Lindsay's adventures with cooking, part 1

So ever since I got to France, I have tried to make it my goal to learn how to cook french foods. I have spent hours pouring over recipes that are both french enough that i feel like I am taking advantage of the unique and beautiful ingredients that are so plentiful here but also easy enough that a novice chef like myself can actually successfully cook them without throwing a pan at the wall in frustration.

In connection with that desire to learn how to cook, I have been dragging myself to as many marchés (markets) as possible. Last weekend, they had a special exhibition called the Salon Chocolat et Gastronomie. We had to take a bus to Castres, a town an hour away in order to go. Castres is a beautiful town with houses built right over the river. Sadly, since it was raining, we didn't really feel like exploring, so we just made our way over to the exhibition.

It was relatively small, but each booth was filled with a wondrous display of food. At one booth, we got a free plate of meats including a generous slice of paté, a piece of jambon sec (dried ham) and two different types of sausage. At another, there was chocolate covered foie gras and dried duck breast. Even better, at all the chocolate booths, they gave away free samples. I tried all sorts of chocolate, from the normal like chocolate covered caramels, to the bizarre, like the chocolates with fried onions in them. They were all delicious, and I had to refrain from buying everything in site. They also had exhibitions, where professional pastry chefs and candy makers made amazing macaroons and fresh marshmallows. I ended up buying fresh bread, a small goat cheese, fresh hazelnut coffee, and two small containers of terrine de canard aux pommes (duck and pork organs mixed together with apples, similar to a paté) and a confit de foie du porc (pork livers immersed in fat and ground together).

My latest obsession right now is duck fat. This love began after I cooked a duck breast and had a leftover container of duck fat. I used it for eggs, sausages, and frozen french fries. It made everything taste ten times better. I have been quite verbose of my love of duck fat, since it is something I have never encountered in the US. I was talking about it at lunch with my fellow teachers one day, and Frédéric, the woman who runs the student housing, just offers me a huge jar of it. I have since used up the jar, and we have now started saving our own duck fat for our future potato ventures.

Another food I have discovered since I've been here is something the French call romanesque. It's like a cauliflower-broccoli hybrid, but the interesting thing is that it is an amazing example of fractals in nature. It's also quite tasty.

So, as I spend more time here, I continue to expand my cooking horizons. Last week it was quail. Next week? I'm considering some boudin noir. Yum yum.