eG Foodblog: Dave Hatfield - a food adventure!

[annabelle]

I'll take pictures, but no promises on the quality.

[djyee100]

Wine and cheese, wine and cheese, are a great deal on my mind lately. I'm thinking of another cheese-shopping foray to the Cheese Board in Berkeley. Meanwhile, I've already acquired some new bottles of wine from my long-time vendor.

I wonder why that is, Dave.

thanks for a great blog.

[Kerry Beal]

Thanks for the blog Dave - thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Smithy]

This has been lovely, Dave, and it's over entirely too soon. Thanks very much for talking about your life before now as well as your life now. If I may be permitted another question - I'll try to keep it easy :-) - is there a big difference between what one might consider Paris cookery (or perhaps big French city cookery) and what you get in the southwest of France? Or would the bistros and brasseries in your region serve more or less the same as their big-city counterparts?

Thank you so much for sharing with us! It's a big job and you've done it beautifully.

[Dave Hatfield]

This has been lovely, Dave, and it's over entirely too soon. Thanks very much for talking about your life before now as well as your life now. If I may be permitted another question - I'll try to keep it easy :-) - is there a big difference between what one might consider Paris cookery (or perhaps big French city cookery) and what you get in the southwest of France? Or would the bistros and brasseries in your region serve more or less the same as their big-city counterparts?

Thank you so much for sharing with us! It's a big job and you've done it beautifully.

Yet another interesting question. First you must bear in mind that a large proportion of the Chefs in Paris come from the SW of France.

There are considerable differences between 'town' and country. Although many of the bistro dishes are fundamentally the same they will be more refined in Paris and, many times, have an innovative twist to them. This is, I think, because of two major things, Competition & price. Paris abounds in restaurants so you have to be good to survive thus innovation. Country folks have less money & tend to want what they're familiar with thus lower prices and not much innovation. Many of our local restaurants only serve lunch (except on Sunday) & cater for the 'artisans' many of whom are buying lunch with vouchers paid for by their employers, thus the price has to fit those amounts. Vouchers in Paris have a higher monetary value.

At the higher end of the market as one gets into Michelin listed places the differences tend to disappear. The quality of food & service are similar, but the prices somewhat less in the country places. For instance our favourite Le Vieux Pont is a Michelin one star where we can get the full menu for 49€. A similar meal at a Paris one star would be quite a bit more. Higher overheads & larger clientèle.

I'll take pictures, but no promises on the quality.

Hey, you've had to suffer a week of my dismal photography. I'm sure you pictures will be better.

A final final thought. I'm going to start a new thread I'll call "Food Anecdotes". This will be open to any member to post a short food story whether it be a restaurant experience, a cooking triumph or disaster or whatever else you'd like to share pertaining to food & cooking.

I'll start it off with stories I didn't have time and/or space for on this blog, but I'd really really like to hear everyone else's anecdotes.

[liuzhou]

No need to apologise for the instant Chinese noodle soup. Chinese people eat it all the time. Restaurants even sell it!

[C. sapidus]

Dave - I always enjoy hearing about your history and your life in France, so thank you for this week. Very nicely done!

Now that the eG Foodblog momentum is rolling again I will say that there are quite a few folks on here about whose food lives I would love to learn more.

[nickrey]

Thanks Dave, your blog was very interesting and informative. As for the cheese close-up, I'm sure we could take it. What I miss most is unpasteurized soft cheese. It's banned here in Australia. Possibly the easiest place to get it close to here is Hong Kong, which makes it an expensive item when you include travel.

[heidih]

Thanks Dave!