Thank you dad and goodbye

I am often asked where my passion for food and wine came from and how my interest in it developed and my automatic answer has always been that it started with helping my mother in the kitchen when I was a boy, followed by heading off to university with some of my mother's recipes tucked in my bag.  In the late 1970's refectory and cafe food in the UK was nowhere near as good as it can be today so my ability to make a spaghetti bolognese or a risotto made me very popular with my fellow students.

Recently, however, I have had cause to think again about that and realise that my father was a huge influence too.  In the last ten years he had little chance to show what he could do in the kitchen as the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis gradually eroded his mobility and eventually forced him into a wheelchair, but actually he was the one that experimented with new and exotic flavours and ever more complicated and grander dishes.  My mother cooked during the week and my father cooked at the weekend when he had the time to do so.  He travelled extensively with his job and brought back exciting food and wine discoveries which he was keen to pass on to us.

All of this is relevant because my father passed away a month ago.  It was an awful year for him.  A kidney infection brought him close to death in April.  Thereafter he was bed bound and in a lot of pain as his body slowly shut down due to the effects of the MS.  He was in and out hospital and all through the Spring and Summer I dreaded a telephone call telling me his condition had worsened again.

It was difficult living in France with my parents on Guernsey with no direct easy route between the two and clients at 42rvh and the kitchen almost every day.  The news of his passing away reached me at about 11.30am on the morning of 4th October.  I was taking a coffee with Carcassonne Kitchen clients in the Place Carnot in the middle of a buzzy market.  No matter how much one is prepared to hear bad news, it's actuality is no less shocking.  I don't know how but I managed to hold it together and finish the tour and cooking day with my clients unaware of what had happened - one of the hardest days of my life.

As Christmas approaches, there is a picture that keeps popping into my head.  It is probably 1976.  We are in the dining room in Guildford around a table laid with the best china and glasses.  The hostess trolley is keeping the vegetables warm.  My father stands at one end of the table wearing a ridiculous paper hat and holding an orange and white electric carving knife in his hand as he contemplates attacking the huge roast turkey before him.  Happy days.

Thank you dad, and goodbye x

Thank you

It has been a fabulous year for Carcassonne Kitchen, with clients from across the globe descending on Carcassonne market and the kitchen at 42rvh.

The year started on 1st March with Helen from California and finished on 28th October with Laurence and Gai from Brisbane and Mike, Jane and Sue from Alaska.

In-between there have been visitors from
South Africa
New Zealand
all over the USA and Canada (Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Boston, Chicago, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ontario and Ottawa)
Holland
Kazhakstan via Denmark!
Germany
all over Australia (Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns)
Sweden
Ireland
many many from Scotland (thank you for an interesting and varied debate throughout the year about Scottish independence)
and, of course, England.

Petra and Bruce brought their enthusiastic children - the next generation in the kitchen.

I hope the recipes have been replicated and improved by you all.  I have a vision that a hot chocolate fondant is being served somewhere in the world at all times.

Thank you all for coming and thank you for your wonderful email and trip advisor comments - they are very much appreciated. Here are a few of your lovely comments;

Thanks for the lovely day and recipes, Peter!  I will definitely be making those dishes at home.  I already promised my husband I would make the choc cake! - Helen

It was a wonderful day with you, the beautiful dog Clarky, Carcassonne in the rain, all the spectacular food - Nancy

Thanks so much Peter, for everything. A really lovely weekend and I've already made the pea and broad bean dish for a friend. - Justine

Peter, the visit with you – the market excursion, the cooking in your terrific kitchen and lunch with our men – was a highlight of the trip, no question. - Carol

Thank you for the delightful day of shopping, cooking, and conversation.  It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. I have printed the recipes and will soon  be dazzling our friends and family with them. - Holly

We had so much fun, the meal was delicious and the company delightful. I am looking forward to using my new filleting skills. - Belinda and Ross

Domaine Jones

Deep in the heart of the Corbieres, in the village of Tuchan, Katie Jones is fomenting a fermenting revolution. In this deeply traditional corner of French viticulture, she is taking on the establishment by daring to be different.  In the process she is producing some of the tastiest, most refreshing and well balanced wines I have ever drunk and, as anyone who knows me will know, that is quite a lot of wine.

Katie worked in the marketing department of the local cave cooperative, Mont Tauch, for many years before deciding to buy her own vineyards and make her own wine.  She started very small with tiny plots of vines unwanted by bigger operations because the fields were difficult to access with machinery or the vines were getting old and producing lower yields or because the vines were not mainstream varieties or all three.  I expect the local vignerons looked upon this novice Englishwoman with amusement and no doubt a great deal of scoffing about the chances of her success.

When, in the course of just a couple of years, success followed acclaim and her wines sold out, that scoffing turned to resentment and jealousy culminating in her cave being vandalised and her entire production of 2012 Jones Blanc being lost down the drains when the taps were opened on the vats it was stored in.  No-one has ever been brought to book for this despicable act although I expect everyone in the community knows who was responsible.

Many would have thrown in the towel.  After all, farming vineyards by hand, then making and selling wine is a difficult enough job in the first place without being faced with local hostility and obstinacy. 

But there is a steely determination about Katie that should see her alright - far from giving up she has moved her operation to a more secure location, has just bottled her 2013 Blanc, has bought more plots of vines and expanded her range of wines and has ambitious plans that will continue to push her onwards and upwards.

Her inventiveness and approach to wine making are also interesting and exciting, from experimentation with different grape types (see below - maccabeu) to different fermentation techniques, maturation and storage methods.  The branding of her wines is also perfect, helping them to stand out from the crowd and getting them recognised - good branding in wine is very rare indeed.

She is ably supported by her French husband, Jean Marc, who is in the process of extracting his vineyards from the cooperative to launch his own range of wines - revolution indeed - and despite what I have said above, there are plenty of local winemakers who are 100% behind her, not to mention fabulous reviews in the UK press from writers such as Jancis Robinson.  The future is bright for Katie.

And so to the wines.  I visited Katie at her winery a few weeks ago and tasted her entire current range including her new range of pearls.

There are 3 reds - Jones Rouge, Jones Fitou and new for 2014 a 100% Syrah.
The Jones Rouge is mostly made from 80 year old Grenache Noir vines, one of my favourite grape varieties, and is a perfect complement to grilled or roast meat, especially cooked on a barbeque.
The Jones Fitou is a classic AOC blend of Carignan, Grenache and Syrah, has enormous depth and lovely balance and will definitely improve with age.
The new Jones Syrah, La Perle Rare, was a revelation.  Absolutely stupendous.  My wife, Debrah, doesn't like Syrah very much but she adores this fabulous wine which says it all really.  It's not cheap but it's worth every penny and I would buy more if I could afford it.

There are 4 whites - Jones Blanc, Jones Muscat, a new Maccabeu and an aged Grenache
The Jones Blanc is from Grenache gris grapes, another of my favourite grape varieties, is light and well balanced (as are all her wines) with lovely floral flavours.
The Jones Muscat is made from Muscat Petit Grains, is fragrant but not too sweet and makes an excellent match with Asian food.
The Maccabeu, Les Perles, is almondy and fruity but light and refreshing too.
The aged Grenache is an interesting story - made in 2009 in new oak, Katie considered it too oaky to blend and left it to one side not knowing what to do with it.  Four years later she tasted it again and it had mellowed and matured.  There was still oakiness but a lot less pronounced and better balanced with the other fruit flavours - so she bottled it and lovely it is too.

If I was to sum up Katie's wines I would say they all have fabulous balance and tremendous freshness - it goes without saying that they are all delicious and you should get your hands on some if you can, which you can do here - www.domainejones.fr/home.html

Local Asparagus

We first noticed the sign last year.

It is actually quite easy to miss it because it is on a bend immediately after a level crossing and one is concentrating on other things just at that moment.  I hate open level crossings - despite the lights and the bells and the barriers and all the modern automated technology, I still wonder if a train is going to appear from nowhere just as I start across the tracks - so I am usually just relieved and making sure I take the bend, with a junction on it, properly rather than looking at the signs stuck on posts in the ground that decorate that corner.

I think it was Debrah that noticed it first (she didn't have to concentrate on the driving, just the trains!) and as we were within the narrow window of opportunity to buy of 2 hours each early evening during the week, we made the detour.

The farm is located in the next village to ours, the village of Douzens. The next village in France can be the last place one would visit but Douzens and Moux seem to exist side by side with no great animosity, but then we are hardly immersed in local life, so probably wouldn't even know if there was a war going on between them!

The detour was well worth the effort.  We turned through an unflattering entrance into a slightly scruffy yard to find a charming stall erected in a farmyard with trays of asparagus sorted into small, medium or large and a very simple pricing structure per kilo for each.

I personally prefer the medium size as I think the fat spears can be too woody and the thin ones, well, a bit thin - but they are all delicious so each to his own.  At €5 a kilo for the medium ones I am not going to complain about anything.

I adore the rustic nature of the business, the narrow buying time, the price, the hand written sign and especially the taste of their delicious asparagus.  I hope they continue to thrive and we shall certainly continue to support them with our trade.

Artichokes and Asparagus

The new season asparagus and artichokes are in the market and the sunshine has finally returned - so salads are back in vogue and the winter vegetables will soon be forgotten for another year.

Certainly Charles and Nancy from New Mexico, and my latest market tour and cooking day clients, were wowed by their freshness and flavour last week.  Not that we had sunshine then - the market tour took place under a leaden grey drizzly sky which emitted a torrential downpour at the end of the afternoon.

The small violet artichokes are a little fiddly to prepare and one of those things that you only really get right once someone has shown you how to tackle the job, which means it is the perfect task for a cooking day.  Most people have never prepared one so it is a fun job to have a go at with a bit of supervision.  I like to cook them immediately on the day they are bought because they tend to go soft quite quickly if left.  Look for small hard artichokes with the leaves still tight.  The idea is to prepare them quickly and then you can keep them for a good few weeks in the fridge in a sterilised jar and cooking liquid used to cook them - although they rarely last a couple of days in this household!

The cooked artichoke hearts are fabulous in our superfood salad with asparagus and avocado, a wonderful combination of flavour and texture and a great vegetarian dish if you stop there and don't add the crisped cured ham which adds an additional salty crunchy texture to the vegetables.

The tender top ends of the asparagus spears were used in the salad but the lower snapped off tails of the spears were not discarded but used to make an asparagus soup - a fabulous way to make your produce go further and to reduce food waste. Wherever you have snapped your spears there will still be a good few centimetres of useable green spear that will give more than enough flavour for a simple but elegant soup and for this the thinner spears work better than the fat ones.   Discard any really wooden ends and you may also need to sieve the finished soup to remove any stringy bits.  Of course, if you buy your asparagus ready cut and packaged up from a supermarket chain you will miss out on this option as the supermarket will have already trimmed them and charged you more for the privilege!

The main course for the cooking day was a French classic - coq au vin.  I think of this as a Spring or Autumn dish because it is the lightest of the classic French casserole dishes and can be made with either a good fruity red or a dry white.  I like to marinade the chicken for 24 hours in the wine with some garlic, bay and thyme.  I use finely diced onion, celery and carrot in the cooking of the dish but cook the lardons, mushrooms and leek separately in a frying pan right at the end and add to the finished dish when serving it - this way they keep their colour and a bit of crunch and add texture to the dish rather than being cooked down to nothing in the wine.  Serve with pomme puree and the cooked down sauce drizzled over.

Here is how to prepare the artichokes.

Pull away the hard outer leaves until you reach the softer light green leaves inside. Trim off the hard tips (about halfway down the head), cut off all but 5cm of the stalk and the trim the outer layer of that remaining 5cm.  Rub the prepared artichoke all over with lemon juice to reduce discolouration.

In a pan large enough to take your artichokes, finely chop one shallot and sweat gently in a little butter and oil until softened.  Add 100ml of dry white wine and bring to the boil before immediately turning down to a simmer.  Add the artichokes and lemon juice, a bay leaf, a sprig or two of time and enough water to just cover and simmer very gently until cooked (when a sharp knife just penetrates the artichokes with ease - do not boil or overcook or they will fall apart)

Either serve immediately or leave to cool before packing into sterilised jars topped with the cooking liquor.  They will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

Cook Eat Love

Jean-Pierre Campaci

Provenance.  Traceability.  Local sourcing.  These are the 'in' words of food shopping today and they all apply to the produce of Jean-Pierre Campaci.

M Campaci is a butcher based in Les Halles, the permanent covered market in Carcassonne.  The market houses a host of butchers, 2 fishmongers, 2 cheesemongers and a bar - of course there is a bar.

M Campaci specialises in beef and veal and, to my mind, it is the best beef and veal in the market.  The beef is a deep maroon colour with creamy layers of fat running through and the veal is the sweetest rose pink - the colour itself is evidence that the beef has been well hung and given time to mature and that the veal comes from healthy young cows given the freedom of a life outdoors.

The evidence of the good provenance goes further.  He has the certificates to prove not only what breed the beef is but also the farm it came from and indeed which animal it was, who it's mum and dad were, it's star sign and it's favourite band - well, maybe not the last bit but you know what I mean in terms of knowing everything there is to know about where your food is coming from.  He even has photos of him proudly standing with his hand on the rump of his chosen animal.

All of that would mean nothing if the taste didn't live up to the promise.  I can assure you it doesn't disappoint.  I have cooked his cote de boeuf on the BBQ, his bavette on the grill, his saute de veau in a blanquette, his jarret in a daube and his osso bucco cut specially to order from veal shins - all of which were wonderful.

He makes steak hache to order from pure ground minced beef, which is often minced in front of you whilst you, and a growing queue of people, wait - but there is no tension because most of the queue are probably about to order the same and because there is a good natured banter amongst the assembled line orchestrated by M Campaci himself, who is by nature a smiling example of French bonhommie.

As well as the beef and veal, he sells some excellent lamb, also with traceability to the Montagne Noir, just to the north of Carcassonne, some pork and a range of his a la maison prepared sausages, bacon, chorizo and pre-cooked dishes such as lasagne.

In my mind he is the epitome of a good butcher, French or otherwise.  He engages his customers in conversation, he wants to know how you are going to cook his produce and is always forthcoming with his suggestions for the cut you need and the cooking time.

Finally, he always welcomes my market tour clients and offers them a tasting of something - a piece of saussicon - no matter how busy he is, and for that I am very grateful.

PS.  Order 4 steak hache and he will give you 4 more gratuit - now that is a bargain.

Chateau La Baronne

When we first moved to our new house in Moux our focus was fully on the refurbishment needed to make the house habitable to the standard we wanted - not an easy or quick job.  When we finally got our heads above the parapet we started to explore our new surroundings - and our new surroundings, our village, contain a wine estate of undoubted quality.

Chateau La Baronne is owned by the Ligneres family, a family of doctors, pharmacists and winemakers. We all know that wine is made with care and love and chemistry so perhaps they know a thing or too, but there are no pharmaceuticals involved because La Baronne is a certified bio-dynamic wine estate which means not only totally organic but also in tune with the phases of the moon. That means bottling, harvesting and pruning on a fruit day or flower day as best befits the activity.

The wines are not the cheapest you will find in the region but they are cheap compared to their equals in the rest of France and the wider world - what is undoubted is that they are delicious and extremely well made.

The grapes, both white and red, are classic Languedoc varieties.  Rousanne, Grenache Blanc, Bouboulenc and Vermentino blends for the whites and Grenache Noir, Carignan, Mourvedre and Syrah for the reds.

The family favourite is the Carignan and they are 'constantly striving to heighten the expression, finesse and elegance of this emblematic variety of the region' (a quotation from the estate website).  The top wine of the estate is Piece de Roche - a 100% Carignan made from vines planted in 1892.  These were some of the first new vines planted on American rootstock after the phylloxera crisis at the end of the 19th century wiped out the vineyards of Europe.

I find it amazing that I can drink wine made from grapes grown on vines planted so long ago. They don't actually know how long these vines will keep on producing grapes of high quality because there aren't any vines older than this in France - it will be an ongoing adventure and one I hope to keep pace with.

In one of the barns at the estate is this beautiful old 'camion'.  It was used to deliver barrels of wine to clients in the early part of the 20th century.  It replaced the old horse and cart and represented the future back in the 1920's.  Now it just gathers dust, but it has lost none of it's charm and I adore that they have kept hold of it even though it now has no practical use.  It is part of their history, part of their heritage.

The estate isn't set up for visitors but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be welcomed and given the chance to taste these fabulous wines.  I would suggest a call in advance to make sure they know you are coming (English spoken).

http://www.chateaulabaronne.com/index.php

Bacon

Home curing, home smoking, making your own sausages - it's all the rage at the moment.  You can't turn on the TV, open a blog or a cook book without coming across an article about doing it yourself.  I am no exception.

Since moving to France I have made jam, compote and granola for the 42rvh breakfast table, made tomato sauce and pickled vegetables and cured my own olives - all from the excess of local production at the end of each growing season.  I have also successfully cured salmon using wild fennel picked from the countryside where I walk my dog.

But I have never tried curing meat - until now, and it is a lot easier than you probably think it is.  It came about due to various circumstances falling into place - a fabulous book on 'doing it yourself' which my lovely wife, Debrah, bought for my last birthday, an offer on pork belly at a local supermarket which resulted in 2kg of pork for only €12 and a bit of time on my hands in the off-season.

I cut the belly into 4 manageable pieces of half a kilo each.  We roasted one that evening for dinner, I froze one for later, I minced one to use in meatballs and I decided to have a go at making bacon with the last one.

The beauty of curing a relatively small piece of meat is that you can do the whole thing quite easily in a domestic fridge with little or no mess and no difficulty and the only other ingredients you need are salt, sugar and herbs.  I used a standard domestic freezer bag with a resealable top into which the meat would fit quite snugly.  I added my salt, sugar and chopped herb mix, sealed the top and rubbed the mixture all over the pork in the bag.  I then put it in a shallow bowl and popped it in the fridge.

Over the course of a week I turned it over every day and what started as a dry cure mix became a wet cure as the salt did it's job of drawing the moisture out of the meat.

After a week the curing is done.  Take the meat out of the bag and wash it thoroughly, then pat dry.  Make a hole in one corner with a skewer and with kitchen string make a loop to hang the meat, then hang it in a cool, airy place for a couple of days to firm up before wrapping it in greaseproof paper to store in the fridge for up to a month.

I was thrilled with the outcome.  Next, I need to make a smoker!


Notes;
For 500g of meat I used 110g of sea salt, 70g of brown sugar and 5 sprigs of rosemary.
Profesional curers use nitrates in the mix which helps to keep the pink colour in the meat but it is not essential.  It is available online from good suppliers.
Slice as thinly as possible and fry as bacon or cut into cubes and use as lardons.

Restaurant 111

Update:  a couple of months after this review the hotel and restaurant were closed down by the French authorities because of unpaid taxes and bills.  Bailiffs turned up, made everyone leave and padlocked the front door shut.  Tablecloths and glasses were left on the tables and remain there to this day.  It is sad but actually not surprising considering the obvious costs of running the place and the obvious lack of customers.  Shame.


When you leave Carcassonne on the Narbonne road across the new bridge, with its views of the Cité and the River Aude on the right hand side, and just before you reach the roundabout that leads onto the dual carriageway, there is a new hotel that hosts a one star Michelin restaurant. The 111.

 I say new but it has in fact been open for a couple of years now and has been a source of interest for a few years more than that.

 A very grand building stood on the site for as long as I can remember, which means 2006 when I arrived here. It was empty and for sale and had a beautiful double semi spiral staircase leading up to a grand front door. It had been a hotel once but now sat on a busy road opposite some ugly franco-suburban sprawl (zone industriel) that included a Geant supermarket, a Jardiland garden centre, a FLY, some car showrooms and numerous other sales outlets of indeterminate quality and value.

 We would drive past and admire its classical lines and structure and imagine, if we had any money, what we could have achieved there. In our wildest thoughts we did not imagine what was actually done!

 It was eventually bought and developed - the classical features were bulldozed and smashed and a brand new, gleaming structure arose from the rubble. It is modern and white and if I say it has more in keeping with a pharmacy or a clinic then perhaps you will be able to form a mental picture of it.

 A very good friend asked if we had been there.

 The restaurant won a Michelin star under it's chef, Michel del Burgo.

 We should try it, we thought, and so we did - we persuaded a very good friend to accompany us on a sunny Tuesday in early May - and, despite all the above, we were all very impressed and enjoyed a most wonderful lunch. We discovered a very stylish terrace at the back of the hotel with huge sturdy umbrellas to shade the sun (and resist the wind!) and cool ambient music and attentive staff - "Ibiza come to Carcassonne" as Mrs W so aptly described it.

 The food was immaculate and faultless. I needn't say more than that - it was delicious, very well prepared and presented. We all had the fixed price lunch menu of the day at €29 which consisted of an amuse-bouche of asparagus ice (sublime) and a smoked eel muffin (surprisingly subtle), a pre starter of chilled watermelon soup with fresh raspberries and grated almond, an entree of steak tartare with mushroom, truffle and quails egg ( I could eat that every day), a main of baby lamb cutlets with the most divine mirepoix of chopped vegetables including lemon zest and chilli and a very comforting strawberry, cream and almond pastry dessert.

 It was washed back with a couple of bottles very good local red wine that wasn't overcharged.

 I wonder how they make any money. There were five waiting staff including the maitre'd and the sommelier for three lunch tables, not to mention a one star Michelin chef and his kitchen crew. But as long as they are bringing out that quality of food at that price we should continue to support them.

Lunch for two with one bottle of wine at less than €100 at this quality is outstanding.

http://www.hotel111.com/restaurant-michel-del-burgo

Les Meulières

It was one of those mornings when you draw back the curtains and can tell by the look of the sky at 7.00 am that it is going to be a beautiful day. One of the many reasons for now living in the South of France is to take advantage of days like these when they come along and one of the many reasons for working for myself is that I have the flexibility to do so.

We have been meaning to try this restaurant for some time. It is in the pretty Minervois village of La Liviniere, home to the best wines in the Minervois - a very pleasant forty minute drive from Carcassonne through poppy laden fields and verges. The vines are still the vivid bright green of early growth and everything in the countryside is still verdant and bushy, giving the landscape a soft edge. In the far distance the last remaining snow glinted on the very top Pyrennean peaks.

Les Meulières is in Place Occitane on the edge of the circulade. The inside of the restaurant contains only a few tables but is tastefully decorated and furnished. Outside in the centre of the Place is a large covered area capable of seating up to 50 people in shady comfort. The waiters and waitresses tirelessly trek back and forth over the 20 metres between restaurant and terrace with plates and glasses, bottles and carafes.

For a Tuesday in mid-May it was very busy with all the outside tables occupied and a good number of local French people taking lunch too - always encouraging both for the future of the restaurant and the quality of the food.

One reason may be the stunningly good value of the fixed price menu du midi at €15, for which you get three courses, a quarter litre of wine and a coffee all included. On the day we visited there was a choice of gambas with mayonnaise or a goats cheese salad to start, pan fried perch fillet or confit de canard for main course and creme caramel, faisselle and honey or isles flottantes for dessert.

All was beautifully presented and generous.

Debrah's goats cheese salad came with endive and radish in the mix and a sticky balsamic dressing added a hint of sweetness. I had ten large prawns and a good dollop of homemade garlic mayonnaise.

The perfectly cooked pan fried fillets of perch were served with a cream sauce, melting buttery potatoes, sauteed carrots and strips of roasted red pepper - an unusual, but colourful, addition that didn't really sit with the dish - our only noted fault of the entire meal.

Creme brulee was as it should be - lightly crisp on top not burned to an impregnable barrier and creamy vanilla inside. We couldn't agree whether they were bought in or freshly made, but they were so perfect that it didn't really matter.

The staff were very friendly and efficient - they apologised for a minor delay of 5 minutes when we arrived and thanked us profusely when we left. It was hard to find fault at all - so we didn't.

There is a good looking carte and local wine list and fixed price options from €23 to €45, so there will be something to suit all tastes and pockets - but as I haven't sampled those menus I can't recommend them as yet. Somehow I feel that you won't get a better deal than the fixed price lunch.

We will certainly be returning to sample it again.

Les Meulières, 2 Place Occitane, 34210 La Livinière, Minervois +33 468 75 40 16

Domaine Vella Frontera

The tiny village of Maury in the heart of the Roussillon is most famous for it's sweet red wines made from the grenache noir grape - delicious with all things chocolate. The village sits under the brooding presence of the old Cathar castle of Queribus, perched high on the mountains that flank either side of the valley.

The valley is a hot and unforgiving place. The vines are short to protect themselves against the unrelenting winds - dry off the mountains which is good for the vines and humid off the Mediterranean which is not so good - and the black schist terrain makes for a dramatic landscape set against the bright green new vine growth at this time of year.

In the centre of the town, right on the main road, is a small house and garage where Corin and Jayne Fairchild make their wine under the Domaine Vella Frontera label.

They have only been at it for 5 years, with 2007 their first vintage which wasn't released until 2009. Last year most of their Syrah and some of their Grenache was wiped out by a hailstorm in late Spring resulting in only 10,000l of wine instead of their capacity of 24,000l - who'd be a winemaker with that much element of chance involved?

Clearly a huge amount of passion is required and Corin and Jayne haven't let that setback, or any of the other multitude of difficulties involved in getting good wine into a bottle and then sold, hold them back from their mission.

When I visited today I was able to taste 3 wines, but sadly not the white and rose which had just been bottled and needed a bit of time to recover from the shock of it all.

2008 Le Fetard Rouge is a blend aimed at the French market - 40% grenache noir, 40% carignan, 20% syrah.
slightly floral, raspberry and cherry nose - ideal for easy drinking, maybe slightly chilled, with a bbq or on it's own - good balance and good fruit. €7.50 ex cellar

2007 Le Fetard Rouge is a single varietal grenache noir aimed at the British market
punchy, smoky, black fruits with good depth - a food wine. €7.50 ex cellar

2008 Vella Frontera 100% Syrah - from a single vineyard and spends 18 months in oak - dry rich spicy black fruits with a hint of chocolate - will definitely keep well for a while - probably good with duck. €9.50 ex cellar

Sadly I wasn't able to taste Le Fleuron, made from 100% 110 year old vine carignan, because the whole production has been bought by one restaurant - which if you ask me is a bit selfish because there is nothing I like better than well made old vine carignan.

Corin & Jayne Fairchild, Domaine Vella Frontera, 91 Av Jean Jaures, 66460 Maury
www.vellafrontera.com

So true

Le vin ne résoudra pas vos problèmes.

L'eau non plus !



Merci Chateau de L'Ille, Peyriac de Mer

No carbs and a teeny tiny bit of sugar

Tomorrow it is Good Friday, the end of Lent. I am not a religious man and would not normally be volunteering to 'give something up', but this year for the duration of Lent, less the first two days, both Debrah and I have forsaken all carbohydrates and all but the teeniest bit of sugar.

A close friend of ours has extolled this regime for a long time and, to be fair, her healthiness is living proof of it's benefits. We both felt the weight of the winter months upon us, Debrah wanted to try it and I happily agreed to join in on the basis that it is far easier to prepare the same meal for us both than different ones for each.

It wasn't a Lent thing at first, just a "Let's do it for a couple of weeks, shall we?" I could have followed it at home but not when we ate out and I could have paid lip service to it. But I decided to support Debrah with it fully and then she had the idea of following the regime until the end of Lent - a target date for us to focus on.

Were we 100% strict? No. We have had no bread, no potatoes, no pasta, no rice, and no desserts but we have had wine and some vegetables and fruit that naturally contain some carbohydrates and some sugar.

Was it easy? No. I was really hungry most of the first and second week. I had dreams about eating foods I knew I shouldn't be eating. I missed chips with steak and toast in the morning and baguette whenever there was the smallest bit of gravy, salad dressing or meat juices left sitting on the plate.

There have been some funny moments - the look of astonishment on the waiters face when we declined bread in a restaurant - as far as he was concerned we were uncivilised heathens.

There have been many testing times - having to go to the boulangerie to buy croissants and bread for guests breakfasts, toasting bread for guests breakfasts, making chocolate puddings and watching guests eat them at hosted guest dinners, making jam and fruit compote and granola for the breakfast trays, making pommes dauphinoise for guest dinners - I'm sure you get the idea.

The fact is we have had temptation placed in our way every single day since we started this crazy routine. It's one thing to cut something from your diet and remove it from the house as a result. It's quite another to cut something from your diet and be constantly faced with it on a daily basis preparing breakfasts and dinners for clients - even preparing and eating dinners with clients who are eating the very foods you are trying to avoid.

And it has been easier as the weeks have progressed. The massive hunger pangs subsided when we realised we needed to up our protein and fat intake a bit to compensate. The meat, fish and vegetables available here in the Aude make it very easy. The new strawberry season is well and truly upon us and berry fruit is very much allowed. The weather has been warm and sunny and salad inducing.

And so we arrive at Good Friday with mission accomplished. Debrah has lost 3 inches off her waist and is looking sexier than ever and we both feel brighter, better and healthier.

So what next?

There is a temptation to go straight down to Cafe Felix tomorrow lunchtime for a bavette frites followed by chocolate mousse, to buy an extra croissant au buerre when I go to the boulangerie in the morning for the guests breakfast, to eat hot chocolate fondant with the guests at dinner tomorrow evening.

There is equally an enormous desire to continue what we have started, not to ruin all the good work of the past six/seven weeks with a reckless launch back into a carbohydrate dominated world. I quite like being a modern day hunter gatherer.

A toasted hot cross bun with butter - now that's a dilemma!

Getting ready for guests

Here at 42rvh we've had a bit of a break from guests for the past ten days, which was a shame for them because they have missed the best weather of the year so far.

Well that all changes this weekend with the arrival of two couples on Saturday. Thereafter, we have guests every night into the foreseeable future and life is going to get very busy - so I thought I'd better get prepared.

We have always tried to source the best fresh seasonal ingredients and to prepare ourselves, as much as we can, the food that we serve at breakfast and dinner. Over the Winter and into Spring the fruit supply for the breakfast trays becomes a bit predictable; with no fresh soft fruit available we rely on Spanish oranges and locally grown kiwi fruit, apples and pears - all very good but missing the zing of sun ripened sweetness.

That's all about to change. There have been strawberries in the market now for 4 weeks - and what's more they are grown in France or driven up from Spain, not flown in from another continent. For an English boy like me, local strawberries in April is a miracle.

And they are good too. The first market arrivals are clearly forced and probably grown in polytunnels but just to see the injection of bright scarlet onto the predominantly green market stalls is a joy in itself and lifts the spirits in anticipation of treats to come. The variety, whose name I sadly don't know, is big and brash and ideal for making compote or jam. It is swiftly followed by smaller, more delicate varieties bursting with the flavour of Spring, such as the gariguette - a French secret for so long but now sadly escaped from the borders of France to the shelves of supermarkets like Waitrose in the UK.

As with all new arrivals to the market, the first supplies are few and expensive - the price will drop and the supply become more plentiful as the weeks go by - and the taste will get better too because the first arrivals are not quite ripe or have been forced in the rush to get them to market to make a profit. The secret is to wait - but how painful is the wait and how long does one wait before you give in and buy?

I use the big early strawberries for making jam and compote and my cut-off point is €4 for 2kg. They start at €7.50 but today in the market they had dropped to the price I'd been waiting for - and just in time for the new guests.

Have you ever topped and hulled 2kg of strawberries? It's a lot of strawberries, very time consuming, very repetitive and makes your back ache a lot. I put half in a pan with the juice of two lemons and a quantity of sugar that made Debrah cry and the other half in a pan with the juice of one lemon and a tiny bit of sugar, which made Debrah a lot happier. The first pan was bubbled and boiled and became strawberry jam and the second was cooked for no more than ten minutes, until the sugar had dissolved and became strawberry compote. Four jars of jam, three jars of compote, ready for the breakfast trays.

More will be made as the season progresses using all the many and varied varieties of strawberry that will come and go throughout the next six months - each with their own subtle flavour characteristics.

I also noticed that our stock of granola was down to the last jar too, so whilst I was in the mood decided to make a new supply of that as well. It's a recipe from a Nigella Lawson cookbook so as far as I am concerned it can't be faulted - but it can be varied to your own taste with more nuts or less fruit or vice versa - it works though*.

Larder stocks replenished, I'm ready to face the new season and guests can look forward to freshly made breakfast goodies and then there will be cherries and then melons and then apricots and then peaches and then figs and .....

* Feast by Nigella Lawson p199

Instant Summer

Just a couple of weeks ago I was waxing on about the arrival of Spring - the almond blossom was in full bloom and the Aude valley was slowly awakening with the first leaves on the trees, the first meadow flowers and the sap rising in the vines.

The last two days the temperature has soared to over 30 degrees in the sun and there hasn't been a cloud in the sky since last Monday - full on Summer has arrived with a bang a good two months earlier than expected. It's such a contrast to last year when the cold dragged on and on and we had snow in early May - the weather has gone completely bonkers! My wardrobe is still full of jumpers and jeans when what I need is shorts and t-shirts!

The temperature may be Summer but the countryside is still very much Spring. The cherry blossom has replaced the almond, the vines have their first growth, the poppies and irises are highlighting the roadsides in lipstick red* and purple, the new grass and new leaves on the trees could not be a more vibrant green if they tried and the birds are twitterpated (ahhh, Bambi)

It is very definitely perfect weather for cruising around the countryside with the roof down on the Audi, which is what we were doing today. There was no particular purpose to the drive and it ended up being a bit rambling as a result, taking in the Alaric mountains, the Corbières and the banks of the Etang de Bages where gawky flamingoes waded in flat calm water and a shimmering heat haze in the late afternoon.

In the midst of all that, like true francophiles, we stopped for lunch, at Auberge Côté Jardin in Conilhac Corbières. "Why haven't you brought me here before?", said Debrah as we walked into the tastefully cool terrace restaurant.

Conilhac Corbières is what I would call a main road village - it sits on the Carcassonne to Narbonne route nationale and suffers from the trucks that plague all such villages, whether in France or the UK.

From the front, on the main road, Coté Jardin doesn't look at all special, but don't be put off by that. Drive into the car park and walk into the terrace garden and you are a world away from the busy main road even though there is just a building between the two - traffic noise is replaced by bird song.

For a midweek lunch we opted for their two course formule at €20 - more than the average formule but this is much better than the average restaurant and worth every centime. The food was beautifully presented and delicious although our insistence on no bread or potatoes amongst the vegetables was met with slight incredulity and confusion. The carte was temptingly impressive and the wine list was excellently full of brilliant locally produced wine.

Our bill, with a half bottle of white, a bottle of fizzy water and two coffees came to €63. I thought that was excellent value.

Auberge Côté Jardin, 11200 Conilhac Corbières 04.68.27.08.19

* pantone 1795 according to Debrah - the design guru

Spa and Bar

We are always on the lookout for anything new in Carcassonne that we think may be of interest to our guests - new places to eat, new places to drink, new places to visit.

Yesterday afternoon, our 'research' (I'd like to call it work but it was all pleasure) took us to a newly opened spa facility and me to a wine bar and wine tasting room that I have been trying to visit for a while.

The spa is located at the Hotel du Chateau, a smart small hotel just a stones throw from the entrance to the Cité. We were invited to view and experience the facilities. Debrah enjoyed an hour long hot oil massage and I tried out the steam room and the plunge pool complete with various water jets/jacuzzi.

Actually, Debrah usually hates a massage and had to be virtually dragged to the spa but was totally bowled over by the experience - so that has to be a good recommendation. The decor is tastefully subdued and relaxing, the mood is tranquil and calming and the scale totally intimate. There are just three treatment rooms and a couple can book the entire space for themselves, making it a very personal time.

We will definitely be recommending the spa to our own guests and I'm sure we will be visiting ourselves from time to time.

Whilst Debrah was dropping off to sleep under the expert hands of the masseuse I dropped into Le Comptoir des Vins et Terroirs, a wine bar, wine tasting room and wine shop located in the Cité. It was late afternoon and there was no-one in the place except Benoit, the owner, which was perfect.

I told him what I do and he told me what he does, the wine he champions, the tastings, the food and we generally worked out how we might be able to help each other out. He appears to be the only person/place in Carcassonne providing wine tastings of wines of the local region, which is astonishing really.

There are so many visitors and so much scope to sell the region's wine but there are so many vested interests in different micro wine regions (Cabardes, Malepere, Limoux, Minervois, Corbieres, etc etc) that the bigger picture is maybe lost amongst the local in-fighting. It's an outsiders point of view but sometimes it takes that to see the reality of what's happening.

Anyway, for once I went into a wine bar and didn't drink any wine - remarkable - so my full review of the Comptoir will have to wait until another day.

Wonderful Asparagus Soup

One of the great joys of living here in the Languedoc and having Carcassonne market just two minutes down the road is locally grown asparagus in mid-March, a good month or more earlier than I could ever get hold of local asparagus in the UK and earlier than most parts of France if reports from friends around the country are anything to go by.

In London we would buy it at any time, flown in from far flung places all year round - but it never ever compared to the locally grown stuff. When we moved to France we vowed to eat local and seasonal because we could - and we do.

So we have waited for nine months for the new asparagus season and it arrived two weekends ago when the the stall of M. Villa from Cavanac appeared in the market for the first time this year. That Saturday we were a bit tardy getting down to the market, it also being a grey, wet and windy morning, and were lucky to grab some of the last spears - it seems that the whole of Carcassonne has been waiting for the asparagus too!

We will eat it for the next three months until we are sick of it but that's ok because there will be lots of other things to gorge on by then. Even so, it's always good to find a new way to treat it and that's what happened this week - not only that but I used the left over ends after eating the tender part of the spear in a conventional way (melted butter and parmesan shavings if you must know) and I like nothing better than getting a delicious dish out of leftovers from another delicious dish.

Credit where it's due - this recipe owes an enormous amount to Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe for Asparagus Vichyssoise from his book 'Plenty', a marvellous source of ideas for vegetables - but his soup is cold, uses the whole asparagus spear and includes potato and sugar whilst mine is hot, uses the leftover ends and has no starch or sugar. Isn't that the way it should be though? - we use other recipes for inspiration but put our own twist on them based on instinct and what we have to hand at any given time. Sometimes it doesn't work but just sometimes you end up with something wonderful - as with this soup.

Ingredients;
- leftover ends from 500g of asparagus spears, green parts chopped into 2cm bits and any really woody white parts discarded
- one leek and one shallot/three spring onions (whatever you have - I had half a huge end of a comedy spring onion the size of a cricket ball) outer layers removed and chopped.
- 500ml of vegetable stock
- 25g butter
- 50ml cream
- 2 tablespoons fromage frais (or greek yoghurt or creme fraiche)
- lemon zest
- salt and pepper

To prepare;
- saute the leek, onion and asparagus in the butter for 5 minutes over a gentle heat
- add the stock and some salt and pepper and simmer gently for 30 minutes
- blitz to a smooth consistency in a blender (you can then pour it through a sieve for an even smoother texture if you wish)
- stir in the cream and fromage frais and check the seasoning
- reheat gently to serving temperature
- serve with freshly grated lemon zest ( a truly inspirational final touch that elevates the dish to the monumentally sublime)

If you are making this to impress you could add finely chopped mint and a swirl of cream or keep back some of the tender asparagus tips to garnish the final dish.

We were so impressed that I plan to make it again tomorrow and then again for this weekend's clients on Sunday. I bet it's delicious cold too - I just haven't tried that yet.

Le Trauquet

Here at 42rvh we pride ourselves on being able to send our clients to the restaurant or bar that matches their wants, their needs and their budget - and also to help them find the great local places that their guidebook won't mention.

Before we can recommend somewhere we need to try it for ourselves and before we try it we need to find it. I know, it's a tough life we have chosen for ourselves - having to force ourselves out of the house to conduct restaurant reviews - I admit it's a fabulous bonus of the life we lead.

As with anyone living on the doorstep of a tourist attraction - in our case the magnificent medieval Cité of Carcassonne - we hardly ever visit it because, well because it is full of tourists. But without doubt, every single one of our clients will visit it so visit we must too in the name of research.

We had planned to call in at a bar and then move on to a restaurant for lunch. It was a glorious early Spring day with a cloudless blue sky and the temperature pushing 20 degrees. Even though it is still early in the season and it was midweek, there were hundreds if not a couple of thousand tourists strolling the old streets.

So imagine our surprise when we found both establishments firmly closed with business going begging past their front doors. What on earth is wrong with these people? - why not close in January?

The reviews of these two places will now have to wait until they decide to open for business.

It was 12.30pm, we were hungry and we were in the Cité - out of the setback came the opportunity to discover somewhere new and that is how we came to lunch at Le Trauquet.

Le Trauquet is a sweet little tourist restaurant serving classic dishes (entrecote, cassoulet, salads) very well. It has the usual range of fixed price menus from €10 to €20, a charming owner and a sun-drenched terrace - a perfect affordable lunch spot in a busy tourist attraction.

In mid-Summer I suspect you will need to be seated as close to midday as possible to get a table for lunch, but today we had a choice of tables arriving an hour later than that. That's not to say they weren't busy - we counted at least 50 covers whilst we were there which is a healthy trade for a small restaurant at any time of year.

Our entrecote with chips and salad was cooked perfectly, one rare and one medium. The service was fast, efficient and polite. The bill, with a large bottle of Badoit, a small pichet of red wine and a coffee came to €33 - which to my mind is a bargain lunch in a tourist trap.

It was so warm I removed my jacket and sweater and ate lunch in short sleeves and Debrah got the added bonus of a sunburnt nose - in March!

You've got to love the south of France.

le trauquet, place du petit puits, la Cité +33 468 474931

Spring is so close

It has been the most glorious weekend in Carcassonne - unbroken blue skies, new produce in the market and blossom bursting forth - Spring is so very nearly here.

Here at 42rvh we have just about had our fill of cauliflower and cabbage - we adored it's comfort back in November but are now so craving something fresher and livelier. We are on the cusp of the change.

Yesterday's market had the first local asparagus and some Spanish peas, beans and strawberries. They are not yet at their best - far from it - but they are a sign of things to come. Last night we had simply cooked asparagus with butter and this morning strawberries, yoghurt and granola for breakfast. Nothing dramatic in that but a welcome shift in our eating habits that promises delights around the corner.

An hour sat outside The Saillan with friends yesterday lunchtime resulted in layers being removed at regular intervals, such was the effect of a sheltered spot in full sun out of the breeze. Today was no different - we drove to Lastours and the Minervois with the roof down on the Audi.

The impending change is very evident out in the countryside. There is white almond blossom and pink cherry blossom and yellow mimosa providing spectacularly colourful highlights against the still mostly grey/brown drab winter landscape. The scent of the blossom lifts the spirit and highlights the joy of driving an open top car on days like these but although the fields are ploughed and the vines are pruned it is still too early for signs of agricultural growth.

Spring is not yet here - we have had a Springlike weekend full of the promise of the joys to come, but the temperature still plummets during the clear starlit nights and the cabbage will remain in the diet for another couple of weeks at least and the vines will surely wait a little longer before they feel it is safe to start the new wine production cycle. Don't go to early because we await as ever what you have in store for us this year.