stacking up...........

This has to be the ultimate in simplicity and ease and what a result!

I love using ring moulds but the most important thing is to pack down the stack,gently but firmly enough to make sure the ingredients stay intact otherwise the stack might wobble over. I have used a cocktail muddler for this purpose which was far from ideal but better than nothing so I was thrilled when I came across a proper ring mound packer in a kitchen shop in Pau. This does the job perfectly. The ingredients stay pressed together and the stack doesn't move.

The only ingredients above are sliced: tomatoes, cucumber and salad onions arranged in layers and finished off with freshly picked herbs and a little basil oil drizzled over the top. Presenting a salad this way (and in this case with an omlette) is far more appealing and pleasing to the eye and a huge relief to know that it will stay together at least until it is attacked with a knife and fork.

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Copper love.....

Le Russe

A little word about a big cake!

In the town of Oloron-Sainte-Marie in southwest France is the patisserie shop, Artigarrede, at 1 Place de la Cathèdrale. This is home to one of the world’s greatest cakes, Le Russe. A cake with a history shrouded in secrecy and mystery.

According to legend, the cake was invented here on behalf of and dispatched regularly to, a Russian nobleman. An astonishing feat for a small patisserie in rural France but one that gave rise to guard its recipe with the up most secrecy.  A tradition upheld to this present day where its employees still must sign a secrecy agreement. Le Russe is now advertised as the Le veritable Russe (the true Russe) - indicating Artigarrede has come up against strong competition and conjecture.

Our own discovery of Le Russe came from an article in Gourmet Traveller about 8 years ago on the Basque country. An article that sent us not only in search of the mysterious cake but ever onward and upward to almost the top of the Pyrénées to the tiny mountain village of Larrau and the destination gourmet inn, Etchemaite.

We were (unbeknownst) lucky that day, Artigarrede was open. We bought many slices for ourselves and everyone we thought might like to try this famous cake. It was eye wateringly expensive, gob smackingly delicious and every mouthful savoured right down to the last speck. As the years went by we took and sent many friends to Oloron enroute to Etchemaite but sadly the shop was always closed presumably for summer holidays or some such reason so more bad luck than anything else, we supposed. Disappointment rained.

UNTIL just recently when friends from Australia stopped by for lunch enroute to Carcassonne bearing gifts of wine, cheese and a whole LE VERITABLE RUSSE - the Holy Grail itself. I was absolutely stunned.

However, my stunned state did not last long. We (the four of us) ate the whole cake in one sitting I am rather ashamed to say. We just had to make up for 8 years of longing and dreaming, who wouldn’t! 

Liz is a champion cook, food writer and food critic and together we enjoyed discussing the possible secret ingredients of Le veritable Russe. It has two wafer thin layers of a type of melt in the mouth almond flavoured meringue with an almond paste butter cream sandwiched between the two. The base is firm enough to slice through but there is no awareness of this slightly harder texture at the moment of taste.

Spurred on by Liz and Arthur’s visit and their wonderful treat I thought I’d do a little research and came up with the story that it is to the almonds in the cake that we owe the name and not to any count or Russian nobleman. The almonds came from Russia - not quite so romantic, I’m afraid. As to the secrecy surrounding the recipe, I could not come up with anything but then it is, after all, a secret!

I also found many recipes for Moroccan Le Russe cake. A similar sounding cake from my imagined ingredients and from all accounts, one that would have a similar taste, but I could not find one photograph that resembled in any way our Le Russe from Oloron-Sainte-Marie. It is, after all,  Le veritable Russe!

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hearts in the South West

Magret (duck breasts) and coeurs de canard (duck hearts) barbequed - what could be better? No marinating, no fuss, just a sprinkling of salt on the breasts and a few fresh bay leaves between the hearts and away you go. Traditionally we serve these cuts with peas, into which we put many slithers of garlic and plenty of ground allspice. Alongside them a glistening plate of peeled potatoes sliced on a mandolin, brushed with melted butter and baked at 180C for one hour. The potatoes benefit from a sprinkling of finely minced garlic and parsley just before serving and most important of all is the orange flavoured sauce, a necessary and delicious accompaniment to anything 'duck'.

I prefer my sauce in this case to have a thin consistency so I simmer it for only about twenty to thirty minutes. Cook it for longer if you prefer it thick.

Ingredients for the sauce:

1 large brown onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons grape seed oil

100ml raspberry vinegar

1x370gm Gelée Bonne Maman Cassis jam

1 orange, juice only

100ml port

Method:

Gently cook the onion in the oil under it has softened and becomes opaque. Add the raspberry vinegar and cook until the liquid reduces to almost nothing. Add the jam, the orange juice and the port. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the mixture is thick and reduced to half its original volume. Set aside to cool. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve then transfer it to a small serving bowl and keep warm. The sauce will keep refrigerated for one week.

To cook the meat: Score the thick fat on each breast and rub in a little salt. Thread the duck hearts and fresh bay leaves onto long skewers and rub each one with a little oil.

Both the breasts and hearts are delicious served rare. Set your fire early and burn the charcoal down to the glowing red ember stage. Place the breasts fat side down and slowly cook melting the thick fat during the process but be prepared for flare-ups. We have a barbeque plate especially designed for cooking magret, it is fluted so the fat runs into a central point with an external lip designed to collect the drips in a separate container. Once the fat is reduced, turn each breast over and cook for another four or so minutes. Remove the breasts from the heat, cover to keep warm and rest for five to ten minutes. The duck hearts take about five minutes to cook on each side and must rest before serving.

An alternative way to cook the duck breasts if you are concerned about hot dripping fat is to cook them in a dry frying pan on the cooker until all the fat has melted then finish them off on the BBQ for a few minutes on each side to get that nice BBQ flavour.

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Taking time out........................

Something went horribly wrong with the San Sebastian posting. Try as I might I could not close the gap between the title and the beginning of the text and I did not arrange the photos that way. Restarting was out of the question as it seemed to be a blogger.com issue. Every now and then they make changes to their settings and if posting and uploading coincide then it's impossible to avoid some sort of error and it is anyone's guess when they might fix the problem. Makes no difference to the story or the photographs, however.

Sorry, no recipe with the Broccoli Souffle picture. There will be but I'm running out of time..... I'm taking a break from the Food Vine for a few weeks. Catch you in the last half of May......with the recipe and hopefully many more!

Broccoli Souffle

San Sebastian

Regular readers of the Food Vine might have gleaned from my many references, recipes and photographs of Spain that it is a very special place for us. We have traveled extensively its length and breadth and in France, where we live, we are lucky to be only 2 hours from the city of San Sebastian, considered the gourmet capital of Spain. San Sebastian is located on the Atlantic coast 20km south of the French border. It is a small, intimate, elegant city bursting with life, style and fabulous food.

I first went to San Sebastian when I was 21 and I have returned on and off ever since but I never thought that first day just how much the place would mean to me in my later life.  These days we cannot go to France for five months and not go to San Sebastian - it would not feel right. We try to go once a month or thereabouts and friends who come to stay often join us on these two to three day trips. A mutual sharing of the city, the food, the wine, the hospitality and the conviviality of the Basque people and we have found a great home away from home at the Hotel Parma in the Parte Vieja, the historic and gastronomic centre of the city.

Last summer, on one of our regular trips, we had the pleasure of being in the good company of friends from Australia, Stewart and Liz. Not one to let an unsnapped moment go by Stewart captured our time there in these lovely, colourful photographs.  Life as it is; in the markets, the tapas bars and in the food we ate. Thanks, Stewart and my apologies for taking so long to post them on the Food Vine.

 

Quince time, again.................

Just another reminder that it's quince time again. Fill your home with the heady aroma of baking quince. They do not need to be peeled, just cut each one into quarters, remove the seeds, place the cut pieces in a greased ovenproof dish and drizzle with honey. Cook until tender.

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