My friend Harry, an Englishman, once owned a castle in France. I suppose by medieval standards it was modest, but to my modern day eye it was very impressive indeed. It stood on a parcel of land of about 5 acres in the middle of a little village called Bouesse, southwest of Paris in Joan of Arc country, you know the place of witches and magic and all that stuff. The stone walls of the castle were over a meter thick in some places and the original part of the castle dated back to the 12th century. It was an amazing place, and after 800 years of history you can imagine that the walls had lots of stories to tell. After spending a few nights there even I came away with a strange one.
Harry and his wife, Jacqueline, had decided to buy the castle, renovate it and turn it into a first-class hotel. Jacqueline was a French national originally from New Caledonia but wanted to live back in France metropole. One of the things they wanted to open at the hotel, of course, was a restaurant.
Jacqueline was a great cook especially of French country food. During one of my visits prior to the opening of the hotel she interrupted her renovation work to fix a very simple but elegant boneless beef shank in my honor. I was so delighted I asked for the recipe which she happily gave me. Later, I was to learn that when the restaurant opened they hired a real chef, so Jacqueline no longer cooked. But I still have the recipe and have treasured it all these years, using it many times, always with great success.
For this Friday's special, I have turned once again to Jacqueline's time-honored recipe, except this time it is with Thai beef. It is interesting, however, that traditional French beef is raised in a similar manner to Thai beef, that is, free range. But can one get the same results?
Come on by on Friday and find out...oh, and while you are at Milford's Corner, ask about the strange events that take place in Room 5 at the Chateau de Bouesse.
No comments:
Post a Comment