The Daily Norm

Jul 8

Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Les Photos

I am almost at an end of the first leg of my Provençal adventure, and tomorrow we will move on to Arles. So the time has almost certainly come to throw a whole load of my most treasured photographs at you.

Provence, unexpectedly, provided a ceaseless flurry of inspiration from our first moments on French soil, from the perfumed lavender bushes swaying gently in the breeze of the Rhône, and the buildings beset by detailed grand facades and wooden painted shutters aplenty, to the vast Papal Palace and the robust medieval walls which give Avignon its historical character.

I hope you enjoy these shots, which focus on various details which caught by eye around the city, both features which are testament to Avignon’s iconic facade, but also concentrate on the daily life of a bustling city: the cafes, the children playing, the big wheel and the small hidden gargoyles.

See you in Arles!

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2013 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Day One – Journey South (daily-norm.com)
Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Day Two – Le Pont et Les Papes (daily-norm.com)
Provence Odyssey | Avignon – A room with a view (daily-norm.com)
Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Le Dîner – Coin Caché (daily-norm.com)
Mallorca in May – A photographic miscellany (daily-norm.com)

Jul 7

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Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Le Dîner – Coin Caché

Finding a good restaurant when you have no reservation is almost always a matter of luck. All too often, the temptation of every tourist is to dine at one of the very visible, very central tourist-based restaurants of a town, rather than risk wandering off into the great unknown and finding yourself walking, endlessly for hours until a restaurant is eventually found. However I learnt my lesson the hard way in Madrid when, one spring evening, clueless where to eat and with time ticking on, my family and I opted for one of the many restaurants which line the Plaza Mayor, Madrid’s main square. And my god, some two years after the event, that meal remains the worst of my existence – lamb so chargrilled that it was all bones and ashes, fish so hopelessly dry that it bore more resemblance to a sun-dried lizard corpse which had been rotting in the desert heat for 5 months. And the prices! Now they were worthy of one if not two Michelin stars just on their own, running well into three figures for eating brick dust.

On the approach to the squares behind the vast Papal Palace…

So that lesson learnt (and my tip to any Madrid visitor would be to avoid all of the Plaza Mayor restaurants at any cost!) I ensured that on our second night in Avignon, we walked further afield than the main Place de l’Horloge where similar tourist honey-pots seemed to be lurking. We walked for some time, finding that, since it was Sunday, many a guide-book recommended restaurant was closed, and just as we were starting to give into the realisation that it would be tourist-fodder or no-fodder, we stumbled upon the most magical square in Avignon – the Place des Chataignes.

Set against the backdrop of St Pierre’s gothic church, around the corner from the huge natural rock cliffs into which the Papal Palace is built, under the cosy shelter of huge plane trees and surrounded by little shuttered French houses and restaurants straight out of the picture-books, this square was a gem to behold, and had to be the discovery of the trip thus far. And yes, while the 3 or 4 restaurants filling the square no doubt catered for tourists, their superior quality was obvious – with one rather chic affair in particular catching our eye and beckoning us closer: Coin Caché.

Coin Caché offers something of a contemporary twist on French cuisine, serving up innovative treats such as chocolate hamburgers for dessert and miniature cauliflower cakes to start. It benefited from a stunning setting right in the centre of the square, and boasted its own resident fluff-ball of a cat – “Pom-Pom” – who kept us entertained with her fussy demands as to why pickings from our dinner were unfit for her sophisticated taste-buds.

Our own sophisticated taste buds on the other hand were kept aptly satisfied by the meal that was served up to our romantic candlelit table. I started with a melt in the mouth goat’s cheese and courgette bake, which was topped by salty cheese a crumble which was sweet like honeycomb. This was all balanced well with a side salad of sundried and fresh sweet baby tomatoes, flaked parmesan and croutons. Dominik, meanwhile, had that cauliflower cake of which I spoke – a creamy light affair, akin to a soufflé and deliciously caramalised on top.

Mains followed suit – for me, a rather sensational duck, perfectly cooked and tender, in a red wine reduction and served on a bed of rather unctuous pan friend gnocci and french beans. For Dominik, the winner of the evening had to be a soft flakey cod loin resting on a creamy rich pea and mint risotto. Simple fare, but delicately cooked. A little too delicate you might say for the accompanying 2000 vintage Chateauneuf du pape to which we treated ourselves that night in celebration of our 4th anniversary… But then as we were in the papal city, we could hardly leave town without a taste of the red stuff. It goes without saying that the wine was sensational – almost knockout in both alcoholic content and rich velvety flavours.

For dessert we were roundly finished off with a double dose of “chocolate hamburgers” which basically consisted of a “bap” made from a soft brioche like biscuit, with a “burger” of dense chocolate mousse and a generous helping of salted caramel “relish”. ‘Twas heavenly. But one would have done four times over – each coping with this overload of chocolate and caramel after a meal not lacking in generosity of portions, creams and cheeses was a struggle, but one which frankly I wouldn’t mind engaging again.

Coin Caché has no website, but their number is +33 490 820 731. A must on any visit to Avignon.

Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Day One – Journey South (daily-norm.com)
Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Day Two – Le Pont et Les Papes (daily-norm.com)
Provence Odyssey | Avignon – A room with a view (daily-norm.com)

Jul 5

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Provence Odyssey | My Journey in Paintings: Avignon – A room with a view

That morning. Waking to the waft of pine tree perfume filling the air, the sharp clear light of a Mediterranean blue sky, and warmth – oh the warmth of the clement Southern France climate. How could I not paint it? While some people may consider a room with a view to be a vast vista over coasts and mountains, over city roof tops or wide country landscapes, for me, our little room at the Hotel de L’Horloge overlooking a quite old street with a verdant puissant pine tree thrusting into view, could not be beaten. And as daytime dawned on our first Avignon day, I could not help myself but take out my little watercolour book and recreate the view and our wide open window in paint, capturing that moment as we welcomed, heartily, the exquisite outside in.

Now, far away from Avignon, when I look at my painting, it carries with it the very essence of that view, and the feelings which arose within me when I gazed upon it in a way which no photo ever could. For in the process of its creation, I captured not just the view, but a manifestation of my reaction – my joy at that moment of Provençal awakening.

Avignon: A Room with a View (2013 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, watercolour on paper)

It’s a simple painting, but loaded with our experience of those pure moments of unbridled joy, when a holiday begins, and days of carefree discovery lie in wait.

Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Day Two – Le Pont et Les Papes

It was one of those mornings which you would like to lock up in an alarm clock to be projected outwards at the start of each day. Awakening to find not the dark groggy skies of an English summer, but the bright blue cerulean sparkle that can only be found in a Mediterranean sky, early sun streaming through the window, broken only by the shadow of a fresh-smelling pine tree standing quite still in the street outside, and the sound of birds and the awakening bustle of nearby cafes filling the air. To this slice of heaven we awoke on our first proper morning in the beautiful city of Avignon in Southern France, an optimism buoyed in the ultimately satisfying knowledge that this was our first full day of a holiday that would extend for another week and a day.

The brilliancy of the light made waking so easy, and I was soon up, capturing the view in watercolour in my newly purchased notebook. Yet before long, hunger came knocking, and strolling the brief 100 metres or so out to the Place de l’Horloge just outside the hotel, we picked one of many cafes in which to sit and order a petit dejeuner – breakfast which came handily in a pre-determined formular of fresh crunchy baguette, buttery croissants, sweet sticky confiture, jus d’orange and of course, a frothy thick coffee – and all a mere snip at 6 euros each. We very soon thought the better of our initial English naivety at making straight for the sun, skipping to a table in the shade away from the already intense morning heat (the nearby temperature gauge said it all), and there enjoying the simplicity of this very French breakfast, we watched this now sleepy great town wind slowly back into life.

Le Petit Dejeuner!

Hotting up for the morning

A whole day in Avignon meant that two inevitable bastions of the city needed to be covered: the Papal Palace and the world-renowned Pont d’Avignon itself, although our initial stroll en route took us past a small park set within the ruins of an old medieval church, its trees and fragrant flowers bursting with such piquant colour against the blue sky that you would swear that our eyes had been somehow tricked into seeing light through an almost fictionalised lens. Yet these photos do no injustice to the clarity of that colour, and the beauty of the floral path which led us steadily towards the vast Papal palace that dominates Avignon.

I said something of the Papal palace in yesterday’s post – a vast complex built by some 9 successive Popes when they swapped a tumultuous Rome for the comparative tranquility of Avignon back in the 13th Century. But today we ventured inside, and only then could we properly appreciate the vast scale of this Papal compound, whose very rooms were so large that one barely noticed the multitude of tourists flooding through its gates, and its courtyards so voluminous that an entire temporary auditorium had been set up within its four walls.

The inside of the Palace, while now empty, was a sight to behold, and the informative exhibits gave us a captivating history lesson both of the Papal heritage of Avignon, but also of how the palace slowly developed to become the mammoth structure which stands today. However, far from embracing the past, Avignon showed itself to be every bit the cultural leader for which the town has developed a worldwide renown (Avignon hosts a comprehensive cultural festival every July – sadly we just missed it), by daring to incorporate within these hallowed walls an exhibition (Les Papesses) of very modern sculpture, including the likes of Louise Bourgeois (famous for producing large spider sculptures), Camille Claudel, Kiki Smith, Jana Serbak and Berlinde de Bruyckere. Some of the sculptures were a little raw, somewhat gruesome for some tastes, particularly de Bruyckere’s rather ghastly corpse-like forms, but I loved the playfullness of the huge pile of duvets, the oversized glass marbles and of course the Bourgeois spider.

Having taken in a drink and the admirable views from the palace’s roof-top terrace, we headed back down to earth, retreating into the maze like streets that surround the Papal complex like a silk wrap, and into one such street settled down on the charming rather chic little terrace of Au Vent d’Agnes (4 rue Saboly – Tel 04 32 76 26 45) for a couple of super fresh salads: mine was a caprese salad with a modern twist of basil mousse – quite superb and washed down so satisfyingly with an ice cold glass of local white vin. As we were in the area, we skipped dessert, heading instead for the Musée Angladon which, thanks to the generosity of its founding family collectors contains the only Van Gogh to be found in all of Provence (despite his completing so many hundreds of canvases during his year or so here) as well as an impressive collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masters, with Manet, Degas, Sisley, Cezanne and Modigliani amongst their number.

Imposing the Spanish siesta upon this sunny day, we rested (and I painted) until temperatures cooled slightly, and headed out finally to the second of the city’s most famous sites: the renowned bridge of Avignon, about which the eponymous song which goes something like this: “Sur le Pont d’Avignon L’on y danse, l’on y danse, Sur le Pont d’Avignon L’on y danse tous en ron”…was written.

The Pont d’Avignon is actually called the Pont St Bénézet, named after the shepherd boy who supposedly commanded angels to build the original bridge on this site across the River Rhône. Yet today, it is not only the bridge’s name which has fallen out of use: The bridge itself was catastrophically damaged in the 17th century, as the majority of its arches were swept away in a flood in 1669, and the bridge fell into disrepair, leaving only the four arches which remain standing today. But of course, today, it is no doubt the city’s greatest pull: that is until you get here and realise that Avignon has so, so much more to offer in terms of charm and beauty than this old crumbled relic, but a visit to the city would not, of course, be complete without a stroll along its remaining length. Just be sure to buy a combined ticket for both the bridge and the Papal palace if you follow our lead and head to this wonderful city – for a visit to the bridge is worth very little of the full admission fare charged.

What a day, what a city: Avignon was the huge surprise of our trip – because what was planned as merely a station stop on our train journey south had actually been the source of cultural and historical inspiration and an all round feast of visual and sensual delights. Of course that’s not where Avignon ended for us. We spent the remainder of the day strolling through the lavender planted before the famous bridge, to then smelling the lavender sachets and soaps aplenty which pack the ample selection of souvenir shops nearby. And then of course there was the wonderful dinner we ate that night… But more on that another time.

À bientôt!

Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Day One – Journey South (daily-norm.com)

Jul 3

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Provence Odyssey | Avignon: Day One – Journey South

There is something inherently romantic about making a European journey by train. For what you may gain in time by way of flying (IF things are running on time) you surely lack in the kind of convenience promised by a railway journey, which, with very little check-in hassle, sweeps its passengers to the very heart of their destination in a single fast-moving trajectory. And it’s not as if trains even take that long these days, with a sophisticated network of high speed trains spreading over Europe and growing every year.

So when I considered a holiday destination for this summer, my decision was very much influenced by the ease with which, during the summer months, one can catch a Eurostar from London St Pancras direct into Avignon in the heart of French Provence in just under 6 hours. And as we were to find as we took said train early on the penultimate Saturday of June, the length of the journey literally flies by as one is immovably distracted by the slowly changing French landscape outside the window, and lured by the ripe promise of long hot sunny days and floral scents of the Provençal promised land. While a flight may whisk you above the clouds and deliver you from one mediocre out-of-town airport space to another, the Eurostar option affords you the unique opportunity to see a country literally change, at speed before your eyes.

The Provençal promised land beckoned

And so it was that as we began our Provençal Odyssey we watched with wonder as the grey flat lands of Northern France became progressively more undulating, and colours literally ripened before our eyes, with clearing skies, the reappearance of sunshine and finally the much promised shots of purple emanating from a tapestry of lavender fields which cultivate the region. As the purples and yellow and bright greens increased it became clear that we were nearing our destination, and when the train began to slow over the sparkling snaking form of the river Rhône in view of the nearby silhouette of a majestic medieval citadel, we knew that we had arrived: in Avignon.

First glimpses of Avignon

The guide books will tell you that Avignon is the gem of Provence and that much became very clear as soon as we entered the tightly walled old city centre. For Avignon’s unique beauty arises from its equally unique history, characterised by the period when, in the 14th century, the Papal enclave fled the turmoil of savagery in Rome and set up a new capital of Catholicism in Avignon. The result of a line of 9 Avignon popes (2 of which ruled in tandem with a duplicate pope back in Rome during the time of the Great Schism) is a city made great in medieval times: surrounded by dense barricaded walls in order to protect tv the Papal city, within which a quaint maze of winding narrow streets all leading to the central magnificent heart of the city: the super-imposing Papal palace itself.

Of course the city has developed since then, and the city’s Hotel de Ville facing outwardly onto the bustling restaurant filled Place de l’Horloge is a grand testament to Neo-classicism. However there are very few modern scars on this UNESCO protected heritage site, and our hotel, the Hotel Horloge was situated right in the middle of it.

Delighted at our first glimpses of the city, by our location at its heart, and by the heat pervading its squares and streets, we rushed out into the city, pulled by the cafe bustle of the Place de l’Horloge and the promise of a chilled glass of wine after our railway trek from one end of France to the other.

Mary atop Avignon’s Cathedral

And the park affording views across the city

Ice cream in the park 🙂

Already drunk on the sheer beauty of the city, and now Dizzy with the delights of a little afternoon wine, we were close to being hyper with the magnificence of the city we saw before us. From that first glimpse of the imposing and almost fairy tale like Papal palace, and the golden Mary looming over the city, to our discovery of a pretty shady little park, the Rocher des Doms gardens, set up on a hill next to the palace. From these gardens, full of families picnicking, playing, children peddling around on old fashioned horse carts and young couples sipping coffees and eating ice cream by a duck pond, our first views were afforded of the famous Pont d’Avignon (real name: Pont St Bénézet), renowned because of the eponymous rhyming song (sur Le pont d’Avignon etc) but today a mere relic of what it once was, reaching out into the Rhône but now, a ruin, resolved to never quite making it more than halfway across the wide expanse of water.

The Pont d’Avignon

and the Rhone

As if further validation of the magic of the city were needed, one event after another occurred as the day turned into night, confirming Avignon to be a true reflection of the good life: First a wedding party, dancing their way to middle eastern music through the town, the crowds of tourists joining them in their merry parade; second the long shadows cast upon a building’s magnificent decorative facade as the sun shone its day’s final rays across the exquisite architectural details; third: dinner – a rich French feast of aubergines in tomato sauce, delicate sea bream, and a cookie pannacotta for dessert enjoyed by candlelight before the pinkening facade of the Palais des Papes at sundown; fourth that same sunset over the Pont d’Avignon, the pink light reflecting off the calm waters of the Rhone; and finally, in the main Place du Palais, an open air concert from which the harmonious melodies of orchestra-accompanied opera filled the warm evening air and bounced off the vast medieval walls of the Palais des Papes behind it.

What a city! So rich in its offerings, and providing us with such sights and sounds after only a few hours’ visit. From London to Avignon, our experience of life had undergone a perceptive change. We had found ourselves in the warm, spirited and culturally enriched city of Avignon, and as darkness fell, we could do little else but head to bed full of excitement for the days that were to come, and the opportunity that would be afforded to explore this Provençal gem to the full.

More about that, tomorrow. See you then!

Jun 27

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The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week – Sunflower Spectacle

When you read this post I should be somewhere around Arles or Saint Remy-de-Provence, breathing in the fresh balmy air of the South of France, and following in the footsteps of one Vincent Van Gogh, who painted some of his most famous canvases in these parts. I therefore thought it appropriate that The Daily Norm’s photo of the week, published in my “absentia”, should be a suitably summery shot, and what better way to bring you the warmth and vitality of the rolling fields of Provence than to feature one of my photos of the unblemished glory of the intricately patterned head of a sunshine-yellow sunflower.

I actually took the photo last summer in Tuscany, rather than Provence. My partner, who had gone out ahead of me had found a field bursting full of “girasoli”, and was anxious that we should go along to see them before the flowers began to wilt under the roasting Tuscan sun. And so, on my first day out there we headed along to the field, surrounded by pine trees and the rousing chorus of cicada cries, and ran straight into the centre of this incredible field full of flowers. It was such a moment of epiphany to be surrounded by these wonders of nature, stretching for as far as the eye could see.

But of course the rolling landscapes of Provence are equally renowned for their sunflowers, and proved to be such an inspiration to Van Gogh when he lived in Arles that he painted what are perhaps now his most famous series of works as decoration for his home, now known as “the Yellow House”, in preparation for the visit of his artist companion, Paul Gauguin. And little wonder. The flowers, with their complex faces, delicate bright yellow petals, and strong fleshy green stalks turning the flowers towards the sun, are the very epitome of a glorious summer’s day.

I have no doubt that once returned from Provence, I will be inspired in equal measure. See you then.

The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week – Trout Pout (daily-norm.com)
The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week – London in June (daily-norm.com)
The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week – Reflected Metropolis (daily-norm.com)
Chelsea Flower Show (ii) A festival of flowers (daily-norm.com)

Jun 24

3 Comments

Norms do… Cézanne’s Card Players

Although perhaps best known for his repetitive, almost obsessive landscapes of Le Mont Saint Victoire near his home town of Aix-en-Provence, and his groupings of apples and oranges painted as simplified geometric forms with zealously applied paint strokes, the so called father of cubism, post-impressionist master Paul Cézanne also painted another set of rather astonishing works which in my opinion easily qualify as some of his most captivating works. A gloomy tavern, a waxy dark tablecloth, a set of playing cards and the concentration of two card players, focus furrowed deep into their brows as we look upon them in the midst of a game – I am of course talking about Cézanne’s Card Player series, a series of some 5 paintings and numerous preparatory sketches, in which Cezanne took the tradition 17th century French and Dutch genre painting style of a rowdy tavern scene, and reduced it to a simple card game, full of intensity and, surprisingly for its tavern setting, sobriety.

The Courtauld’s Card Players

This now familiar composition by Cézanne, one of which hangs so happily close to me in London’s Courtauld gallery, made the headlines as recently as last year, when sold to the Qatari royal family for around $275 million, it became the most expensive piece of art work ever sold. While the price may be bonkers, and the painting’s final destination into a private collection lamentable, the art loving public can at least be reassured that four versions of the work remain on public view and as if that wasn’t enough, on top of that, the Norms have now staged their own version too!

Norm Card Players (after Cézanne) (2013 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, acrylic on canvas)

Yes, being as, when you read this post, I should be somewhere in the Lavender-scented verdant rolling landscapes of Cézanne’s beloved Provence, and heading to his home town of Aix as my final destination, the Norms thought it only appropriate that before heading off on that trip with me, they would reimagine this renowned Cézanne scene, composed as it is with a rusty authentic depiction of a Provencal tavern complete with what are believed to be two of its local farmers playing cards. The Norm version is based upon the Courtauld’s canvas (above), and consequently the scene concentrates, as Cezanne latterly did, on the two solitary card players rather than two players with spectators such as populate some of the other works from the series. I’m not entirely sure how Norms manage to play cards so well with only one arm, but I suppose they have their ways, as Norms always do…

So without further ado, I leave you to enjoy the Norm Card Players, in this almost still-life, intense moment of concentrated card play. And some of Cezanne’s originals are included too.

Spot the difference…

The d”Orsay Card Players

The Qatari Card Players

Card Players at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

and at the Met, NY

And some studies…

A bientot.

Jun 19

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The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week – Trout Pout

Sometimes I take such pleasure in savouring the beauty of individual, fresh ingredients, that I almost feel sorry to cook them, no matter how delicious the results. Such was the case this weekend when I bought myself a weighty fresh char fish from my local fishmongers. It’s so much nicer to buy fish straight from an authentic fishmongers rather than all wrapped in cellophane from the supermarket – and all the more so when you live in the city, as we do. As soon as I got home, I couldn’t wait to unwrap my fish and then, placing it amongst the fresh herbs and lemon and fennel and seasonal Jersey Royal potatoes with which I planned to cook her, I stared in wonder at the beauty of nature’s incredible creation.

Having the opportunity to look at a fish close up, to feel her snake like curving spine beneath her fine muscular flesh, examining her tight little silvery scales and her bewildering staring eye, with a black hole disappearing apparently into the beyond, I was completely captivated. Almost sadistically, I took great pleasure in opening up her mouth and checking out what looks like a meaty little tongue – who knew that fish even have tongues(!) – and revelled in the aesthetic glory of this new occupant of my kitchen. And of course, inevitably, not long behind came my camera, and the opportunity to capture this beautiful fish “on film”.

So for this week’s photo of the week, I could not resist sharing one of these shots with you when, with Florence the Fish’s mouth wide open, she looks almost ready to pounce from amongst her new found ocean of earthy potatoes and fresh verdant parsley. Sadly this was not to be, as Florence was destined to end up en papillote, and cooked, quite simply to perfection. She will, I’m sure, be proud to know at least that in her sad demise, she made for one hell of a delicious meal.

(Apologies in advance go to all Vegetarians – but you can’t deny that I appreciated the fish to the full.)

See you next time.

The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week – London in June (daily-norm.com)
The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week – Reflected Metropolis (daily-norm.com)

Jun 17

Going Khoo-Khoo for la Gastronomie Française

In a few days time I am leaving the windswept wet isles of Great Britain behind me in the woosh of a high-speed train all the way from London to Avignon in the South of France. I am practically delirious with anticipation, already envisaging my stripy blue and white t-shirt set amongst the rolling Provence countryside with a little black beret to match; spending my long sweaty journeys on the tube with teach-yourself-French flowing firmly into my ears; playing old French favourites Piaf and Trénet around my home; and now, super-indulging in la bonne vie of ultimate gastronomic excellence: French cuisine.

I don’t know all that much about French cuisine, being firmly inducted as I am into the Spanish school of cookery, but I do have one exeedingly pleasing French cookbook on my book shelves, and even that one I bought more for the fine pictures of Paris than through any hope of mastering French gastronomy. However, as technique goes, Rachel Khoo‘s Little Paris Kitchen certainly makes things less intimidating, and opening the book up for the first time in months, I set about creating a weekend fully loaded with French delights.

You’ll have to excuse what follows as being something more of a pictorial indulgence than an ingredient-by-ingredient recipe rehash. While I will try to stay faithful to Khoo’s recipes where I can (and of course reminding Daily Norm readers that the recipes are entirely her copyright, and of course urging you to buy her picture-perfect book ;-)), or otherwise link up to them where I can find them already published online, this post is really an unapologetic celebration of food, of the beauty of ingredients, of fresh produce, of flavour combinations and of the results that can be achieved through a toil in the kitchen.

So first up was a simple Gratin au poisson fumé, a rather simple little light lunch to make, once you master the creamy rich béchamel sauce. It’s also a great way to use up odds and ends from your fridge. For the béchamel, you need to melt 30g of butter in a large pan over a medium heat, adding 30g of plain flower and beating hard until it becomes a smooth paste. Take off the heat, leaving to cool for a couple of minutes, before gradually whisking in 500ml of milk. Place back on a medium heat, add 1/4 peeled onion, a clove and a bay leaf and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking frequently. Finish by removing the onion, clove and bay leaf and seasoning with a little salt, white pepper (if poss) and a pinch of nutmeg. Then it’s just a case of mixing this with around 750g of cooked, sliced baby potatoes, 200g of smoked haddock or other smoked fish, a handful of chopped parsely and sprinkling a handful of comté or gruyere on top and then popping into the oven or 200 mins at 180C. Serve with a fresh salad to cut through that creamy, cheesy sauce. I sprinkled my bake with a little pimento (you can take the boy out of Spain, but not Spain out of the boy…).

An alternative use of the béchamel is to mix it with 300g of cooked macaroni, and placing that in the oven with a load of cheese sprinkled on top – it makes an awesome macaroni cheese which easily beats the supermarket favourites thanks to Khoo’s welcome addition of aromatic flavourings in the sauce.

My macaroni

Onto the plat principal, which in anticipation of our voyage south just had to be a fresh summery fish dish. I wanted to make Khoo’s Trout en papillote dish, but failing to find any trout stocked in my local fishmongers, settled on a freshwater char, which I gather is a close cousin of Monsieur Le Truite. I did however opt for the en papillote technique, the masterful and easy method of cooking fish efficiently, ensuring that the moisture and flavour is all locked in and doesn’t escape the dark cavernous entrails of an oven.

My Char and her fellow ingredients pre-papillotte

My Char and her fellow ingredients pre-papillote

Basically, all you need to do is take one trout per person (or one large char did it for the two of us), and rub its insides with a marinade of the grated zest of one lemon, salt, pepper and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Then fill the fish’s belly with finely chopped fennel, and rest slices of almost cooked baby potatoes alongside the fish (sufficient for the number of people the fish will serve). Then that’s it – lie the fish & co. on a large piece of baking paper and seal closed ensuring that those juices can’t get out – and if you’re wondering how this should be done, check out Rachel Khoo demonstrating herself! I served the fish with a good dollop of thick creamy crème fraîche and a little salad by way of pretence that I am in fact very healthy (and pigs will fly etc etc). The fish was unctuous, tasty, moist and so beautiful to look at – well before it was cooked anyway.

Pre-papillote

All wrapped and ready to go

The less beautiful but delicious finished dish

Finally, les desserts, and I went for two French classics which, while a little technical, are made pleasingly approachable in Khoo’s book. The first was Îles flottantes (floating islands), which I can very handily give you a link to to save me trying to unsuccessfully summarise what are three fairly complex processes to make this well-worth-the-effort delicious dessert. I first had some floating islands – unctuous soft meringue floating in a creamy vanilla custard soup – at La Bofinger in the Marais in Paris. After making may way through an indulgent multi-tiered mountain of oysters and seafood, this seemed easily the most decadent way to close a French meal, and now having made it myself, I am delighted to have so easily mastered what is surely one of life’s most decadent of desserts. I particularly love Khoo’s almond praline touch – sprinkled on top this gives the subtle eggyness of the meringue extra sugar and a much needed crunch.

For dessert number two (made the following day I might add – we’re not that greedy), I decided to indulge cataclysmically, with a creamy, ambrosial champagne based dessert, perfect to accompany the glasses of champagne which were already bubbling away in the hands of my partner and I by way of celebration of our fourth anniversary. Rachel Khoo’s ultimately delicious Sabayon de Champagne avec fraises just had to be the winner of the weekend. It was quite simple to make, and way too simple to eat – we finished off this exquisite elixir in mere seconds, but it was worth those few mouthfulls of pleasure.

Anniversary champagne

To create this delight, simply whisk 4 egg yolks with 25g of sugar over a bain marie (heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water) until the mixture is thick and pale yellow in colour. Then add 100ml of champagne and whisk until the sabayon is very thick and foamy – this takes around 5-10 minutes, and you know when it’s done when you draw a shape in the mix and it stays put. Then simply pour into bowls and serve with stawberries. Oooo la la what a summer’s delight!

Vive le France! We’re coming to get you!

For more details of Rachel Khoo’s cuisine check out her BBC series page.

‘The Little Paris Kitchen’: Rachel Khoo puts a fresh spin on classic French fare (o.canada.com)
https://daily-norm.com/2012/04/12/madeleine-melody/
Salmon en papillote (feedthepiglet.wordpress.com)

Jun 14

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The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week – London in June

There’s something about the perverse nature of England that the closer we get to the Summer Solstice, the hopeful time when three months of summertime await, the colder and wetter it suddenly seems to become. Except that this year, it couldn’t get much colder. Even at Easter we had snow, and two months later, some blossom trees are only now coming into bud. Ah yes, the weather of 2013 has been ripe fodder for that good old English tradition – talking about the weather.

So for this week’s Daily Norm photo of the week, I thought it was only appropriate that I feature a photo I snapped the other day while walking to work in London’s Westminster. Having woken up to gloomy skies and wet pavements, I didn’t think I would be able to enjoy the short stroll I try to make time for each morning by getting off the tube one stop early – it’s a stroll which gives me time to recollect my thoughts before work, and enables me to recover a little composure after the morning’s crush on the tube. Yet just as I was leaving home the sun started to break over damp old London, and 20 minutes later, I took my stroll in the faint morning sunshine, dodging plenty of puddles along the way.

This photo was taken as I passed one such puddle and realised to my delight that London’s most famous landmark, Big Ben (or Elizabeth Tower as we should call it) was reflected perfectly upon the pavement. Grabbing my iphone camera quickly, I managed to capture this shot between commuters rushing moodily by. And for me it’s the perfect illustration of London in June – wet, green, but with a faint, hopeful brightness in the air. Here’s for better weather to come.