French Country Cooking (file under Yum)

I recently perused The Roux (Michel and Albert) Brothers’ wonderful book; “French Country Cooking.” While reading it I found myself both inspired and wondering. They have broken down France into its various regions and given you typical dishes that might be served in Manor Houses and farms alike. The beauty of the book lay in the fact that it breaks down the regions. This gives me a greater knowledge of the type, quality and use of various ingredients all around France.

There are certain basic recipes that a Chef (or cook) should have in his repertoire if he/she hopes to survive. From the Roux Brothers’ I took a recipe for Pate a Choux, Brioche, Bread, Custard and Sorbet. I am yet to try the recipe but drawing on my memory I can taste the recipes that they provide and know that I will tweak them for my own various uses.

One of the things that struck me is that The Roux Brothers’ are very accomplished Chefs and that these dishes are accessible to the everyday cook. While some of the ingredients may be out of reach, lets say, Truffles, they give an appropriate and indeed perfect substitution for them.

Another striking thing was that they referred to Lyonnais as the “Temple of Gastronomy.” In everything that I have learned thus far in my culinary experience I was led to belief (or perhaps did foolishly and without merit) that Provence was widely considered the “Temple of Gastronomy.” This is something that over time I will study further to determine why they refer to Lyonnais in this manner.

Cleverly they also have a breakdown of the various specialties in each of France’s regions. It is very interesting to note both the similarities and differences between the regions.

I look forward to trying to put my own spin on some of their recipes such as; Snails poached in Chablis, Eggs poached in Red Wine, Pig Trotters and Ttoro. I will let you know when I have made them and how they have turned out.

Charles Pierre Monselet once wrote; "Gastronomy, has been the joy of all peoples through the ages. It produces beauty and wit and goes hand in hand with goodness of heart and a consideration of others."

How true! Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM