Discover the "Ch'ti" country on March 3rd 2011 from 6pm

Previously, The Way To France workshops have tranported to Provence, the Languedoc, and just last week to Brittany. How about crossing the Channel and enjoying Northern France with us for a change?! See below how much fun we all had celebrating "la Chandeleur" on Thursday 3rd of February during our last workshop at Cook's Barn. 

In this session, we will allow you to take the time to admire the magnificent 'Côte d’Opale' and the gentle hills of Boulonnais and Picardie regions. You will also discover the amazing city of Lille, complete with its belfry chiming “Le p’tit Quinquin” all day long, its old squares, gardens and museums, its gigantic open air market and its futuristic metro with no driver! 

The landscapes, the architecture, the history and the gastronomy hold their own in relation to other parts of France.  What makes it even more exciting is that it is only a couple of hours’ reach by train or by car, so once you've been introduced to this region, you can go explore in person.  

We’d love to encourage you to cross the Channel more often and enjoy the best of the “Ch’tis” country.  And we'll show you how to cook some of their absolutely delicious specialties.  An evening not to be missed! Contact us for more information and to book your space now.

Would you recommend this type of course?

• Yes, very much!
• Absolutely!!
• Yes, definitely
• Yes, certainly
• Yes, Yes, Yes

Was it good value for money?

Yes, great food, great recipes and learning French at the same time. 

What did you enjoy the most? 

• The camaraderie and good humour! 
• Everything  
• The food  
• Speaking French + ambience + food!  
• Eating delicious food whilst listening to French.  
• Everything: interesting talk, delicious food, good company.

Beautiful Brittany right here on your plate…

A memorable evening that was at Cook’s Barn last Thursday!  A group of ten very keen Francophiles (of varied levels of French) set their eyes on stunning views of Brittany landscapes to the haunting sounds of music by Yann Tiersen (made familiar because of the sound-track of the film “Amélie Poulain”).

An hour or so was spent learning about this very distinctive region of France.  Brittany has a history, culture and unique language that existed long before it became part of the 'Hexagon' that we call our country nowadays.  Brittany is now very much part of France.  Yet its history as well as geographical position set the region in a world of its own.  It was fascinating to discuss the very deep and specific traits of the Breton mentality and traditions.  One has to decide to go to Brittany; you don’t simply drive through it on your way South and discover it “by chance”.  You have to choose to go there!

So we made that special journey all the way to the tip of Finistère, visiting the little towns of Concarneau and Douarnenez, going cross-country up and down the peninsula, admiring the rocky coastline, stopping in Lochronan,  being reminded of Tintagel in Cornwall by its granitic architecture, strolling through a quiet market in the suburb of Quimper.  And what about the quaint little streets of Quimper lined up with artisans and delicatessen and rows of flower pots on the pavement outside florists’ shops?!  We learnt about BZH, calvaires, menhirs, vieilles charrues, binious and chapeaux ronds as well as oignons (including the ones one wears around the neck of course!), artichauts and choux-fleurs… and of course last but not least, we made friends with the legendary Bécassine.

  

We also looked into “La Chandeleur” French celebration (yes, another one) from Roman to modern times.   Never forgetting that all that linguistic and cultural investigation of our “French on your Plate” workshops is but a pretext to take a closer look at regional gastronomy!

We added to the presentation the study of a few recipes, all Breton of course and all including delicious crêpes.  

We scrutinized the vocabulary of both the ingredients and the cooking techniques, memorized all the necessary verbs and hurried to the kitchen range to enjoy the preparation of the meal.

 

Where we were then tasked by Christine to yet another test, that of identifying, amongst other things,  the various jams to be put on our pancakes.  The whole adventure was supervised by a little Bécassine puppet…

Our efforts were well rewarded when we shared a meal as delicious as ever.  The evening was enjoyed by everyone and we cannot wait for the next “visit” to France in that fashion.  By the way it’s on March the 3rd and we help you to discover Northern France.  Early bookings advisable!

Soirée Bretagne

How about celebrating "la Chandeleur" on Thursday 3rd of February (only a day late)and spending a few moments admiring the stunning landscapes of beautiful Brittany? There are so many intriguing traditions to learn about and delicious recipes to explore! Have you heard of our legendary Bécassine? Well she comes from Brittany too! There is no better excuse to then go to the kitchen and spend the rest of the evening tossing and eating pancakes. Heaps of them! and heaps of French and fun as always. We'll let you know all about it soon!

ONLY 1 or at a push 2 PLACES LEFT FOR NEXT THURSDAY'S EVENING - 3rd February 2011 from 6pm

France on your doorstep 14th-16th January 2011!

This is your chance to prepare your next visit to France and enjoy what is second best to it: this year’s London France Show!
Come and join us at Earl’s Court. We'll be on stall 277 opposite the far end of the French Market.
There will be food and wine to taste and buy, French people promoting their regional specialties, representatives from regional tourist offices, leading French travel experts and retailers of French goods.
You’ll be able to take advantage of special offers on holidays whether it is a short weekend break or something more adventurous: cooking, sailing, golfing or painting. Come and get inspired and informed!
You can also meet estate agents, developers, mortgage providers and other professionals who will advise you for free about available French properties
And last but not least you’ll even be able to practise your French…. with us!
Visit The France Show. This is your chance to prepare your next visit to France and enjoy what is second best to it: this year’s London France Show!

“Noël en Provence” revisited…

Another memorable workshop to discover how the Southern part of France celebrates Christmas!

This very unique fashion of celebrating Christmas inspired both by religion and magic explains the origin of the traditional Christmas “log” as a counterpart to the English plum pudding, the making and the meaning of the "mendiants" and the "fruits déguisés" as well as the importance of the many little characters that people the Nativity scene in true Provençal style: the shepherds, the fishmonger, the miller, the poacher, the old couple, the knife grinder, the water carrier, the milkmaid, the pumpkin carrier, the baker, the huntsman, the lumberjack, the musicians, the village happy man (as opposed to the village idiot!), l’Arlésienne and many others gathered in the “crèche” year after year. People add little “santons” (provençal for little saints), year after year, buying them or creating their own even. Stories and songs surround these local handmade nativity scenes and form one of the most vibrant and original tradition.

Artists specialise in the making of “santons” and reach fame as Maîtres Santonniersand there are international festivals and exhibitions of their work in cities such as Arles. Find out more about it by following la crèche provençale.

Paris again... a treat as always!

Another episode of Paris autrement had us all gather at our usual haunt Carrefour de l'Odéon, chattering in French for hours on end with our Parisian friends over delicious meals.

The whole week-end, with the French capital celebrating the arrival of the Beaujolais nouveau, was packed with action as usual and very much under the sign of food. It was complete with an evening at the theatre appropriately named Les Bouffes Parisiens.

Sunday lunch took place at Le Procope where we ate in style as all the other "citoyens" did. We took moments sampling the Beaujolais nouveau in its organic version at La Dernière Goutte rue de Bourbon le Château, discovered the mythical café of La Palette  rue de Seine, visited Les Deux moulins café down rue Lepic in Montmartre where the film of Amélie Poulain was shot and we were served delicious pastry by a girl whose name wasn't Amélie. There were heaps of oysters at each street corner outside cafés and restaurants announcing Christmas and new Year Eve's "réveillons" and pâtisserie shop windows that made you feel guilty just to look at them!

The stroll through the Quartier des Beaux Arts was a surprise for someone like Richard even who has visited Paris many times. We managed to discover unusual places once again, chatted to people on the way and learnt about various ways of visiting Paris in the future, parking safely and economically.

We also spent a few memorable moments in a little bistrot Boulevard Richard Lenoir... 
Feeling a little peckish (!) after a couple of hours' walking all over l'Ile Saint-Louis, paying a visit to La Maison Berthillon, French Mecqua of ice cream, having a look at Nos Ancêtres les Gaulois restaurant's very ethnic menu, inspecting the crooked courtyards of the Marché Saint Paul and the quaint little Square of the Marché Sainte Catherine crossing the stunning Place des Vosges on our way to Bastille, we entered a café nearby (we'll let you find it all by yourself). We sat down and began to soak the whole ambience in; the place was warm and friendly with a provincial feel to it.  There were banners advertising the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau in the windows, barrels by the counter, straw on the floor. Two young children walking around attracted our attention to one of the barrels on which sat two rabbits and two miniature hens happily munching and pecking side by side. Nice way of entertaining children whilst waiting for the order to come through we thought.  The whole place felt quite unusual, surprisingly rustic but very relaxed and welcoming.  Suddenly to our amazement there was the sound of a cockerel singing and that wasn’t my mobile phone ringing!  People looked totally unperturbed and carried on eating as a magnificent bird flanked by a couple of hens took a few steps between the tables.  They were obviously regular customers. Quite a sight really… and what a symbol too, that proud French cockerel ruling the place!

We were lucky to enjoy a mild autumnal weather as we walked for miles as usual. We hopped onto buses and caught the metro to keep our schedule and even the “funiculaire” all the way up to le Sacré Coeur where we enjoyed the breathtaking view over the capital...

No better way to get to know Paris we believe and so does anyone who joins us…. Enjoy a few photos and keep an eye on the calendar for our next visit to Paris in April 2011!

A day of French cuisine at Comberton Village College November 6th

“La tarte des soeurs Tatin” or the art of turning a catastrophe into a world-famous culinary masterpiece!

The name of this apple turnover dessert was taken after that of two French sisters who ran a family hotel in rural France by the Loire River in the 19th century. 
Stéphanie the eldest was famous for her cooking but was not the brightest of people. So the story goes, she dropped the apple tart on the kitchen floor!) she put all the ingredients back upside down into the dish and hurried it back into the oven where it caramelised. She then served this improvised dessert warm and covered in cream. All the guests went mad for it.

At our workshop in Comberton Village College in November we rounded up a day of French cooking by attempting this now world famous recipe.  We stopped short of dropping our attempts on the floor before baking them!  See participants comments below:

• Friendly, informative, helpful tutor.
• Quiche very good and tarte Tatin superb!
• Very pleasant atmosphere all day.
• Altogether it was a fun day.

Join us there next March for more culinary adventures...

In the meantime, have a peep at a video and watch the Tarte Tatin film from Jamie Oliver's website.