Beppo. Is he bilingual now? Our cats are completely fluent, especially when food is involved.

Chufi: do you think that you must have a fresh mushroom for those potatoes? or can you go with all dried? You do have a way with mashed things! I like the 'fork' texture of the potatoes. And now I have to go out and buy sweetbreads because it's been too long since I've eaten them.

And that cauliflower puree...with truffle...that sounds divine.

What a lunch!!

Abra: can you explain a bit more about those truffles? I wasn't aware that truffles could be cultivated in any way. Manipulated for "freshness" yes, but cultivated? How/where are they doing that? Did your area have a decent truffle season? Italy was terrible this year.

And congrats on selling an article!! Brava!!

And thank you all for sharing this amazing culinary adventure with us. Tonight, in all our different time zones, we raise a glass to these wonderful, wacky women!

[Simon_S]

Once again I find myself wondering, "Why don't I just go live in France?"

[Abra]

Well yeah, why don't you just come and live in France? That's what we wondered, and so we did. It's very interesting and rewarding, baffling, beautiful. And yes, the Champagne delivery lady did come right to the door. We'll pop a cork tonight and tell you whether it was worth it to open the door to her. Not really, of course I'd have opened the door, because she belongs to the secret vegetable club that I've been invited into.

The bread that you saw at lunch is a pain Aveyronnais that comes from the bakery right next door to the house. Later we'll crack the loaf of milled-this-morning bread to use as toasts for the marrow with parsley salad.

Right now the oxtail is simmering away in its bath of Picpoul de Pinet, with onions, carrots and a bouquet garni. Later Toulouse sausage, chestnuts, and a bit of ham will be added. It smells delicious already.

We really hoped that Pille would be able to come join us for this blog, but she wasn't able to make it. Thus we find Chufi in the kitchen making a Pille apple cake, which we plan to dust with spekulaas crumbs that Chufi brought from Amsterdam. Of course she brought whole cookies, not crumbs, but you know what I mean.

Me, I'm planning to take a nice glass of rosé into the shower, wash off the dust of our walk, and prepare myself for the marrow bones. They always freak me out a tiny bit, and fortification is required. I know, a person who eats tripe for breakfast doesn't seem like someone who'd have a hissy over marrow, but that's just the way I am.

And speaking of the secret vegetable club, because we've been besieged with requests to keep the blog alive, and because tomorrow is in fact Vegetable Morning, we'll be ending the blog sometime tomorrow, and not tonight. So you can sleep sweetly, secure in the knowledge that we'll still be here in the morning.

[Kim Shook]

And speaking of the secret vegetable club, because we've been besieged with requests to keep the blog alive, and because tomorrow is in fact Vegetable Morning, we'll be ending the blog sometime tomorrow, and not tonight.  So you can sleep sweetly, secure in the knowledge that we'll still be here in the morning.

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We need a happy dance smiley!! I am doing it right here in my chair in Richmond, VA wishing I was in France!!! This is like a novel you wish would never, ever end! Thank you so much, ladies for your generosity!

Kim