Years ago, in 2007, I attended La Varenne Cooking School in Burgundy, and one of the many dishes we cooked there with the chefs was the classic Tarte Tatin. The class was held in one of the beautiful kitchens of the Chateau du Fëy, the home of La Varenne Cooking School and its founder, Anne [...]
Cooking all these chicken dishes and stock as I have been in this Covid-19 winter 2020, reminded me of some happier times and our visit to Bresse, the home of the famous Bresse chicken, la volaille de Bresse, and the Monday market day in the market town of Louhans in Burgundy. The summer of 2017 [...]
Way back in 1957, Bresse chickens were the first food and the first chickens to be awarded the AOC, Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée and more recently, they received the AOP, Appellation d'Origine Protégée, accreditation. This AOP label is the European Union version of France's AOC, Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée. It basically means the products with these labels [...]
This is a flavoursome classic Burgundian dish, with red wine playing a major role in the flavour, along with lardons, button mushrooms and tiny onions. The flavour of this dish, like many others, improves when the dish is refrigerated and served the next day. It is traditionally cooked on the stove-top, however, you can also [...]
We are having a sensational trip along this glorious canal. Every-day is blue skies and sunshine and something new to see. For the past two days we climbed a staircase of 36 locks, each about 500m apart so it was busy and tiring getting up and down to do the ropes to secure the barge [...]
On the recommendation of some recent cooking school clients, we were looking forward to going to this lovely restaurant for dinner. Neville had said it was in the Realis et Châteaux group but did not mention it had a Michelin star. He did say it was just a short walk from the Canal de Bourgogne, [...]
Does anyone have grapes climbing and growing over the trellis on their back terrace? If you do, then this machine is for you. And what is this contraption you may well ask? This contraption makes delicious, natural, pale green coloured grape juice. All you do is put the fresh grapes into the container, they are [...]
Autumn is chestnut time and they are now appearing in the fruit markets. Chestnuts, unlike other nuts and seeds, are relatively low in calories, carry less fat, but are rich sources of minerals, vitamins and phyto-nutrients that benefit your health. Chestnuts always remind of another old favourite sung by Nat ‘King’ Cole, Christmas song, 'Chestnuts [...]
I loved everything about this book! ‘A food lover’s pilgrimage to France: from the vineyards of Burgundy to the mountains of the Basque country food, wine, walking and history on the French pilgrim paths to Santiago de Compostella’ - it is one of the best books I have ever read. Remember, in my former life, [...]
La Madeleine, with 2 star Michelin chef, Patrick Gauthier, was the special highlight dinner during my 2007 stay at La Varenne residential cooking school in Burgundy. Coming back to Sens this time on the barge was a wonderful opportunity for us to book La Madeleine and for me to meet up with Chef [...]
