Europe in many dishes 29: Lovely food in the Pays Basque

In the Pays Basque at the moment, full of fabulous food--from the delicious 'jambon de Bayonne', which is like Serrano ham, only better in my unbiased opinion :) to gorgeous cakes like Gateau Basque and the wonderful 'Russe', which I've written about many a time on this blog! Here is a selection of photos of lovely food, sweet and savoury, in Biarritz and Bayonne.

Jambons de Bayonne hanging in shop window

Delicious almond, pistachio and raspberry biscuits

Gateau Basque

Sheep's milk cheese

A 'cake' made of fish mousses and cheese

Individual Gateaux Russes

Europe in many dishes 28: Sundry local meals

Staying with my sister and brother in law in the Aude region, we ate lots of lovely meals with ingredients sourced very locally, from the market gardens, fisheries and woods around the region. Here's some pics of some of the results!

Grilled sardines from the nearby coast, salads from local producers

wild boar and onion stew(wild boar shot by a local hunter)and delicious vegs from a local producer

veal sweetbreads from locally-bred beast, local mushrooms--not local rice though!

from local markets, tapenades and olives

and of course, cakes from the local patisseries!

Europe in many dishes 27: local charcuterie in Bram

The small market town of Bram is the closest shopping centre to my sister and brother in law's village, and the other day we went to the markets but also took in a visit to the local charcuterie, where we got delicious house-made saucisson, chorizo and boudin(black pudding). This kind of place is the real French country pork specialist, with excellent fresh meat and all kinds of pork small goods, all made by hand and to traditional recipes. Fabulous!

Europe in many dishes 26: a day in Toulouse

Toulouse, the 'ville rose', with its beautiful old buildings and sunny bustling atmosphere, has lots of wonderful places to eat and fabulous 'epiceries fines' or gourmet grocers. we spent the day there today and ate in a cute little Argentinian place--great empanadas and for dessert dulce de leche cake! Nearby was the fabulous new eatery, Duck Me, a gourmet fast-food place themed entirely around duck, which is of course the meat par excellence of the region. And of course all those wonderful epiceries fines, and the city's oldest chocolate-maker, Olivier, which started in 1780. And that's only scratching the surface of this fantastic city!

Europe in many dishes 25: Perigord delights--in Perigord!

Well, I had my 'Assiette Perigourdine' in Paris but a few days later we were in the actual Perigord--in the beautiful ancient town of Brantome--and had an excellent meal of Perigord specialities--foie gras with fig chutney and walnut bread as an entree for me(fabulous mix of tastes!), while my husband and son had a salad of duck gesiers and smoked duck ham; while as a main course, my husband and I had succulent confit de canard(duck confit) with sauteed potatoes with parsley, while our son had a 'bavette' (skirt steak) with wine and shallot sauceand chips. All washed down with a good honest Perigord red wine. Very satisfying indeed!

Europe in many dishes 24: Classic French Sunday lunch

We made a lovely big classic French Sunday lunch the other day for my sister and brother in law and family. Bought great stuff at the market for a simple but colourful entree--small delicious tomatoes, stuffed capsicums, marinated anchovies, olive and preserved lemon tapenade and melon--as well as three excellent cheeses for after the main course: Brillat-Savarin(a classic soft cheese from the Parisian region); two St-Marcellins(again, classic soft cheese, but from the Dauphine region this time) and Crottin de Chavignol, a goat's cheese from the Loire region. Main course was a delicious rare beef roast with a mushroom(ceps), garlic, onion and sour cherry sauce; sauteed potatoes, and green beans. A green salad followed, then the cheese, then the cakes, which we got at the patisseries: a Paris-Brest, a lovely concoction of choux pastry sandwiched together with coffee butter cream and almonds; and a Kouing-amann, a traditional Breton yeast caramalised cake, both absolutely delicious.

Europe in many dishes, 23: Perigord plate in Auvergnat restaurant in Paris!

This classic duck-centred dish, une 'assiette Perigourdine', featuring duck foie gras, thin slices of duck breast magret and slow-cooked duck gesiers(neck meat)on a bed of salad vegetables,  was served to me the other day in an Auvergne restaurant in Paris. Okay, so you might think Perigord and Auvergne aren't exactly the same thing, and they're not--but I felt like one of these, and it was really delicious!