According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Mexico has 300 to 550 species of edible insects, more than any other country.
chinivuiles (Red Maquey Caterpillars) Mercado San Juan, Mexico City
The ancient tradition of eating insects is steeped in culinary tradition, not lack of other foods. In pre-Hispanic days insects were an easy power house of protein to gather as ingredients and enjoy as a convenience food.
Chapulines, roasted grasshoppers, Mercado San Juan, Mexico City
The UN report in praise of entomophagy— insect-eating — as a promising source of sustainable protein stressed that “The case needs to be made to consumers that eating insects is not only good for their health, it is good for the planet.” After all, insects outnumber all other living creatures – and many are edible.
In the past decade there has been a revival in Mexico from street vendors to celebrity chefs reincorporating insects into the cuisine. What was dismissed after the Spanish conquest is chic again.
Mexcal cocktail with Chapulines at las Piramides
AtRestaurante las Piramides within the UNESCO Zona Arqueológica de Teotihuacánthey serve a traditional Mexican menu with some ancient exotic foods. An appropriate introduction is a Mexcal cocktail with Chapulines (roasted grasshoppers – they do have a nutty taste and texture). Chapulines have been a popular fast food since the ancient Mayan days, especially in southern Mexico.
Chapulines
From their starter menu there is a selection of dishes that would be a perfect introduction to tasting insects.
Fried corn cakes with quacamole y chapulines.
Excamoles al epazote (sauteed ant larvae with wormseed herb)
chinivuiles (red Maquey caterpillars) and gusano blanco (white Maquey caterpillars)
Tacos with Chapulines at El Arrayan, Puerto Vallarta
The Mercado de San Juan Gourmet is Mexico City’s food mecca for the serious eater and chef. Among the food stalls are small attractive cafes where locals frequent and visitors can experiment with new tastes.
serious meats, Mercado San Juan
I will not address the “disgust” factor when it comes to “exotic” foods. I’m interested only in the “wow” factor that there is so much to try. The world is a pantry.
serious colors, this is Mexico! Mercado San Juan
When you go: Mexico City is well served by international air. For accommodations I recommend the historic Hotel Geneve (1907). It maintains and polishes its glory every day.
roasted insects: fast food at street vendors
Please read more by Travel with Pen and Palate at…
History is not about the past; it’s about the present.
UNESCO World Heritage Site, Corfu Town
We only remember yesterday because we’re alive today. We can only understand today if we dissect what occurred yesterday. It’s with that rubric a visitor to Corfu, if interested, can glean this Ionian island’s reality.
If the first time visitor is already familiar with the classical heartland of ancient Greece encircling the Aegean Sea than the beautiful streetscapes of Corfu Town are in an Italian city. The island’s premiere museum perhaps belongs in London. The charming Casa Parlante offers insights into the daily life of the Venetian nobility.
The Governor olive oil, Corfu
Yet this is Corfu, and it’s just a short distance from the mainland of western Greece. The reason has everything to do with geography, which means it has to do with politics and trade. The regions that comprise Hellenic civilization for the past several thousands of years were the bridges and battlefields between Asia and Europe, and Corfu represents that reality.
Even olive oil, the gift of Athena to the Hellenic world, has a story. During its 400 year reign over Corfu (1383-1797) the Venetian Empire mass produced olive oil for international export. As a result the island has over four and a half million trees, more than any other region in Greece.
If you watched the BBC series The Durrels in Corfu you may recognize the top photo as the house of the fictional character Sven. The 18th century stone building used to be an olive press and is surrounded by 400 year old trees in an idyllic setting. It’s currently for sale – history alive – and Sakis Gianniotis of X Adventure Clubwill take you there to revel in its tranquility.
Casa Perlante
Fanny, docent at Casa Parlante (Corfu Living History)
Case Parlante, the multi story townhouse dating from 1620, details the life of a 19th century Venetian noble family. This was the social class that ruled Corfu for 400 years until Napoleon conquered and ended the fabled Venetian Republic in the 1790s. Since 2013 the museum’s docents provide room by room tours bringing the family to life.
“To life” is almost real. From the patriarch to the cook, life-size animatronic figures bow, sip tea, read the news paper and chop vegetables. These entertaining figures were created by the Alaxouzi Brothers, Greeks whose business is based in London. As a guest in this noble house, visitors are greeted with kumquat and rose mint liquors – an homage to Corfiot’s Venetian inspired love of excessive sweets.
Drawing room at Casa Parlante
Several insights into life at that time are notable. An only daughter of a noble family could inherit wealth in her own right as well as arrange their own marriage, as long it was to another aristocrat. This was a particular freedom granted only to Corfu women.
The Count’s business office opening onto the main hallway
Mirrors and hallways were ingeniously positioned to keep eyes on the movements of the servants.
kitchen at Casa Parlante
Cooks in aristocratic houses were often at the top of servant status and trusted as “spies” for the owner.
The Palace of St. Michael and St. George
The Palace of St. Michael & St. George
The Corfu Museum of Asian Art and the Municipal Gallery of Corfu are housed within the impressive neoclassical Palace of St. Michael and St. George. The history of the palace is as interesting as the art on display. The fall of Venice led to a brief period in Corfu of French control. Upon Napoleon’s defeat, Corfu was ceded to the United Kingdom and was administered by the British Empire for 50 years (the Greek nation did not exist at this point.)
Palace of St. Michael & St. George
Constructed in 1819, the palace served as the official residence of the British Lord High Commissioner. After present day southern Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in the 1830’s it was still not until the 1860’s that the United Kingdom ceded the Ionian Islands. Over the next century the palace served various functions including a royal residence for the Greek monarchy.
The transition of the palace into a world class museum started in 1928 with a vast donation by an avid Greek collector of Oriental art expanding over the years to include southeast and central Asia. Today its collection numbers in the tens of thousands of objects, which, fortunately, are not all on display creating a tranquil setting to wander the quiet rooms without feeling overwhelmed.
Byzantine-Venetian Cretan School of Art greatly influenced Corfu
The Municipal Gallery of Corfu’s art collection ranges from priceless medieval Cretan works influenced while Crete was also under Venetian rule (15th – 17th centuries). The fall of Crete to the Ottomans in 1699 resulted in a flood of artist and intellectuals settling in Corfu.
“Arab Musician,” by P. Prossalendis
A sizable portion of the collection is of 18th through early 20th century artists inspired by the the Romantic and Impressionist movements expressing individual life and events developing into Corfu’s distinctive Ionian School of Art.
Twenty-first century artists are well represented especially through special exhibits.
Corfu artist Kostas Tbros (b. 1975) with fellow journalist Janice Nieder
Encouraging artistic expression in the newest generations of Corfiots, the gallery sponsors “One Saturday, One fairytale” events for children to display their art and study the artist whose paintings are exhibited. In honor of Greek Orthodox Easter the gallery recently displayed a special exhibit of photos taken by Corfu boy scouts. The quality was stunning!
photos of Easter celebrations taken by Corfu boy scouts
History is more than facts, and a nation is more than geography. In his epic poem The People, Yes, the great American poet Carl Sandburg expressed it succinctly. I am the history; I am the present; I am the culture. Go to Corfu and discover so much more than an island.
When you go: Corfu International Airport (CFU) serves direct flights from many European cities including London, Frankfurt and Rome. Frequent flights connect the island to Athens and Thessaloniki. Ferry and coach bus connections to major Greek cities are frequent as well.
“In Thessaloniki we live our history.” Sofia Bournatzi
looking down to the Rotunda
Of course that statement could almost be a cliché if it wasn’t applied to Thessaloniki. It has greater impact for the city simply than having eighteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It has more to do with resilience. Despite wars, earthquakes and fires, Thessalonians are doing what they have been for 2,300 years.
looking out on Thessaloniki port from the Heptapyrgion
Thessaloniki is still what King Cassander, its founder, planned:
Largest city in Macedonia
Greece’s second largest
The port city of the northern Aegean
Gateway to the Balkans
Commercially connected to Asia Minor
Strategically located on both Spice and Silk Roads to the Orient
excavations of antiquities during construction of 21st century Thessaloniki subway next to a 15th century Ottoman bath.
This reality has made the city coveted and popular over the millenniums by conquerors from Rome to the Ottomans, and their presence is palpable now. It’s under your feet; it’s towering over your head, and soon you’ll whiz by more on the new state-of-the-art underground subway/tube system. The past is an integral component of Thessaloniki’s urban fabric because it’s in your face.
Looking out to the Thermeic Gulf from Thessaloniki’s new Waterfront Promenade merchant ships are anchored waiting their turn at the modern docks just north of downtown. Behind are the Ladadika, Ano Poli and the “acropolis” – the imposing Heptapyrgion fortress. These districts are the commercial, cultural and culinary heart of the city. They offer postcards onto the past …
The Palace of Galerius
Palace of Galerius (c.300)
The Palace of Galerius was not a large luxurious house. It was an “Imperial City” within the city – administrative, residential, religious and public entertainment venues. Depending on interpretation, it was such a vast complex it could well be considered a rebuilding of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki was a major distribution port for the Spice & Silk Roads from the Orient.
The Romans were enamored with Thessaloniki ever since they had absorbed Macedonia into the Empire in the 100s BCE. Four hundred years later the port city was the largest in Rome’s Greek provinces and one of the wealthiest in the empire. By the end of the 3rd century Thessaloniki was poised to become central to the new Eastern Roman Empire.
Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (Caesar: 293-311) newly appointed “assistant Emperor” in the Tetrarchy created by Diocletian, preferred Thessaloniki over his region’s official capital. Construction on his palace complex started in the late 290s.
(video published 02/02/2016, Vladimiros Nefides)
It was a vast site covering a good portion of Thessaloniki’s historic core and composed of numerous interconnected components, most of which today are lying underneath streets, parks, residential and commercial buildings as the city morphed over the centuries. The complex was enclosed by stonewalls from the port waterfront up to the newly fortified acropolis. The most visible examples of the complex today are the stunningly preserved Rotunda and the Arch of Galerius.
Rotunda
The Rotunda (Roman c.300 with Ottoman minaret c.16th century)The Rotunda’s interior was covered in elaborate mosaics and frescoes
The cylindrical Rotunda was built in 306 AD and has served as a public building ever since. It was originally a temple, possibly to Zeus. By the end of the 5th century Christianity had been established in the Empire and for over the next thousand years the Rotunda was the Byzantine Church of St. George. After Ottoman conquest in 1430 it became a mosque (note the 16th century minaret in the photo) until 1912 when with Greek-Macedonian reunification it was designated a national monument. (Ottoman era buildings are protected by historic designation throughout Greece.)
Arch of Galerius
Arch of Galerius (Roman c 300)
The Arch of Galerius stands on a busy intersection (Egnatia & Dimitriou Gounari streets) just as it did when constructed. Thessaloniki’s Egnatia Street is a portion of the 2,000-year-old Roman Via Egnatia, which still connects Macedonia to Istanbul (aka Constantinople, aka Byzantium). Significant remains of its intricate carved marble panels detail the military prowess of Galerius and Rome.
Heptapyrgion
HeptapyrgionThe Heptapyrgion overlooking Ano Poli
The Heptapyrgion towers above downtown Thessaloniki where the ancient acropolis was located on the foothills of Mount Chortiatis. The massive fortress guarded the city for nearly two millenniums. Started by the Romans in the late 4th century along with rebuilding the defensive walls to encircle the city, it was substantially expanded by the Byzantine Empire in the 12th century and the Ottomans in the 15th.
Ano Poli
Oddly both its Greek and Ottoman name (Yedi Kule) mean “fortress of seven towers” even though it has ten and at no time in its construction phases did it ever just have seven. Despite that anomaly, the impressive relic today serves as an UNESCO World Heritage site, a park with panoramic views of the city, and a backdrop for the historic Ano Poli (Upper Town) neighborhood , which survived the Great Fire of 1917.
The Baptistery of St. John
The Baptistery of St. John, 5th century – see map below for locationHagia Sophia, 5th century
The Baptistery of St. John the Baptist of Thessaloniki (c.400) is a peaceful hidden sunken garden with an art deco apartment building and outdoor cafe overlooking the site. The sacred spring still flows but is channeled inside a modern chapel. It’s considered the oldest Christian baptistery. It is close to the 5th century Hagia Sophia and within the Galerian Palace complex.
BeyHamam
Bey Hamam, 15th century Ottoman bath house used until the 1960s
Surrounded by popular cafes in the shopping district of the Ladadika is one of Thessaloniki’s most beautiful medieval buildings. The 15th century Bey Hamam, an Ottoman public bathhouse, is testament to the sophistication this city has enjoyed during its long history. Only ceasing its original use in the 1960s, its intricate brick and tiled facade is an architectural sculpture dramatically lit at night providing a stunning visual backdrop as café patrons dine.
Ladadika
Ladadika
The unrestored street (left) in the Ladadika is on purpose to preserve the facades of what this major international commercial district was like prior to the 1917 Fire. (right) A busy historic district of cafes, commerce and culture today.
The White Tower
The White Tower
The White Tower’s infamous history as a notorious Ottoman prison fades in the mist of time when viewed today at its photogenic location on Thessaloniki’s historic waterfront. The current tower, constructed in the 15th century replacing an earlier Byzantine fortification, anchored the city wall’s southern corner on the waterfront. The tower is a fascinating museum of the historic district and offers panoramic views of Thessaloniki.
Rebetika Music
(video published 28/01/2010, flat13onfire)
Within the prisons of the Heptapyrgion and White Tower many famous rebetika songs of love, loss, resistance and survival were written by Greek prisoners during the last 30 year period of Ottoman rule. The mournful yet captivating music of rebetika still reverberates in many Greek cafes bonding music, food and friends and in 2017 UNESCO listed rebetika music as an “intangible cultural heritage” of Greece.
Food tours are visceral experiences. They start with your eyes and end in your mouth. Historic buildings and museums can’t offer that multi-sensory fusion with such an important facet of culture.
Ladadika market district
Read more in my August 2019 travel column for the Hellenic News of America…
Makes perfect sense why Naxos is home to Mardi Gras. Dionysus was its first Rex!
Naxos Carnival 2019
Venice, Rio de Jeneiro and New Orleans may capture headlines, but no destination other than Naxos and the Small Cyclades can claim Dionysus, the patron of Carnival, as their native son, as well as his father, Zeus.
The Carnival of Naxos 2019 (2 – 13 March) blends timeless Greek festive elements from ancient Dionysian spring rites through to the evolution of modern Mardi Gras. Tracing roots back to rituals of sowing winter crops and praying for the coming of spring through to the Christian celebration of Easter’s promise of rebirth, the Carnival of Naxos 2019 captures all – and their web site details all!
The Koudounatoi
the Koudounatoi
The classic Koudounatoi – based on ancient rituals during Dionysian celebrations – is a hallmark of the Naxos festival. The Koudounatoi dance and rituals are performed by men dressed in traditional white costume bedecked with colorful ribbons and a belt of cowbells. Their dancing movement makes the bells create a very loud sound in order to clear away bad spirits that may bring plague and famine.
Temple to Demeter
The Temple to Demeter overlooks the productive agricultural land of Naxos Island. Agriculture had made Naxos wealthy and in the 6th century BCE the island erected this first all marble temple in the Greek world to Demeter, goddess of grain. Dionysus was the protector of Naxos and maintained one of his divine residences on the island.
Carnival Naxos 2019
In more traditional form the men are covered with a brown coat wearing a belt with hanging bells. Holding large sticks that symbolize the Dionysian phallus, the Koudounatoi challenge each other and anyone who interacts with them and the divine right to ensure a bountiful harvest.
Wedding of the century
On Friday March 8 at the Temple of Apollo’s Portara this fertility theme is dramatically recreated with a retelling of the arrival of Theseus and Ariadne, which through a series of complications worthy of Greek story telling (including pirates!) ends with her marriage to Dionysus, elevation as a goddess and blessings upon Naxos. Ritual weddings are a common theme during Carnival.
Portara of Temple of Apollo
Parades night and day
The island villages are studded with individual folkloric events during Carnival, the preparation and presentation of traditional foods, the beloved Torchlight Parade and the culminating Grand Carnival Parade on the Chora waterfront.
Torchlight Parade
The Greeks elevated revelry to divine status. Christianity added its themes to the pre-Spring/Lenten season, and Naxos’ several century occupation by Venice all embossed their personality on the Carnival of Naxos 2019. Travel to the heart of the Cyclades and experience three millenniums of Carnival.
The Grand Carnival Parade
When you go:
Naxos and the Small Cyclades are regularly served by air and ferry through Athens. Being the largest of the Cyclades islands, Naxos offers a wide range of accommodations.
Please read more by Travel with Pen and Palate at…
Sure Moira Martingale, the doyenne of the French House Party, wants her guests to relax. Yes the conversation among the international gathering of participants is often scintillating. Yet when you’ve just prepped your pigeon and are reaching for the brandy to marinate, neither hand is on a notebook or adjusting the voice recorder – the pigeon rules.
Domaine St. Raymond
As a travel journalist I like capturing the thoughts of others to illuminate articles. Yet as a chef, the pigeon held my full attention.
French House Party culinary workshops are not cooking demonstrations. They are hands-on learning experiences working alongside award winning chefs. The multi-course lunches and dinners guests enjoy are the dishes they are preparing.
Domaine St. Raymond
Moira Martingale, British novelist, transformed her eight-bedroom en suite villa, Domaine St. Raymond, outside the UNESCO World Heritage City of Carcassonne into the French House Party over a decade ago. Small group workshops (approximately 10 guests) are offered in singing/songwriting, creative writing and the culinary arts. The experience is all-inclusive with the workshop fee covering room, meals, wine, snacks, excursions and the villa’s facilities that make this a five star party (pool, tennis, bike riding…ask Moira.)
pigeon breasts, legs, wings
The pigeon is still in my hand. There are seven procedures in creating Chef Robert Abraham’s Young Lauragais pigeon with sweet clover, confit of shallots, carrots and honey. It was worth every time-consuming step and even better when paired with a Domaine Le Fort Malepere.
Young Lauragais pigeon with sweet clover, confit of shallots and grilled foie gras
Yet despite popular assumptions, French cuisine is rarely as complex as the pigeon. French recipes do not all ooze with butter and cream. They’re light, fresh with an emphasis on taste, texture and presentation.
Whereas it may not be easy to find pigeon in the local market, smoked haddock is in many fish markets or, as a last resort, in the refrigerated packaged fish section of larger supermarkets. If time does not allow for making the fresh buns, a good quality bakery will have a selection of soft buns – do not use a hard roll.
Chef Robert Abraham’s Smoked Haddock Burger with lime cream
Smoked Haddock Burger with lime cream
A light, savory alternative on a warm summer day.
Ingredients for 6 servings:
Buns:
400 gr (14 ounces) bread flour
1 egg
20 gr (4 teaspoons) sugar
7 gr (1 teaspoon) salt
25 cl (8 ounces) warm milk (43°C/110°F)
12 gr. (1¾ package) active dry yeast
40 gr (3 tablespoons) soft unsalted butter
golden or black sesame seeds
buns
Preperation:
Warm the milk, remove from heat and add the yeast.
In a mixing bowl slowly blend the flour, sugar, egg and salt. (Either use a mixer with a dough hook or stir by hand)
Add the milk/yeast mixture and the soft butter slightly increasing mixer’s speed (or stir harder).
Knead the dough in the mixer for approximately 5 minutes, or remove to a lightly floured board and knead by hand. Either method the dough should be smooth and springs back when lightly indented by a finger.
Cover the bowl with a slightly damp cloth and allow it to rise for 50 to 60 minutes.
Weigh out balls of dough: 50gr/2 ounces for small rolls, 90gr/3 ounces for large.
Place on a baking sheet and cover with a cloth. Allow to rise 60 minutes. Brush lightly with an egg wash (1 egg white/1 teaspoon water beaten) and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Place a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of a preheated oven and the baking sheet on the middle rack. Bake at 180°C/350°F for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown.
Shallot Confit
4 shallots
10 cl (3 ounces) white wine
5 cl (1½ ounces) apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon honey
Preparation:
Peal and chop the shallots.
Place in a saucepan with all the ingredients.
Cook on low heat stirring occasionally until nearly all liquid is evaporated.
Lime Cream
Zest from 2 limes
1 teaspoon salt
25 cl (8 ounces) heavy whipping cream
Preparation:
Heat the cream with the lime zest and salt until cream just begins to steam.
Turn off heat and infuse for 30 minutes. Chill in refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes.
If you are familiar with a siphon, add the strained cream and follow directions. If not familiar with a siphon, whip the chilled cream with a beater until soft peaks form just before serving the burgers.
Using a fish fillet knife – and I’d recommend gloves if not used to slicing potentially slippery fish – thinly slice wide haddock no larger than a couple inches in size.
Heat the milk with the herbs until steaming. Add the haddock, reduce heat and gently poach for 10 minutes. Drain.
To serve:
Cut the rolls in half, lightly brush with extra virgin olive oil, return to baking sheet and heat for 5 minutes.
Place a roll on a plate and spread with a little lime cream, a dap of shallot confit, some haddock slices, more lime cream and then top with the bun.
You may garnish with baby greens, drizzle of oil, sprinkle of sea salt and a dab of lime cream.
smoked sliced haddock wrapped for future use
There are several steps, but the buns can be made earlier in the day or store bought. The confit and the lime cream could be made a day in advance, just do not whip the cream until ready to assemble the burgers. The haddock can also be prepared a day in advance, arranged on plastic wrap in single layers and refrigerated.
At the French House Party creativity not time is of the essence. With two 3-hour workshops sandwiching a delicious lunch, the pool is inviting at the end of the day. A relaxing multi course dinner that you worked on will top the evening with scintillating conversation, laughter and remind you that, yes, you are a guest at a French House Party.
Pyrenees Mountain view from the French House Party
When you go:
The 2018 schedule of the French House Party runs from May 5 through October 1.
The French House Party, Domaine St. Raymond, is less than 50 miles (77 km) southeast from the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport and the rail station Gare de Toulouse-Matabiau. The Gare de Carcassonne is 16 miles (27 km) west. Transportation is provided for guests arriving by air or train from either Toulouse or Carcassonne to Domaine St. Raymond.
Contact:
Moira Martingale, French House Party, Domaine St. Raymond, 11150 Pexiora, Languedoc, France.
Tel: +33 4 68 94 98 16
Email: enquiries@frenchhouseparty.co.uk
Disclaimer: the author was a guest of the French House Party for three separate workshops – Song Writing with Dean Friedman and two Gourmet Explorer courses.
Recent French House Party articles by Marc d’Entremont
Delos was firmly established as a spiritual center by at least 2,000 BC. Apollo was born on Delos, but the island did not need Apollo’s stardom even in antiquity. At its zenith in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Delos was the wealthiest city in the Hellenic world.
Portara, main entrance to Sanctuary of Delian Apollo, c 500s BC, Naxos Town
Known for its agricultural abundance, Dionysus, god of wine, theater and love, is the protector of Naxos Island and the Small Cyclades. The island provides much to make the god’s stay comfortable.
approaching Little Venice c.13th century, Chora, Mykonos
It was on Mykonos that the young Zeus defeated the Titans, emerging as King of the gods…than the Golden Butler arrived…
A few miles outside Carcassonne a convivial international group of culinary enthusiasts introduced themselves over coffee and pastries. Sitting in the poolside garden of Domaine St. Raymond they could already feel both the relaxation and excitement, which is the hallmark of French House Party residential workshops. Of course a shockingly blue sky and the yellow sunflower fields of the Languedoc provide a perfect foil for creativity.
French countryside in the LanguedocCarcassonne
Domaine St. Raymond sits among gently rolling hills of golden wheat and sunflowers. A 14th century church, within view in the village of Pexiora, overlooks this agrarian scene. The nearby medieval UNESCO World Heritage city of Carcassonne welcomes throngs of visitors inside its fortified walls. Within this bucolic setting, small groups of intellectually curious travelers gather for all-inclusive creative residential workshops in southern France’s Languedoc.
Yet the creative process is nebulous. It has always been a balance of inspiration and technical skill. For discovering this balance British born Moira, Ph.D., author, and devotee of French cuisine, created the French House Party at her villa, Domaine St. Raymond.
Domaine St. Raymond
The early 19th century stone farmhouse – restored into a spacious villa with eight individually decorated en-suite bedrooms – becomes a salon for like minded guests who delve into residential workshops focused on creative writing, songwriting with Dean Friedman, the arts and gastronomy with acclaimed French chefs. The French House Party workshops are serious endeavors but without pressure to perform. Although the pool is inviting, it’s that lack of pressure that energizes participation.
Chef Robert Abraham
The ambitious Gourmet Explorer cookery courses brought together Michelin star French chefs Robert Abraham and Jean-Marc Boyer. From making foam from rocket to preparing young pigeon, the group was immersed in hands-on learning of both classic French and cutting edge culinary techniques. Dishes prepared during the culinary workshops become lunch and dinner.
Successive articles will illustrate some of the imaginative recipes these two chefs taught the group. On this first evening Moira and Chef Robert Abraham created a true dinner party by having prepared most of the dishes in advance. The group had an enjoyable experience making some canapés before sitting down to a superb French meal with wines from Domaine Le Fort.
fava beans & cheese puffs
Canapés
Parmesan marshmallows
Cookies with black olives and shrimp
Cheese straws
Tartar of smoked salmon and avocado
Large raw fava beans shelled, cut in half and sprinkled with sea salt
Mussel Curry Soup
Dinner:
Mussel curry soup
Sea Bass with mango
Lamb with lamb reduction sauce and potatoes au gratin
Brioche French toast with stewed cherries
Assorted cheeses
The cookies with black olives and shrimpwere particularly interesting given both the flavor of the main ingredients in the texture of a cookie.
Cookies with black olives and shrimp
Ingredients:
3 to 4 ounces cooked, chopped shrimp
3 Tablespoons grated gruyere
1 egg yolk
6 chopped black olives
2 Tablespoons flour
2 ounces butter, cut in small pieces
1/3rd teaspoon yeast
pinch of chili powder
Preparation:
Mix the flour, gruyere and yeast in a bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Drop by heaping teasoon size cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Rest for 15 minutes.
Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 15 minutes.
Dinner (clockwise) Sea Bass with mango Lamb with lamb reduction sauce and potatoes au gratin Brioche French toast with stewed cherries Assorted cheeses
Dean Friedman’s four-day summer singer/songwriter workshop at the French House Party provides a stimulating opportunity to discover, or rediscover, internal creative skills. Like all good teachers, Dean wants to draw out these skills from each participant. “I don’t profess to be able to write other people’s songs,” he states simply. Individuality is important.
Creative writing workshops are conducted by British author and “writers’ writer” Sarah Hymas. Poet, performer and coach, Sarah leads workshops for both beginners and writers already working on a project. For many of the creative courses available at the French House Party, groups can arrange workshops outside of the published schedule. Domaine St. Raymond is also a favored destination for international business retreats.
Class begins…
The French House Party’s all-inclusive tariff allows guests to focus energy on creativity. Multicourse lunches and dinners with wine follow a poolside French buffet breakfast of pastries, cheeses, fruits, granola, yogurts and charcuterie.
Workshop time is interspersed with excursions to such local attractions as exploring Carcassonne, the market in Revel, which has operated every Saturday since the 13th century, wine tastings and dining at area Michelin Star restaurants.
Even with the physically more challenging cooking courses held in the spacious, modern, professional kitchen, free-time activities revolve around a swim in the pool, tennis, billiards, table tennis, a book or CD from the library, biking in the French countryside or simply napping. After all, this is a French House Party.
after dinner coffee at Domaine St. Raymond
When you go:
The French House Party, Domaine St. Raymond, is less than 50 miles (77 km) southeast from the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport and the rail station Gare de Toulouse-Matabiau. The Gare de Carcassonne is 16 miles (27 km) west. Transportation is provided for guests arriving by air or train from either Toulouse or Carcassonne to Domaine St. Raymond.
Please click the link for the 2018 schedule of the French House Party
Disclaimer: the author has been the guest of the French House Party for three separate workshops – Song Writing with Dean Friedman, Gourmet Explorer and Gourmet Explorer Advanced.
Pyrenees Mountains from the French House Party
You can read more articles by Marc d’Entremont at:
When your cities can trace their histories back 4,000 years and they’re located in fabled Macedonia – land of Alexander the Great, Aristotle and Mount Olympus – “legendary” is not an inflated superlative.
Serres from atop Koulas acropolis
Divided into three sections, Central Macedonia is the location for not only Thessaloniki and Halkidiki, but to the more northerly cities of Serres and Kilkis both steeped in history, natural beauty, wine and fine dining.
meze at Ντοματα (Tomato) Restaurant, Serres
Read more in my travel column for the April edition of the Hellenic News of America…
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