A French Cooking Class

Happy Weekend! Here's a post for the foodies ;-)

This afternoon here at Ingleside, I was in the kitchen enjoying some food prep for the coming week - including roasting up a batch of deconstructed Ratatouille... Which brought to mind the fact that I had never posted PICTURES about the most amazing cooking school we attended while last in the South of France (where I learned said unconventional Ratatouille preparation). Back on my old blog, Windy Poplars, I had written a couple of journal entry type posts while we were actually still in France (so I wouldn't forget a single detail!), and I had posted the one below sans pictures. - 

But today, I have the new-and-improved version. Might want to have a snack handy whilst you read...

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So here in France, what would you guess is the pervasive passion among the entirety of the population (young, old, rich, poor, well-educated or not, city folk, country folk...)?

Food and Wine

(Though for some, not in that order.) Being avid foodies ourselves, we knew we had to look into some local cultural experiences that included this, our most delectable hobby. Enter: Cooking By The Canal du Midi - a one day school with a classically trained culinary genius (Heather), and her fabulous husband David, in the lovely little hamlet (or nearly there) of Millepetit, right on the banks of the Canal.

Located just beyond an olive orchard, down a majestic, albeit bumpy, tree-lined lane, lies a full working farm from which was gathered the vast majority of our ingredients who, only the evening before, were still hanging happily on the vine as the warm sun caressed them gently into ripest perfection. Fresh locavore-ism at its finest! Besides the bowlful of gorgeous brimming veg (artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, courgettes, runner beans, spring onions, fresh garlic, sweet tomatoes...) there was olive oil from the grove next door, and wines from the vineyard just across the road to use as the star ingredients in our tasty adventure.

After a quick tour, we all reluctantly put down our cameras, excitedly fastened our aprons around our waists, and tucked our towels into place ready to begin! Heather was an absolute whiz at planning out how everything should go, and with our class, she had quite the extra challenge. Between us, we had: gluten allergies, dairy allergies, two vegetarians, and a lady on FODMAPS diet. But she saw it all as just a new mountain to be climbed, and my goodness, our menu was a smashing success - and it was all allergy-friendly!!!

As we dove into prep work: chopping, peeling, beating, scraping, separating, roasting, confit-ing, braising, stuffing, lolli-popping, we were busy every moment! But during it all, Heather kept us afloat with fantastic tips and great direction. Dave even gave us masterful instruction on preparing artichokes properly, a skill that has eluded me these many years!

Enjoying conversation with fellow students all the way, the day just FLEW by! By the end, we were tired and HUNGRY in the best way.

And can I just pause here:

Those of you with food allergies will very much understand what I mean when I say that social eating (i.e. having a meal anywhere but in your own home) can be a very sad, lonely, stressful experience. Especially for those of us who simply ADORE food. To have to watch other people eat something you'd kill for right in front of you, is oft akin to torture. To have a host prepare a meal that you can't partake of, and require you to bring your own grub, feels so alienating. To have to gamble with food at a restaurant, buffet, or picnic, can often cause as much gastric (di)stress and anxiety to your system as eating the off-limits food would have in the first place!

But when someone goes out of their way to show you kindness and consideration by researching your dietary needs (heaven knows we don't choose them!), and prepare safe foods for everyone to partake of together, is the. most. amazing feeling in the world! It makes you (me!) feel loved and included in all the best ways. And food prepped with that extra amount of heart just tastes 1,000x sweeter.

Heather was just such an angel. Our menu would have rivaled that of a Michelin Star chef, and to think we actually had a hand in the prep, and didn't ruin a thing?! Each and every bite was sensational. Though the weather was threatening rain all week, we woke Thursday morning to blue skies and sunshine, under which we enjoyed our feast, picnic-style, right on the banks of the canal.

We enjoyed Apps of:

Canapes of duck ham and quince, truffle tartes, red pepper gazpacho, roasted tomatoes with creme fraiche, three different dips (sun dried tomato, brebi cheese, and artichoke)

First Course 

of souffles on a bed of caramelized onions and asparagus three ways

Second Course 

of roasted guinea fowl stuffed with a homemade spinach ricotta moussilline, fondant potatoes, and deconstructed ratatouille with an amazing pepper sauce and the plate was finished with a delicious gastrique and crisped sage leaves

Third Course 

was chocolate cakes with strawberries and creme fraiche sorbet

Let me just tell you. We left there fat and happy. :-)

So to anyone planning a holiday to the South of France, I would encourage you to consider including a day (or two) of cultural cooking school in your schedule. It was one of the highlights of our trip, and we just can't wait until we have the opportunity to do it again sometime!