Fred's newsletter: 1.12.20
Bonjour, c’est Fred,
This week’s take-away menu is exciting! There are some serious treats with the apéro-fredo featuring 24-month-cured jambon noir de Bigorre, the Rolls Royce of ham, alongside natural and truffled camemberts, and a bottle of fabulous Grenache-syrah Chateau Pesquier ‘Les Terrasses’. For starters, I’ve added a proper lobster and langoustine bisque with cheese, croutons and rouilles, an onion and leek quiche with Mont d’Or, and a Morteau sauasage and blond lentils salad. The snails are still on with garlic, parsley and cured ham butter. Parfait.
On the main courses, we have some Hereford beef “Boeuf Bourguignon” from Willy Purdon using the neck, or collar, cut for a change. Below are few ‘meaty’ words from Andrew Duff and Nigel from McCaskie’s butcher explaining why strong partnerships for the whole process from breeder/farmer to butcher to chef to customer are needed. Andrew and his family are doing a great job helping the meat industry, ensuring visibility and clarity for traceability, upholding quality standards and promoting sustainability. Andrew puts in the effort guaranteeing the supply of healthy and tasty beef that is then passed to Nigel to butcher for us. Nigel is one of Scotland’s most passionate butchers with such a great reputation. I am so privileged to work with those two. Thank you both for sharing your experiences and knowledge.
Back to the menu, there’s also a “Haricot de Mouton”: a shoulder of Cheviot lamb slowly-cooked with three types of haricot beans. I will be using flageolet, cannellini and haricot du Lauragais (grown next to Castelnaudary). It’s a very hearty casserole.
We’ve taken delivery of guinea fowl from France, The Dombes to be specific, between Bourg en Bresse and Lyon. These will be boned out and rolled then cooked with its own farce (stuffing). No waste my friends, we use every bit for the stock and sauce also. That’s why it’s so tasty. I used to buy guinea fowl in Scotland (along with duck) but no-one rears them any longer so they have to be from abroad. No caged of course, only ever free-range.
The fish this week is likely to be seabass (this is how it works when you order fresh fish, I have to be prepared to receive something different on delivery day, but it will be a fish as close to seabass if that’s not available, or there’s not enough). So, the fish will be served with a matelote sauce, made of red wine, fish stock, glazed baby onions and bacon. A classic recipe can’t be wrong.
There are a couple of changes on desserts. The apple tartes are for two and use three varieties of apples. There’s also a pistachio crème caramel. Pistachio was my favourite ice-cream flavour as young kid, but I’ve yet to be re-united with the taste that’s in my memory. I’ll try again today. I have bought the best pistachio paste I could find from Sicily. Another new addition is a Seville orange flan, just lovely. The pear and almond clafoutis, and the chocolat nemesis are now classics, so they stay. I have also sourced a great selection of blue cheeses for you this week, coming with a black cherry jam.
As mentioned by Betty above, the Christmas menu will be up online as soon as possible, I have decided to go for a great selection of poultry including Bresse turkeys and chickens, poule noir du Mans as well as a good numbers of Linda’s chickens. There will also be some Armagnac-smoked salmon, some foie gras, and of course, a dark chocolate log. More news soon.
À bientôt,
Fred