Behind the scenes @ Le Jardin Gourmand

They were just back from Rome, to get away while the work was being done. Work being a total make over of the restaurant Le Jardin Gourmand. « We had to do it to be ready to face the next 10 years » said chef Pierre Boussereau with a laugh as he welcomed us into the empty…

Truffles and Chardonnay @ Le Chassagne

The 2004 Bernard Morey Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embrazées, was a little disappointing because it was reduced (needed air) and never fully expressed its potential, both of terroir and vintage. Chardonnay, even if disappointing on its own, tends to goes well truffles. This was certainly true of the Embrazés. Chef Stephane Léger of Le…

Maria, Oh! Maria @ Regalade in Beaune

There was only one line in the email: “Does anyone know how to spell La REGALADE and frogs legs or what???” With that we knew that we would have to make a trip to see Maria. Not only to keep our client happy, but also to get some food into our bellies after a long…

Chambertin 1979 Louis Trapet

This old thing was kicking around the cellar for reasons that are long to explain. The Duc thought it might be dead. But it was very much alive.   (the vintage was written by hand because the neck label with the vintage fell off in very damp storage conditions) Well, it had lost all of…

Truffle with raw scallops, olive oil, white pepper and salt

  This combo is perfect. These ingredients were made for eachother. The scallops are neutral enough and yet have a hint of gaminess that is very subtle. And the texture is suggestive of fattiness that carries the aroma and flavors of truffle. The olive oil gives a fruity, pepperiness that the truffle wears like a…

Andouillette and truffles

  For some reason, we got into our heads that Andouillette (tripe sausage) might go well with truffle because of the gaminess inherent in both ingredients. We boiled the Andouillette to cook it, and then sautéed it in a pan. It was a very good, very gamy andouillette. But the tripe aroma really dominated the…

Verget Chassagne Montrachet Pimont 2004

The best white Burgundies of 2004 come from Cote d’Or. Why? Because Cote d’Or had, on average, lower acids and higher alcohols than Chablis or the Maconnais for climactic reasons. Verget harvested very late in Chablis which is why their 2004 Chablis are some of the best Chablis ever produced. Pimont is a village lieu…

tiny shrimp and shaved truffle

This dish was disjointed. The shrimp seemed acid, not buttery enough by nature, given their size. Acidity is not something that goes with truffle. We should try giant shrimp next time.

Jerusalem artichoke, foie gras and truffle

Jerusalem artichoke (topinambour in French)-this is a root vegetable that the French elders detest because that and potatoes is what they ate during the war, and nothing else. Some great French chefs are bringing this veggie back into vogue. It is a great trampoline for both foie gras and truffles. A nearly perfect mixture. There…

Potato and truffle

We tried this new race of potato that we have just discovered called ‘Oeil de Perdrix’ (literally: eye of the partridge) given the red spots that it has on the outer skin.       The potato was luke-warm, the butter was put on the potato cold, but started to melt immediately. Truffle was raw….

Butter or olive oil? That is the question.

    Guess what? I don’t know if it was the fact that the olive oil was so fresh, so pure, so perfect. That nuttiness, that fruit, that earth, that terroir. The oil went better with the truffle than the butter. The sweet creaminess of the butter perhaps made the truffle aroma denser and more…

Truffles, foie gras on fresh baguette: made for eachother

    Foie gras (cooked, but cold) on a (cold) baguette with raw truffle. This is the best mixture so far. All of the ingredients shine and marry well. Maybe this is the reason that truffles go so well on neutral foods (noodles, gnocchi, potatoes, bread, butter, cream and eggs). Chefs must find in these…

What was in the glass to go with these truffles?

    1996 Comptes Lafon Meusault Désirée We needed something that was complex and rich enough to be able to marry well with the truffles. 1996 Comptes Lafon Meusault Désirée More nutty, more evolved than the Clos de la Barre we had several months ago, It went wonderfully with the truffles because the acidity of the 2006…

Oysters, foie gras and truffles…one bite

Next was something sort of inspired by Stephane Léger of Le Chassagne in Chassagne Montrachet. He put oysters and foie gras together. So why not try it with truffles? The foie gras was cooked and cold, slightly spicy but with no traces of Port or Cognac. The oysters was raw, Number 3 from the Grand…

Truffles with sea urchins… an unusual start

The Duc flips out over sea urchins (Oursins, in French). I quite like them too. This time of year, we have them on Sundays as a special treat. We especially like the ones that come from Iceland, as they are usually the most complex. But we never know which provenance the fishmonger will have. There…

the beginning of truffles…

I’ve never owned a truffle before. Never had access to the real thing. Until now. Well, my vegetable merchants sold me some Chinese truffles a few years ago. They looked like truffles, felt like truffles, but sure didn’t have the truffle aroma or flavor of truffles. I tried truffle oil which I found a little…