The cuve of 2017 Grenache is continuing to bring huge smiles. We took a couple of bottles to the Quilles De Joie and some of the hero vigneron tasted ( Ludovic Anglevin grins ) – Mme Pfifferling (Mrs L’anglore) reckons it needs 2 winters of maturing to emerge with the structure , fruit and acidity of a Jura!!!! Our friend and importer friend Alex from Under The Bonnet is “émerveillé
Our area is more about fish , veg, olives and wine than “elevage”- raising animals to eat. However its cooler now and the Quilles De Joie wine event is coming up at which I am keen to launch a couple of charcuterie tapas. I have found a supplier of outdoor reared, whey fed porkers from a small mixed farm in the Cévennes. Using head, belly and hands from them here
Its late September and the figs keep coming .I have one favourite tree just outside the borders of Tugudu land . It is south facing and it has its roots in the stream where Nora likes to take dip . Ingredients for a portion ….. 3 or 4 of the most wholesome chicken livers you can find. A heaped tablespoon of plain flour seasoned with…. good pinch of ground
With the help of Herve and Joyce we picked 500 kilos of old vine Grenache. We are glaneurs or gleaners, picking up the grappillons and the bunches missed by the pro pickers. Our lovely friend Thierry Forestier has lovingly tended these vines for years without the use of any herbicide or pesticide . The tanks were leant by the Moulin brothers who make the astonishingly good and whacky POMPOM rouge
Its August and the beaches are busier. Even though LouLou Beignet is calling to us ( A la pomme, nutella) the promise of a top notch doughnut is not enough we are in the van and off to the river Vis . We head towards the Cevennes , through the town of Ganges -the countryside is stunning , dramatic limestone bluffs, arid Garrigue , olive groves, vineyards and its 34
Our great friends Sam and Sophie have come to visit – we are inspired. sam has cooked up feasts every night and we are inspired . He has raised the bar and the family are pushing me on to cook on up to new heights. The mulberries have arrived – they are super food and free! Jean used to make raspberry vinegar , thick sweet and sour . She would
Gallerie Des Marches – Aubusson 16 April – May 9th First time showing properly in France at the Gallery owned by the director Jerome in this tiny village in the heart of France. I had three days to install it and stayed with our great friends and inspiration Sue and Tom Neil in their Framhouse Pellevoisn, a beautiful old Farmhouse in a tiny hamlet in the Limousin where they have
Residency Week 3 and 4 Sarah Thieret and I have been grafting away 2 or 3 days a week in the Print studio … I’ve been having to make all kinds of short cuts to try and get the work made – my plates were too big to etch in a bath so we made a makeshift plastic sheeting bath that balanced on two chairs…. better than me sealing the
I’ve bought a new thermos flask. I cant imagine what went wrong with the last one- I thought the modern ones lasted a lifetime -but it stopped delivering insulation. I am sitting on the bank by a plot of Thierry Forestier’s 100 year old Aramon , having a hot cuppa looking out to the Pic St Loup and the Cevennes beyond. Aramon was widely planted in the late 19C and