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A Day of Food. Today is all about food and cooking. We are taking a cooking class dedicated to the regional food and cooking traditions. Prior to this trip I did not know much about provincial cooking, except for Herb d Provence.
Before the cooking class we had to take a bath and get ready. Now I don’t normally about daily routine items like taking a bath, but here it is worth noting. While the hotel is wonderful, our particular room only has a bathtub. Yes there is a shower attachment, but there is no surrounding current. This means to take a bath you must either sit on the edge of the tub to shower, or sit in the tub and take half bath/half shower. The tub is also very narrow, so if you are the size of Jerry you have no problem, but if you’re the size well not of Jerry, then it is a bit of a tight fit, and you might get in, but you’ll need a crane to get out. Room is clearly not designed for handicapped since I had a hard enough time.
Once we were ready, we were off to the small
village of Puy Sainte Reparade, about 25 minutes outside of Aix. Chef Marc met us in front of the village church and then we followed him to his home. His home was about 5 minutes outside of the village. We drove up a long tree lined entrance and the place was amazing. If Jerry’s uncle Charles would have seen it, he would want it. I want it. The original part was a hunting lodge in the 17
th century, then it was added on to what it looks like now in the 18
th century behind and connected to the main house is a farm house. This is where the cooking class was held. Originally those that worked the land lived in the farm house so were using that kitchen.
The estate had been in Marc’s partner’s family (Franc) for over 200 years and Franc inherited. Franc is an architect specializing in the restoration of homes such as this. After the class we got a tour of the grounds and out buildings. It is very centrally located, it takes 25 minutes to get to the TGV station, from their it is a short 3 hour train trip to Paris. In 5
hours you can either drive to Barcelona or Florence. You could not ask for a better location. The summers are hot the winters are cold, but the surroundings are beautiful.
The Class This was a much more hands on class, if you wanted it to be. Jerry and I were the only participants for the day, so it was very informal and much more informative than if we had been part of a larger group. As always, we started with the dessert, and AJ I finally have a dessert you can eat, zero gluten. It was very simply, pears, with a almond crust. It was fast and easy to make and it tasted delicious. (I will be getting all recipes at a later date). The main course was chicken (you could use any meat here the cooking time will just change) in rosemary, garlic, wine and orange sauce. The real secret here is the magic spices. The salt is blended with several herbs, there is also another mixture that has various herbs but the base is paprika and I forget but will know soon. The chicken was soaked over night in half bottle of red wine, nothing else.
This was a one pot dish, and I did the cooking of if, under Marc’s directions. With the chicken was chickpeas sautéed in the special herb blend and olive oil. This was later served over the chicken.
The big difference between Provincial cooking and other French Cooking, is that butter and cream are not used. The oil is almost always olive oil, in fact the crust for the tart was made with olive oil. Provincial cooking is also more about the base food and herbs, not the sauces.
The last thing we prepared was a tart. The crust was (made with flour so not gluten free) but also had olives, garlic and other herbs. That was then spread out on a flat round baking dish and to it we added sautéed lettuce, yes lettuce cooked on the stove in olive oil and some spices. To that was added some pepper and Swiss cheese. It was very delicious. Unfortunately I don’t have the recipes yet so I don’t know the French names of these dishes.
Everything that was prepared was simple and the entire meal took less than 90 minutes, including instruction time. Now, of course Marc had
done all of the prep work ahead of time so that made it even easier.
After a leisurely walk around the estate, which includes two pigeon houses (in the 18
th century it was a status simple to have pigeon houses the bigger the more powerful you were, evidently some pigeon houses were bigger than the main house), a large veranda two houses for the servants, chicken coup, rabbit house, goat house, large pool and gardens and of course an Orangeire to protect your plants in winter. It is a place one can only dream of being able to live.
After I walk we sat down to the lunch we had just created. Everything was so good, the tastes simple yet very refined. Many future menu’s at Chez Jerome & Chris were spawned this afternoon.
Return to Aix After cooking class we drove back to Aix the same route we came in on, however it took have the time. When we got back to the hotel, I was tired and my rip hurt from my fall yesterday (I actually think I probably cracked it, but there isn’t much you can do for a cracked rib so I
Dessert
Pears baked with an almond olive oil crust.will just have to suffer through here in France J). While I took a nap Jerry went to the Pavillon De Vendome. It was originally built for the mistress the Duke of Vendome, just out side the old city walls, but now it is on the very edge of the quarter. The signs of course pointed in the wrong direction and it took a while for him to fine the house. So in his words Jerry, architecturally what you wanted to see was the outside for the house because of the classical French Garden and Atlantis figures which support the front door and entablature (I told you it was in Jerry’s word I don’t know what that means) The gardens were very large and well manicured. The inside however was minimal and displaced more art rather than what the Pavillon would have looked at when the Duke’s Mistress lived in it. The mistress always seems to get a house built for them in France. Jerry said it really wasn’t worth the 3.30 Euros to go inside when you can see the outside for free.
On his way to and from the Pavillon de Vendome, he passed through many places
Farm House
Kitchen we cooked in was here, this was added on to main house. (squares) all had a fountain which is unique to Aix.
When Jerry got back I was just waking up (1 ½ hour nap, I never get a nap a home, we went to the Museum that was right next to our hotel. The name of the Muse Garnet. Had a mix of renaissance painting, modern art and sculptures. It was free as only the permanent collection was open that day. Aix is the birth place of Cezanne, however, the people of Aix have never really claimed him as one of their own, and certainly did not like his art when he was painting it and must not like it now ether as there was only one small room with his paintings in it.
After the museum we went back to the Hotel to ask the front desk woman to call and make a dinner reservation for us. We were going to go to a restaurant recommended by Marc, but guess what it was closed. The woman at the front desk recommend 3 different places one which was 5 blocks from the hotel. We walked there to check on the menu, it was open so we made a reservation,
The Bastide
This is where Chef Marc lives turned out to be a wise idea as it was packed by the time we left. The name of the restaurant was Jardin Mazarin located near Place des 4 dauphins (Square of the four dolphins) which is a square with a fountain of four dolphins, imagine that. We walked to the ATM (ATM of doom) to get some cash, and fortunately I did not fall of the curb a second time. We then returned to our room, I blogged and then we changed for dinner.
Dinner was excellent from the starter to the dessert. In addition, it was very entertaining to watch the crowd. The table next to us was a family of 4, the son being 16 or maybe 14 and not thrilled to be there. The daughter must have just finished the term of college and they were having a nice dinner to celebrate. The interesting thing was 1) the father ordered all their food, they did not get a choice, thus they all had the same thing 2) the son got to drink wine (not uncommon in France), to think if that would ever happen in the states, NOT. The table behind Jerry was two couples,
what we would call west hillers in Portland and they had the attitude to go with it. What they ordered look great it was a filet of beouf for two, they each order one per couple that came with 4 different sides, it was enough food to feed a family of 8. The only other group worth noting (other than the man who looked like a fat Stanley Tucci) was the trustafarriens. We use this term for any one in their 20’s that never had to pay for college, has a trust fund to live off of and has this huge since of entitlement. Unfortunately such people exist in France. This particular group had entitlement written all over them, plus huge egos. First a couple came in they sat at a table, had their opening cocktail, and decided they needed to move to a table in the middle. The sat their and then three of there friends arrived, which was the plan all along) two the new arrivals sat down and the male stood in the middle of the room in the way of the waiters. This went on for about 30 minutes, until they moved tables for the second
Chef Marc
What don't you have one? time. Three tables in 30 minutes and they hadn’t ordered anything yet. But they were clearly special so that makes it alright.
The manager and our waiter (one in the same) looked about 12, he was very nice boyish good looks and spoke great English. I think he was actually the son of the owner, because he was clearly younger than the other two waiters that worked there.
After dinner we walked back home, Jerry crashed I blogged from the day before. The next day we wanted to get an early start as we had a long drive to Millau.
TODAY’S EATS Lunch I still don’t have the recipe’s from the cooking class, so the best I can describe is as follows:
Entrée: Salad Tarte with Swiss Cheese
Plat: Chicken cooked in Rosemary, wine, garlic and oranges, served with sautéed chick peas
Dessert: Reveres Pair Tart (crust on top)
Dinner (Best dinner so far)
Jerry had a salad with Roquefort and shaved fennel with truffles on the top; pork medallions with a cherry sauce and roasted potatoes; strawberries in cream with ice cream (French strawberries are almost as good as
Oregon, but not quite)
I started with Shrimp start served on a slice of watermelon then topped with a mixture of greens, tomatoes and shrimp; Monkfish, served over saffron risotto (almost as good as chef Ramsey at Versailles); Pain Perdue (French toast made with Panetoni) with ice cream.
REVIEWS Marc Hearcle Cooking Class: This is a must and worth the trip. Plan an extra day in Aix just so you can take this class.
Hotel Cardinal: Highly recommend staying there, centrally located and parking is a short 7 blocks, staff is super helpful and friendly.
Jardin Mazarin: So good I am giving you the website and the address:
www.jardinmazarin.com, 15 rue du 4 septembere at Place des 4 dauphins, make reservations on weekends for sure and probably would not hurt any other day as well.
DAILY TIPS I can’t say how much I learned at the cooking class, if you are a foodie at all, or just enjoy cooking, take this class.
Aix is worth at least 3 days, one for the cooking class and two to explore. Skip the museum, there are better ones in Paris or other cities.
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