I had been living in semi chaos for three weeks, between the kitchen in Brive, almost empty because everything had been boxed, and the one in Saint Léonard where I was playing decorator’s apprentice. Needless to say, I was eating on the go: salads, bread, pre-cooked dishes…
Since the beginning of the week, I have been working for “Vins étonnants”. I worked in the storehouse on the first day, and I have been working at home the following days thanks to the magic of the internet. I was therefore able to start appreciating using my new kitchen. One of the largest I have ever had (215 square feet with a good 16 yards of work surface, without including the table).
I started simply (no need to rush myself) with a recipe I had not tried since my boarding school days, about 30 years ago: sliced potatoes but not fully, with thin slices of onion into the slits – and many more at the bottom of the pan. I cooked it in the oven for 45 minutes at 390F before adding confit of pork and cooking the whole for a further 15 minutes at the same temperature.
I was able to enjoy this dish in the dining room (above) with a wine that my boss had asked me to taste (damn hard job…): the Cuvée Byzance 2010 from Domaine Arcadie in Roussillon: the nose already sends you on a journey with notes of fresh fig, strawberry and oriental spices. On the palate, the wine is ample, delicate, with a silky and ethereal texture; the most impressive aspect, though, was the tonicity, the tension that brings the wine to a delicious and jubilatory finish. Note that it was much more expansive in the evening, after six hours in a half-empty bottle, even if it was already very good at lunchtime. At 10 Euros the bottle, it is a steal…
More about my “hellish life” soon…
