Developments in the cuisine of SW-France

[Adam Balic]

Hi Paula - so glad to see the new edition and congratulations as it looks wonderful.

I noticed that you mentioned that in the new edition that you had removed a number of recipes, as 'they didn't stand the test of time'. I think that this raises some interesting questions about trends and the essential identity of the cuisine.

I think that it is very interesting that the food in this region is able to undergo some quite radical innovations, but still retain it's essential identity. As you know I am very interested in regional cuisines, but sometimes it does seem that even very developed and delicious regional food can be stagnated or at least come across as museum exhibit, rather then a living-breathing thing.

Given your abilities, the recipes that were removed were unlikely to be un-representative of the cuisine, so what do you think are the major changes that have occurred in the food of the region in the last thirty years and what do you consider to be the essential character of the regions(s) that threads these changing elements together?

[Wolfert]

Hi Adam,

Actually I removed traditional as well as un-representative dishes. An example of the former: Enchaud of pork, which didn't test well with most American pork, and frankly wasn't very interesting when prepared here. It's a dish I'd much prefer to eat in the Perigord where farm people put enchaud of pork up like confit then let it improve with time.

A very important consideration in the updating process was the availability of ingredients. I was a lot less concerned with the culinary changes in the region.