A beautifully cooked omelette is one of life’s greatest pleasures. As simple as an omelette may sound, it is not always easy to achieve the perfect ‘cuisson‘ (cooking). It must be light, fluffy and velvety soft, just as you would imagine it being served on a silver tray in your dream hotel. One of our […]
Tomatoes are vegetables that make good neighbours. Bernadette, my lovely ‘voisine‘ (neighbour), is passionate about her home-grown pomme d’amour (that’s how she calls them – love apples). Whenever I drop by to say hello, she will meticulously tell me the difference between the yellow, red and green ones. Each type has a story to tell, […]
Out of all the days of the week, Sunday is the golden day. We take time off and enjoy a quality ‘déjeuner‘. Our kids love this family ritual, and I secure it by making sure to cook something memorable. I would like to imagine my children’s lives bookmarked by food memories, especially Sunday lunches. It’s […]
This nostalgic ‘plat de famille‘ (family dish) from Lyon is certainly one of the most luxurious macaroni and cheese around. The term ‘bon-vivant’ must have been linked with Lyonnais style cooking, for every dish from this region always has a certain finishing touch unlike no others. The gruyère cheese and Beaujolais wine make this macaroni […]
The charm of summer in Médoc is the lack of crowds on the beaches and in the forests. Our environment feels untouched and its inhabitants are glad. Locals love how detached Médoc is from the rest of France – some say that true Médocain character has remained unchanged throughout the centuries. They are raw, earthy […]
What’s a summer cook to do? With temperatures reaching more than thirty-eight degrees, I hardly want to switch anything on, especially the oven. We have been alternating between the pool, the Atlantic beaches (Médoc is a peninsula with eighty kilometers of beautiful beaches), trips to Cap-Ferret and some brave city slicking in Bordeaux where the […]
This summer, we had several friends staying at Château Cordeillan-Bages , a beautiful ‘relais-château‘ located in the heart of Médoc. They loved every moment of their stay, but most importantly, they adored the hotel’s restaurant, headed by chef Jean-Luc Rocha. When I told them that I had the chance to meet him and cook by […]
My grandmother loved taking me on long garden walks in the beautiful countryside of Périgord. She always had a pair of old-fashioned garden scissors ready to cut off a few of her favorite herbs and flowers. She loved vervain, and religiously had a cup of infused leaves every night before going to sleep – ‘La […]
Fruit cakes remind me of a box of jewels, the kind of gems you would win as a child at a fun fair. It looks like a chest filled with all the ingredients to make a rum-loving pirate happy. It’s an old-fashioned cake suitable for any occasions, especially tea parties. I usually love dreamy cream […]
When you have friends over for dinner, what do you enjoy cooking for them? The words sharing, laughter, delicious, special, impressive and fun come to my mind. You want to enjoy the moment, accompanied by fine wines, good music and candlelight. The key to a successful dinner is cooking something that everybody will like, making […]