Tuesday, November 29, 2011

France: Nice, Bordeaux and Brittany

Here are some of food photos I collected in my magical summer around Europe.

Summer is the season for strawberries and these from Carrefour as as great as any.


Tomatoes from the Troyes Market - incredibly sweet, juicy and delicate. One of the best tasting things I ever put in my mouth.


Boudin Noir also from the market. It looks quite scary but trust me it's delicious when fried crispy and accompanied with caramelized apples and mashed potatoes. Though I cannot imagine myself tucking into one that is boiled.


We missed out on trying the Soupe de Poission in Marseilles so I followed a Chowhound recommendation to Chez Acchiardo in Nice. The fish soup was awesome - murky and deep brown but bursting with the essence of the sea. Rub a raw garlic over croutons and smear on some rouille and it all comes together vecry nicely.



Nice looked like a nice city to explore if the crowds thinned out a little. I would like to return in future.

One city that I wouldn't return in Bordeaux. Yes, the Place des Quinconces was breathtakingly beautiful at sunset but rest of the city was mind-numbingly boring.


Anyhow the other highlight of Bordeaux was the famous l'Entrecôte chain. My steak, requested saignant, was done perfectly rare and very tender. The lengendary sauce was addictive and the fries hot, crispy and free-flowing. This took care of my steak-frites craving. The picture below shows half of one's steak, the other half is kept warm on a heated platter.


The final stop before returning to Paris is the picturesque coast of Brittany. We visited Saint-Malo, Mont Saint Michel and the fishing village of Cancale. We had the obligatory one dozen oysters at the market. They tasted fine but were a little flabby at this time of the year. Summer is not the time for oysters.




While not the prime time for oysters, summer is definitely the prime time for lobsters! Not wanting to risk paying high prices to dine on inferior produce, I bought the lobster from Vivers de Cancale who supplies Roellinger's les Maison de Bricourt. At any rate, these lobsters are sweet sweet sweet! It needs no sauce for the tomalley (liver) is so creamy you use it as a dip. Just reminiscing it makes me salivate!





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