by Rowenna Williams on November 21, 2011
In September we were lucky enough to visit the gorgeous Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. We stayed in the lovely Gite Wisteria in Mazamet, Southern Tarn. Within an easy driving distance of Carcassonne it was an ideal base from which we could explore.
Despite the drizzle on the first couple of days we ventured on a day out to Carcassonne, and our first meal out. Squished in a corner in a rustic restaurant we enjoyed a set menu which included goats cheese salad, cassoulet and lemon tart, washed down with a carafe of red wine.
After getting a flat tyre in the isolated village of Cebazan we got our first taste of Blanquette, the region’s answer to champagne. After the car (and my parents) had been towed to Beziers we found a wine warehouse and treated ourselves to a bottle of the local tipple. According to legend Blanquette was the world’s first sparkling wine, pre-dating champagne. Blanquette is a dry, creamy bubbly with a lovely finish. It is arguably as tasty as champagne and comes with a much smaller price tag – needless to say this was the first of many bottles consumed.
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by Rowenna Williams on September 8, 2011
We went to the annual Garlic Festival at Le Delice in Malvern on Saturday. There were two stalls set up outside the French deli offering customers the opportunity to try free tasters of garlic soup, snails and garlic ice cream.
I tried my first ever snail. The texture was a little unusual, and the flavour of the snail is best described as ‘earthy’, it was however, tasty, smothered in a garlicky, butter sauce.
I then tried some of the garlic ice cream (again a first for me). I think that it would have been better to try the ice cream first, then the snail, because the garlic on the snail was so strong that all I got from the ice cream was creaminess, so it’s hard to comment on the merits (or not) of it.
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by Rowenna Williams on August 31, 2011
Sad person that I am I have already started thinking about Christmas and what foodie goodies I can give as gifts. So, last week the kitchen experiments started with Chocolate Truffles.
Although they may not look pretty these truffles were super-easy to make and extremely tasty. Next time I think I’ll use a melon baller to shape them…
Ingredients
280g of dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
284ml pot of double cream
50g unsalted butter
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