Lockdown diaries day forty-three, Advent day eleven, Bordeaux wines

Advent day eleven Bordeaux wine and ruby beer

Day forty-three, Friday 11^th December 2020

 

Advent day eleven

Curfew from 15th December 20h until 6h

Update from Prime Minister Jean Castex last night

Despite the virus numbers not being as low as the government would have liked, they are still planning on easing lockdown here in France on 15^th December. We will no longer be required to fill in our attestations (reasons for leaving home form), but an overnight curfew will come into place from eight o’clock in the evening until six in the morning, and if you do need to leave home during these hours, an attestation must be completed. The curfew will not apply to Christmas Eve, but it will be enforced (with zero tolerance) on New Year’s Eve. 

 

We will be permitted to travel between regions in France, so visiting of family over the festive period will be allowed, however, all gatherings should be limited to six adults. To avoid a third wave (the second wave is not over yet), we really do need to be careful and think before we go out, is our reason for leaving home really necessary? Theatres, cinemas and other public places that were hoping to open on 16^th December, will remain closed, and this situation will be reviewed on 7^th January. The opening of bars and restaurants will be reviewed, as planned, on 20^th January. 

 

We are looking forward to meeting up with a few friends, hopefully with a bike ride, but our Christmas and New Year plans were never going to be over the top, even without a curfew. The end of 2020 marks the day Britain’s transition period ends, meaning we will be officially ostracised from the EU, and those of us living in France will become third country citizens with far fewer rights than EU citizens. There has never been much about that worth celebrating, as far as we are concerned. Having been promised so many times that nothing will change, and deals will be done, the latest from Reuters this afternoon is that leaving without a trade deal will be the most likely option at this late hour. It has been four and half years since the referendum in June 2016, and still we have no idea what the real impact will be or what changes we will need to make in order to run our business in less than a month’s time. It makes me so mad.

 

Chocolate Brownies

Mary Berry’s brownies

One of the downsides to searching through my recipe books looking for new dinner ideas, is spotting something naughty but nice, getting caught up in the moment and diving in without thinking. This is just what happened when I found Mary’s brownie recipe and ended up with the biggest bowl of melted chocolate brownie mixture I’ve ever seen and way too much for my favourite tray-bake tin. The vast quantities of butter and sugar should have warned me I was heading way out of my comfort zone, but seriously Mary, these bad boys should come with a health warning. Thankfully, although the recipe stated it would make twelve brownies, (that would mean almost 40g of sugar per brownie), I managed to cut mine into about thirty, and as they can be frozen, there is no need to rush off and eat them all in one go. 

 

In order to try and burn off some of the calories from the brownies, while the rain, wind, thunder and lightning took over outside, we set to clearing some drawers in the lounge. I might have already mentioned we are not the best at clutter-free living, but the contents of these drawers probably haven’t been looked at in over a decade and gave us a trip down memory lane. Top finds were my handwritten diary from our honeymoon in Mauritius, April 1998, including a detailed inventory of what we had on room service and from the minibar, as well as a page where I was practising my new signature. A notebook from 1997 where Adrian had listed all the additional extras he’d spent on Gizmo, his Mini Cooper, since buying him in 1994. From our early years in France, there were enough supermarket receipts to plot the price changes of our standard shop for the last decade, and enough plastic folders and pockets to set up our own stationary shop. There were also so many cables, plus a whole collection of different models of iPods, Adrian couldn’t quite contain his excitement, and some of Ed’s homemade movies from at least ten years ago. As he is now studying cinema as part of his degree, it was quite sweet to remember how much he’s always enjoyed filming.

 

Bordeaux wines

France Trivia advent calendar, day eleven Bordeaux wines, the basics

My advent calendar has offered me a bottle of Bordeaux, so I thought a quick tour of the wines of Bordeaux would be a good idea today.

 

Reds

Bordeaux, light and fruity and best drunk young.

Bordeaux supérieur, full-bodied, with a delicate tannin and best drunk within five years. 

St Emilion, Pomerol, Fronsac, full-bodied and supple and with the possibility to lay down and age.

Pauillac, St Julien, more complex and higher in tannin when young, but much better when aged.

 

Rosés

Bordeaux rosé and Bordeaux Clairet produced in the Gironde department are light, fruity and best drunk young.

 

Dry whites

Entre-deux-Mers and Blaye-Cotes-de-Bordeaux produced in the Gironde, they are fresh, light and easy to drink.

Pessac-Leognan and Graves are a little stronger and can be left to age.

 

Sweet whites

Sauternes being the most famous, some of these can be kept for many years.

 

Sparkling wines

Bordeaux produces sparkling whites and rosés that Larousse tells me are very fresh, light and easy to drink. 

Lockdown diaries day thirty-four, Advent day two, rivers and departments

December recipe challenge

Day thirty-four, Wednesday 2^nd December 2020

 

Advent day two

The JP Chenet sparkling rosé, from my advent calendar yesterday, while probably not one to win any awards, was better than I was expecting as I really don’t drink rosé wine these days. It wasn’t too sweet, had a hint of flavour and the bubbles certainly brightened an otherwise ordinary Tuesday evening. Adrian’s beer blonde, however, was full of aromas and flavours, and very drinkable. Tonight, I have a Merlot and Adrian a triple beer.

 

December recipe challenge

It has been a week since my disastrous French onion tart attempt and although everyone was happy with me trying again tonight, I wasn’t quite ready to give it another go just yet. I set myself the challenge to follow a new recipe every week in December, as I want to add new flavours and meals to our routine dinners. This morning, I spent rather a long time browsing my cookbooks, but sadly there was very little that I found inspiring. The problem being I am much more comfortable with big one-pot meals, packed full of veggies and flavours and served in a bowl, than a meal with lots of individual parts, each with their own pan to wash up. 

 

Once again, I found myself turning to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, but this time, his River Cottage Veg Everyday book. In there was a bean chilli recipe that ticked the one-pot box, the comfort-food box (it’s still rather chilly here today) and I’m pretty sure it will be a good accompaniment to my advent calendar Merlot too. The chilli is ready to reheat, and I am planning on serving it with oven baked jacket potatoes, crème fraiche and some grated cheese. It has been ages since I made a chilli dish and I rarely serve it with jacket potatoes, so it’s certainly breaking from routine, and as far as I can remember, I’ve never followed any recipe for a chilli before. I will try and be a little bit more adventurous next week, but I’m hoping tonight’s chilli will boast my confidence, unlike the soggy French onion tart. 

France Trivia advent calendar, day two, rivers and departments

This advent I have decided to share a little bit of French trivia every day and today it’s all about rivers and departments. In the French language there are two words for river; la rivière which is used for a tributary river that flows into another river, and la fleuve for a river that flows into the sea. The five most important rivers in France are the Garonne, the Loire, the Rhine, the Rhone and the Seine. 

 

At the source of the Sèvre Niortaise river

France is split into Regions (thirteen on mainland France and five in the overseas territories) and then smaller administrative Departments (ninety-five in mainland France, two in Corsica and five overseas). A large number of the departments are named after the river that flows through them, like the Charente, the Dordogne and the Vienne. Nine departments are named after two of their rivers, like Lot-et-Garonne, Indre-et-Loire and Loir-et-Cher, but the Deux-Sèvres, where we live, is the only department to be named after two rivers who share the same name; the Sèvre Nantaise, a rivière that flows into the Loire and the Sèvre Niortaise, a fleuve that flows into the Atlantic. I’m rather proud that we live somewhere with such a unique name.

 

Sharing the love

For us as a family, love has certainly been more prominent than money this year, so it seems rather apt that Ed’s latest YouTube is his cover of Can’t Buy Me Love. I know I am biased, but it is rather good, so if you would like to have a listen, click on the link below and see if you recognise any of the band.

Lockdown diaries, day thirty-one, a tricky tart

At church on the first Sunday in Advent

Day thirty-one, Sunday 29^th November 2020

 

November is drawing to a close and today is the first Sunday of advent, although we are not peeking into our advent calendars just yet. Our thirty-two-kilometre bike ride today took us to a sweet little church in the Charente, where we stopped for our cake, perched in the sunshine on an ancient, lichen covered tomb stone. It was an invigorating ride as although the sun was out, there was a cold wind from the north, but I have now cycled over four thousand, eight hundred kilometres this year, so fingers crossed I’ll hit the five thousand.

 

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's French Onion Tart

A tricky tart

I mentioned a few days ago that I’d set myself a December challenge; to follow a recipe from one of my many cookbooks at least once a week. Well, I have a cooking confession to make.

 

I was so excited at trying something new that even though it was still November, I found myself flicking through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's The River Cottage Year, which is cleverly set out in months to help with ideas on seasonal produce. Tucked into the November section was a French onion tart, that looked just perfect. I may have cobbled together an onion tart of sorts before, but not following this (or any other) recipe, I love any dish with onions, and having made Adrian cycle home with a five-kilo bag recently, knew I had the ingredients to hand. I was also confident it was a recipe I could cope with. How difficult can an onion tart be?

 

Well, trickier than I thought. I was very good and followed the recipe to the letter and as Hugh has never let me down before, I even dropped my own pastry recipe for his, including the bit where you don't chill it or roll it, just finger-press it into the dish and blind bake. The kilo of onions that had to be peeled, sliced and gently softened took me way longer than he said, but I can forgive him that, it was a delicious mix. My usual standard quiche recipe turns out successful quiches with a variety of fillings, time and again, made in a rectangle tray bake tin, which I find easier to portion than a round one. As directed by Hugh, this time I used a 23cm round dish and carefully cooked it for his 'around 30mins', whereas I'd normally ignore the clock completely and do it by eye. I was a little concerned about it getting too brown on top, so whipped it out to serve, hot from the oven, as per the book.

 

My first attempt at French onion tart

I will admit that the flavour was good, and everyone ate it (although there were no alternatives offered), but I have to say it's my first experience of soggy bottoms and undercooked pastry. When Ed enquired as to what it was he could taste in the tart, I at first thought it was the nutmeg he was referring to, but when he clarified it as a funny texture he couldn’t identify, I realised he meant uncooked pastry. Adrian is not a fussy eater, in fact he’d eat anything I put in front of him, but when it comes to cooking, his idea of giving me a night off is when he’s in charge of the lasagne, and by that I mean warming up the one I’ve made earlier in the day. When even he suggested it might need a bit longer in the oven, maybe I should have listened. It definitely could have done with more cooking, as even the filling did its best to escape from its own pastry and flow over the plate.

 

I will not be defeated, however, but next time it will be Hugh’s filling and I’m going back to my pastry and my rectangle tin. Adrian says it just goes to show I don't actually need to follow a recipe to produce a tasty meal, bless him. 

 

With December only days away, my challenge may be more of a challenge than I at first thought and although in some ways this has spurred me on to do better next time, it has also given me a sinking feeling whenever I pick up a cookbook. Tonight it’s a family favourite, risotto, and no recipe required. 

Lockdown diaries, day thirty, bells, beer and bike rides

At the patisserie in Brioux-sur-Boutonne

Day thirty, Saturday 28^th November 2020

 

Almost there Adrian

Between the bells

We were gently woken from our dreams by the eight o’clock morning angelus, and another day of clear skies revealed itself outside the shutters. By the time the village bells were ringing out the midday angelus I had the washing hung out, a batch of yoghurt in the maker, the soup ready for a late lunch, a cake cooling, the pork bones roasted and on their way to becoming a bone broth stock and we’d hung the wallpaper on the chimney breast and round into the nook where the shelf unit sits, leaving just a few over the door pieces, and the last bit of wall with three full drops to do. Fuelled by an extra, and somewhat late, morning coffee, these final bits were all finished before lunch. That’s how to rock your Saturday morning.

 

Our celebratory flan and beer

A beer and bike ride to Brioux-sur-Boutonne

Following on from yesterday’s post about celebrating payday, someone on Facebook asked how we’d be celebrating our increased freedom that came in today, where we can now roam within a twenty-kilometre radius from home and be out for three whole hours. Well, the answer was simple, a bike ride to Brioux-sur-Boutonne, which comfortably sits right at the edge of our twenty-kilometre zone. It’s also home to an award-winning patisserie, who were open and had our favourite flan, just waiting to be boxed up for us. A bench in the sunshine, the two beers Adrian had packed, and our patisseries were the perfect way to toast the end of the current decorating project and our first day of almost-freedom. The ride home with the setting sun and the moon only a day away from full, was beautiful, if a little chilly on my ears. Our route took us up to the ridge that looks down onto Chef Boutonne and where we had 360º views of orange, pink and lilac skies.

 

By the time the angelus rang out at six o’clock this evening we were back from our thirty-eight-kilometre bike ride, the washing was in, the bread maker was happily preparing the dough for the pizzas this evening and the sounds of Ed’s guitar were filtering through the house. There was even enough time to finish off today’s diary and reassemble the shelf unit upstairs before our aperos. I’ll have more days like today please.

Lockdown diaries, day twenty-six a new challenge

Another day, another batch of soup

Day twenty-six, Tuesday 24^th November 2020

 

Tuesday rolls around once more bringing with it my favourite yoga class of the week; Rise and Shine Yoga for Conditioning. Not being one to enjoy rushing my morning routine, the alarm goes off before the sun has risen, to ensure I’m relaxed and happy on my mat by 9 o’clock. There is just something about this class and its extra focus on the breathing and the body, that leaves me feeling strong and energised to face the day. 

 

We are now three and a half weeks into lockdown and President Macron will speak tonight about what to expect next. Adrian was working online all day and then set off on the turbo trainer to virtually cycle up Mont Ventoux (again) on Zwift. Ed (who conveniently has no lectures on Tuesdays) took himself off to Ruffec to do the weekly shop for us and returned home delighted he had done most of his Christmas shopping too. I think a DNA test might be necessary as I am never that organised or in control when it comes to Christmas. A good skill he is picking up from me during lockdown though, is learning to compare the prices per kilo when doing the shopping. 

 

I might not have had the most exciting of days, but I was happy in the kitchen. A batch of soup, another cake and a lasagne for dinner this evening, plus all the clearing up that goes with it, certainly kept me out of trouble. The soup might not look much, but I can assure you my frugal cauliflower soup, made from the leaves and stalk of a cauliflower, with lots of garlic, a green chilli and some crème fraiche, is delicious and creamy, with just a hint of heat.

 

With December getting closer, I need something to look forward to, and I’m not talking about Christmas. I realise I am becoming quite comfortable with life in lockdown, enjoying us all being at home together and things slipping into an easy routine. Since moving to France 16 years ago, I've often found myself out of my comfort zone and knowing how good this is for me, I always try to say yes to things, no matter how scary they may at first seem. Running an English language club at the local secondary school was one big gulp moment, as was agreeing to stand for election on the village council and accepting a part time job at a local library. This year, there have been very few opportunities to push myself or try something different, although I did set myself some cycling challenges and even climbed a mountain or two. 

 

A small selection of my recipe books

Inspired by author Sophie Claire and her new Christmas book A Winter’s Dream (see my review here), I have decided I need a December challenge. Something to focus on, that gives me the opportunity try new things and break from routine. We are a little restricted with lockdown, but I think I’ve come up with a great idea; the December recipe challenge. It’s time to dig out a cookery book, or two, and do more than just flick through looking at the pictures. I am notoriously bad at following a recipe, always tweaking it to add or substitute something, so my weekly challenge will be to choose a dish I’ve never cooked before and stick to it, ingredient for ingredient. I might even let Adrian and Ed do the choosing. If nothing else, it should make mealtimes a little less routine. 

Lockdown diaries day eighteen, guilty pleasures

Paris portraits, 1998, aged and wrinkled, like us

Day eighteen, Monday 16^th November 2020

 

Guilty pleasures

Monday morning, the sun is doing its best to shine, the kitchen smells of freshly baked cake and in a brief nod to life before Covid-19, I appear have the house to myself. There is just the reassuring hum of muted voices coming from behind closed doors to remind me that I’m not really home alone, just that the men are busy with their online worlds, in their respective dens. I am free to flit from task to task, and roam from room to room as I choose. 

 

I play that annoying game of putting the washing out, then notice the sun has been replaced with a hovering dark cloud, so bring it back in, then when the dust motes in the bedroom dance in the sunlight, I put it back out once more. I get back to rearranging my books in the bedroom, then realise the portraits we had done in Paris in 1998, (you know, the touristy sketches from the street artists in Montmartre) hidden away for too long in a dark corridor, actually look pretty good dusted off and placed on the chest of drawers. Aged and wrinkled like us, they offer a glance back to our youth and a time when France was a holiday destination not a home. 

 

There are still too many books to sort through and decisions to make on who stays and who goes. After a shelf or two, where I’d lovingly picked up so many and made promises I couldn’t keep about reading them next, I turned to my kindle and the book that was becoming increasingly difficult to put down. The characters all doing their best to hide their pasts and their real reasons for being where they are just now. Their different stories weaving through the book, emotionally charged situations and decisions made in the past that have repercussions on the future had me hooked. In one day, lives were changed forever, but who really knows the truth and who is out for revenge? Oh, I whiled away a good bit of my afternoon snowed in at a luxury chalet in the French Alps waiting for the plot to fall into place, doing my best to second guess who was who. Of course, this did mean that I wasn’t doing what I should have been doing, but there is always tomorrow to get back on track.

 

Days like today are my guilty pleasure, as I’m sure any bookworm will agree and it’s nice to break from routine every now and then. I sometimes wonder if certain things have become too routine at the moment, especially mealtimes. Without realising it Saturday night has become homemade pizza night, Sunday night, risotto, Monday, a spicy vegetable couscous, Tuesday, lasagne and Thursday, moules frites. That only leaves two nights of variety or surprise. Then again, as no two meals I serve up are exactly the same, even if I’m following a recipe, I guess it’s not too bad and I know they are all healthy and homecooked. 

 

Frugal meatballs

I think as a treat this week, to spice things up a bit, we’ll have homemade meatballs in a homemade spicy tomato sauce, served with spaghetti. Not tonight, as my late yoga class means I need a lighter meal on a Monday, but as our diet is now mainly vegetarian, contains hardly any processed foods, and is low in salt and fat, meatballs (like lazy days spent in books) are a rare treat. 

 

I tend to make them in large batches and freeze in portions, so I always keep an eye out for the short-dated burgers and sausages in the supermarket anti-waste fridges. The last batch I made were great value. Six pork and veal sausages, reduced to 1.50€ and eight pure beef burgers, reduced to 5€. Four of the burgers went straight in the freezer and four into the meatball mix with the skinned sausages, crushed garlic, homemade pumpkin and chestnut purée, a grated apple from the orchard, black pepper and piment d’espelette. 4€ of minced meat made twenty-five meatballs, which will be enough for five individual portions which works out at 0,80€ a portion. The best thing about them is that every batch I make is a different mix of meats, flavours and spices. Do you have a naughty but nice family favourite, served up for special occasions?

Lockdown diaries, day nine, the butterfly

Goodbye grotty wallpaper

Day nine, Saturday 7^th November 2020

The decorating got off to a wobbly start this morning, mainly because preparing and painting the ceilings is something we have both been putting off. I found myself busy putting the bins out, cleaning the bathrooms, dusting the lounge and bedroom and then finding the urge to take another look at the discarded pile of books and tourist information brochures that I put aside to sort through a few weeks ago, but never quite got around to completing. 

 

Adrian had washed the bikes yesterday, but this morning was once again in the garage, tinkering, fixing a tyre valve and carrying out the regular maintenance on the chains, sprockets and other bits I know very little about.

 

Starting on the ceilings

Once we’d had lunch, however, there were no more excuses and while the ceilings got some much needed attention from Adrian, he is after all considerably taller than I am, I crept into the nook between the chimney breast and toilet door to take off the last of the wallpaper. This corner is normally home to a custom-made shelf unit that has been useful but under appreciated by us for over sixteen years. It is only now we have realised how clever the design is. We assumed, as the wallpaper behind it was even older than the old stuff we’ve lived with for far too long, that it was fixed to the wall and would be going nowhere. In fact, it is two ladder side supports and six shelves that once in place cleverly holds itself together with no further fixings. Even the ladder section is pegged rather than screwed together. It is currently sitting in the garage where Adrian has carefully painted it all, and now the ancient paper behind has gone and we are one step closer to new wallpaper, we can’t wait to welcome it back in its new eye-catching livery. 

 

It is on days like today that my butterfly traits are only too obvious. Clearing out books, sorting through stuff, decorating, whatever the task is, there seems to be a pattern; I’ve started but don’t expect me to finish. I cast my eye over a room or a to-do list, see an area that needs attention, get all fired up about what needs to be done, visualise how it will look when it’s done, make a start and then progress slows right down. I either find it difficult to part with things or realise I’m drowning and becoming overwhelmed by the task, so off I flit like a butterfly to find something else to do. Please tell me I’m not alone in this and if you have any tips to help me achieve a goal or finish a project, do let me know.

Ed's homemade turkey and crème fraiche pasta dish

 

Last night Ed cooked his turkey and crème fraiche pasta meal which was a real treat and delicious enough to persuade him to take control of my kitchen once a week. Tonight, I’m back in charge and it’s homemade pizza night, a firm weekly favourite.

Diary of Covid-19 confinement, day thirty-three

Courgette seedlings, one month old

Day thirty-three, 18^th April 2020

Staying alive

It was one month ago today when Ed and I sowed our courgette, butternut squash, pumpkin and pattisson seeds and they are looking great. They have certainly benefited from the extra time we have with life in lockdown as they have been well and truly pampered, from warming the soil in the sun before sowing, to using the radiators to give a gentle boost of heat to encourage germination. Then the new seedlings got their daily dose of sunshine in the garden but were tucked up warm and cosy indoors at night, with just enough, but not too much, watering. They are growing so well in their own pots that we are now keeping them in the shade during the day, just so they don’t get too big before it’s safe to plant them outside in the potager once the frost risk has passed. I can almost taste that first courgette.

Yesterday a friend in the village left me a gift of some sourdough starter, alive and bubbling in a jam jar. She had had the patience that I didn’t and had followed local baker Keith, from Jambon de Printemps’s six-day video guide (see here) to create her own starter. The fact that it’s alive and I now have to regularly do things with it, so as not to kill it; you have no idea how terrified I am of it! There are days when I wonder how I manage to keep a husband, a son, a twelve-year-old dog, an odd assortment of ancient chickens, a duck and a goose alive, in addition to the homemade natural yoghurt that I keep going by using a few teaspoons to start a new batch off every four or five days. 

It was time to be brave. I took a deep breath, opened the jar and split the starter. 20g was fed, watered and left to grow and the remainder is now (hopefully) a tasty pizza dough proving in a bowl for dinner tonight. I’ll let you know how successful it was tomorrow.

18th April 2016 cycling in La Sarthe

April holiday memory 

18^th April 2016 and we had just set off on our first ever cycle tour, in the Sarthe department, near Le Mans. Our 74km day started following the river Sarthe, passing a Benedictine Abbey, pretty medieval villages and a bluebell wood, before visiting the Faïence museum in Malicorne. Leaving behind the river Sarthe, we found the river Loir in La Fléche, where we enjoyed a sunny beer before following an old railway line, now La Vallée du Loir cycle path, to Le Lude. Ever the gentleman, Adrian was not only head navigator and route planner, he was also carrying pretty much all of our luggage. If you look closely in the picture above you will see he thought of everything, including a cycle specific wine bottle carrier, and wine.

Stay indoors, stay safe.

Lockdown library

My reading selection today is the fun and inspiring cycle travel memoirs from Australian author Steven Herrick. Over the years, Steven and his wife Cathie have cycled a number of epic rides in France, as well as many long-distance routes that have crossed Europe. If armchair travel is your thing, you’ll love them, if you can’t wait to get back out and travel for real, these will prove great planning tools for your next adventure.

France et Moi with author Mardi Michels

Welcome to ‘France et Moi’ where this week I am talking to author Mardi Michels about what France means to her.

 

Mardi Michels

Mardi is a full-time French teacher to elementary school-aged boys and the author of eat. live. travel. write - a blog focusing on culinary adventures near and far. As part of her job, she offers after-school cooking classes for boys aged 7 to 14. She grew up in Australia, lived and taught in Paris for over five years and now calls Toronto home. In 2014, she purchased an historic home in southwest France, which she operates as a vacation rental property. In her spare time, you’ll find her teaching French cooking and baking classes in Toronto.

Firstly, I think France is a special place and it is famed for many things including its cheese, wine and diverse holiday locations plus, dare I say it strikes and dog poo littered streets. What do you think makes France so very unique and ‘French’?

Mardi: I feel like you’re asking me why France is so special to me? (it’s “French” because, well, it’s French!) so I’m going to have to say I love the language, the culture, the history and the food. For me, a country where I love all those things is truly special.

2) What is your fondest memory of time spent in France?

Mardi: I’ve spent a lot of time in France – a few vacations when I was in school, over 5 years living there in my 20s, countless summers since I moved to Canada in 2000 and since buying our house in France, we’re spent a lot of time there – so it’s REALLY hard to choose one memory! The recent World Cup victory by the French team brought back very fond memories of the summer of 1998 when I was living in Paris – THAT was a special summer! Nowadays, I cherish every minute I can be in France – it truly does feel like my second home – and even quiet mornings enjoying my coffee with a good book on our terrace make for fond memories.

3) Your cook book, In the French kitchen with kids,will be released next week, where did your love of sharing French food start?

Mardi: I’ve actually always had a thing for French food. Growing up, one of the desserts my mum used to make for dinner parties was crème caramel. One of my favourite places to go for brunch in Adelaide was a French restaurant. Later, living in Paris in my 20s, I tasted a lot of really good food but over the years came to realise that while it might look fancy or sound fancy, the dishes that the French eat at home are fairly simple to make. Over the past 10 years, I’ve been writing about French food and teaching people how to make it both through my blog and through the classes I teach. I love showing people (adults and kids) that they can make fancy-sounding dishes at home!

4) What would be your most memorable meal eaten in France?

Mardi: I’ve had a lot of memorable meals – from Michelin star places to tiny family-run local cafés so it’s hard to choose just one. But one year Neil and I found ourselves in Paris for New Year’s Eve and I’d been searching for someplace to enjoy a late dinner after a show. As someone who has lived in Paris, I was irritated to see that many restaurants were hiking their prices up so much for what essentially was their regular menu so I ended up not booking anything and decided we would take our chances. I happen to know of the 24/7 café Le Tambour in the 2^nd and figured we’d go there for a midnight “cheers” if nothing else. We headed there after our show and arrived around 11.45pm. The place was looking packed but they welcomed us in and found us a booth and within 10 minutes we had glasses of champagne (and all sorts of noisemakers and streamers) to toast the new year! Shortly afterwards, we were served Steak-Frites (Neil) and Salade de Chèvre Chaud (me). Pretty much the best meal ever!

5) Every region in France has its own culinary specialty, do you have a favourite regional dish?

Mardi: Again, a tricky one to answer! Obviously, my heart is divided between Paris and the Lot-et-Garonne but there are SO many regional dishes I love – flammenkeuche from the Alsace is a big favourite – but if I had to choose, I’d say galetttes au sarrasin (buckwheat crêpes) from Brittany. It’s such a versatile dish – works for both sweet and savoury – and can be eaten at any meal!

6) Imagine you are sitting outside a French café at 10.00am on a sunny morning watching the world go by, what do you order from the waiter?

Mardi: I’ve probably got my chocolatine orPain Suisse au Chocolat from my favourite boulangerie in a crinkly paper bag so I’d be ordering a grand crème and an espresso (because the crème are generally not strong enough, I’ll drink a little bit and add the espresso later). Bliss.

7) What is your favourite thing to buy in a Boulangerie/Patisserie?

Mardi: I’m a big fan of the baguette tradition but our local boulangerie in Nérac has a fabulous 7-grain baguette called Campagrain which is wonderful fresh and which toasts up beautifully. In terms of viennoiseries, I do love a good chocolatine or a Pain Suisse au Chocolat.

8) France has many different cheeses, but which French cheese are you?

Mardi: Sigh – I’m only allowed to choose just one? Well then it’ll have to be Comté. The older the better (36 months).

9) How important do you think it is to match your French wine with your food? Any top matching tips you can share?

Mardi: I’ll defer to Neil here who suggests a few simple rules for pairing food with wine. It’s generally a good idea to wine and foods from the same region, ligher wines with lighter dishes and always serving a wine that’s sweeter than your dessert are some rules I try to stick to! Actually his best advice is “drink the wine you like”!

10) How would you explain that very unique French concept of ‘terroir’?

Mardi: Interestingly, we’re hearing more about terroir outside of France these days. Originally, it primarily referred to different regions’ climates and soil affecting the flavours of the wines produced there, sometimes called “somewhereness” but more and more it’s used to talk about other foods and beverages (coffee, for example). In practical terms it means that the saucisson made in the next village will have a flavour very different to the one made 200km away.

11) Can you describe your perfect French apero for us, including the drink, the nibbles, the location and the company?

Mardi: If I’m hosting company at home, I’d probably serve gougères (recipe in my book) with some champagne. If I’m by myself on my terrace in Nérac, it’ll most likely be local rosé with some variety of French chips (they have the most extraordinary flavours, don’t you know?!).

Finally, can you tell us a bit about In the French kitchen with kids and maybe give us an idea of some of the recipes we will find?

 

In the French kitchen with kids, Mardi Michels

Mardi: I’m hoping to show that French food doesn't have to be complicated and have tried to feature recipes suited to young chefs and their families in an elegant yet approachable book. From savoury dishes like Omelettes, Croque-Monsieur or Steak-Frites to sweet treats like Profiteroles, Madeleines or Crème Brûlée, readers will find a lot of French classics. I’ve included helpful timetables to plan out baking projects, as well as tips on how to get kids involved in the cooking and am really hoping the book breaks down any preconceived notion that French cuisine is too fancy or too difficult for kids to master. But it’s not just for kids as many who have seen advance copies of the book can attest to - it’s really for Francophiles of any age who love to cook but never considered French food was in their reach!

You can follow Mardi at eat. live. travel. write. see here and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

You can find out more about Maison de la fontaine (her holiday rental in Southwest France) here and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Join me back here on Tuesday when I will be helping her celebrate publication day of In the French kitchen with kids, which is available to pre-order on Amazon now.