We had a spare hour to spend yesterday afternoon. For once we decided to indulge it in a bit of TV watching. Earlier in the week we had recorded "Raymond Blanc: the Very Hungry Frenchman" on BBC2. This week he visited Alsace.
We've been enjoying the series. It started in the Jura, the land of his childhood. We visited the area a few years ago. It brought back fond memories of the area & the cuisine. In particular we remembered one inn we dined at a couple of times. The owners Marysse, front of house, & Serge, the latter was chef, were so kind. The hospitality was warm. The speciality was ham cooked slowly in front of a huge log fire, in a rich wild mushroom sauce. Serge went each day to forage for the mushrooms in the surrounding woods.
The second week of the series took us to Burgundy, an area we've never visited but long fancied. Beaune looks like a fabulous city with its multi-coloured roofs. Our stay in the Jura was that bit too far away, though we were aware of the number of Bresse chicken available in the shops.Unfortunately the nearest airports are Paris, Lyons or Strasburg, all a long distance away. Maybe after seeing how the Fox copes with this holiday, we'll be able to think once more of such a journey.
The third week took us to Lyons, again an area we've never visited. Unfortunately there doesn't seem many properties to let in the area. So even though there is an airport, it's unlikely we'll be staying.
So yesterday we watched Raymond in Alsace, another area we've long fancied visiting. There seems some really lovely towns around - much more Germanic in style, reminiscent of the sort of building we saw on our Rhine cruise last year. Raymond commented on the sheer sense of hospitality & of partying shown by the inhabitants, and also the enormous portions they serve for meals. We remembered a chambre d'hote (equivalent to an English B&B) we stayed in once near Rouen. The lady of the house was from Alsace. We dined there. The meal was certainly multi-coursed, generously portioned & simply delicious. The conversation sparkled around the table, with much laughter partly in French, partly in English, even though we were a group of complete strangers. If that's typical of the welcome you get in Alsace it certainly sounds like a place we could fancy visiting. We still remember Pierre, the host & cook, & his wondrous smoked chicken & mushroom casserole, the outcome of a mishap but delicious nonetheless.
Raymond particularly enthused about Alsatian wine. We whole-heartedly concur. They are among our favourite whites, especially the riesling & gewurtztraminer ones.
By the time we'd finished the programme we were ravenous. Fortunately we had the chicken in the oven while we watched & it was nicely time to get the veg on before eating. We didn't have to wait long before filling our rumbling stomachs.
This week I observe Raymond is off to Provence. I wonder what memories that will provoke.
What really impresses us is how much Raymond brings out the different character & traditions of the different areas of France. And also his painstaking care to find only the best local produce & ingredients. Yesterday he was positively shocked when he went to the market in Colmar to find one butcher that only sold pork, a local speciality, from Brittany & another butcher who wasn't sure where his meat came from but, as his supplier was in Italy, he presumed Italy somewhere. In the end Raymond had to buy elsewhere, the only place he could find a butcher who sold locally reared Alsatian breed pork. Equally for his onion tart he tasted four different varieties before deciding which variety to use. That show dedication & passion. One of these days we're going to have to splash out on a meal at his restaurant. Such concern with detail promises a wonderful meal.
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