Alien ? Actually No - It's a French Delicacy !

I attended the wedding of my friends Simon and Nathalie on Saturday. It was held, not far from me in a beautiful hotel which has its own private chapel. The bride wore a stunning dress and most of the male guests wore top hats and tails. The blessing, conducted by some sort of lay vicar, was held in the beautiful 11^th century chapel with a harpist and violinist playing soft, romantic music. Candles and amazing flower decorations were everywhere. After the ceremony, champagne flowed freely as Linda, our resident, wedding photographer snapped everything and everybody. 

Then came the wedding dinner or reception if you wish to be pedantic. I’d been led to believe that the food at l’Abbeye was good but, in fact, it was a disappointment. The starter was foie gras (goose liver and you don’t want to know how it’s bred or harvested) interleaved with smoked duck slices but even I know not to serve foie gras cold, straight from the fridge. Maybe they were afraid that at room temperature the whole thing would start to break down into its constituent parts. Anyway, I noticed quite a few of the English guests leaving most of it which was a pity cause it was quite good. The main course was again, duck. Simply cooked and sliced quite thickly but even in the dim light of the restaurant it was clear that the chef had merely burnt the feathers of the duck and sliced it! It was virtually raw and again I noticed that nearly every English person left it in its entirety. A pity, because although the French, and about 50% of the guests were French, like their meat to have the blood pouring out of the flesh when they eat it, it’s common knowledge that the majority of English people prefer it cooked just a little more.

At our wedding in February I refused both duck and beef on the menu as French chefs do not like overcooking these meats despite the wishes of the customer. We chose a ‘trio of lamb’ and ‘advised’ the chef that the majority of people would prefer their lamb cooked just a little more than the French like it. We needn’t have worried. The chef and the maitre’d knows us and as it turned out, it was perfect. It was good to see empty plates. 

However it has not always been thus. When I took over a hotel in the mountains for my 50^th, the food was very definitely ‘of the region’. Again, foie gras to start which quite a few of the guests decided not to eat when they heard how it was made followed by braised wild boar. Now, sanglier as they call it here, is a particular delicacy in the mountains but it has to be braised slowly because it can be a very tough meat. When people heard that it was boar many left it not even trying it which was disappointing. Many of those who did try it, found it to be too ‘gamey’ for their liking. Others wolfed it down….it’s only wild pig after all. 

On another occasion when J and I travelled down through France many years ago, we stopped at a small village with only one tiny restaurant. It was lunchtime and they only had two main courses on the menu. Pork or Andouillette. I chose the pork because I had no idea what the other thing was but, being brave, J chose it. My pork was fine but J got a sausage skin full of what looked like all the droppings off of the butcher’s floor. It looked disgusting and according to J, tasted the same. Neither she nor I have ever ordered it since but the French love it. It’s actually an intestine stuffed with all sorts of bits of animals – yuck! 

On the way back north, and being late we arrived at our B&B to find the restaurant closing. All they could offer us was a two-course meal which I thought was good of them given that it was approaching 10pm until the waiter explained what it was…..nest of starling (i.e. baby starling) paté followed by braised rabbit. Yuck – we went to bed hungry. Vive la difference! 

Here’s a blog posting about somebody else’s experience of eating an adouillette. 

http://mcmuffin.co.uk/mr_and_mrs_mcmuffin/2005/10/andouillette.html