Thursday, September 9, 2010

Eating Dangerously



Staying with Emma’s Mum’s friend’s daughter’s former flatmate was on of the best things about our time in Paris. Sure, we didn’t know him that well when we first got there. But we weren’t going to let things stay that way, and neither was he.

Over one of Damien’s famous quiche dinners, his friends offered to come back the next night and cook “a traditional French meal - it’s VERY French.”. We weren’t worried, until they said, “don’t worry, it’s not dangerous - but we won‘t tell you what it is or what it‘s made from”.

Our task was to contribute the wine, so we went to the local wine shop, but when new asked what goes well with Andouillette, the sommelier gave a little chuckle before recommending a couple of bottles.

While waiting for Katie (Damien’s friend who is excellent at making much more than quiche) to prepare our meal, we weren’t allowed to see in thee kitchen, and all doors in the house were closed to stop the smell destroying all textiles.

We were even told that there was a backup dinner in the fridge in case we couldn’t handle what was being created in the kitchen.

But I don’t think they quite understood it when I had said “I like all food - ALL food”. The Andouillette was deliciously rich, the sauce was superb, and perfectly complimented by the accompanying sides and wine (if I may say so).

We were even luckier than you might be thinking to be treated to this meal, having committed a serious food crime just days earlier. Being in France and having access to a decent kitchen, we thought that we would make crepes for breakfast. Our fillings were inspired by our time in Greece, where we had cheese(feta), ham, tomato and mushroom crepes, so we found our way to the supermarket to grab some ham, camembert, and tomatoes, and returned to cook up a storm for ourselves and our kind host.

Damien was far too kind and accepted his crepe with a smile and a “Thank you”, and even finished the whole thing. We sat and finished a number of them.

But the next evening when his friends were over, we had strips torn off us for committing such a crime: Crepes are from Brittany, and Camembert is from Normandy. Apparently French cuisine doesn’t look kindly on “fusion cuisine”. Eek!

Picture: Food criminals, and unrepentant to boot.

No comments:

Post a Comment