I said that the rain would bring the mushrooms out. Cars are parked down by the woods very early in the morning. Last year there was even some fighting among restaurant owners in the woods, everyone has their own “patch”.
Thanks to Michel in Venice for this one.

– Chop up some cèpe mushrooms (funghi porcini).
– Make a stock with some white wine, garlic, and the stalks of the mushrooms.
– Fry some round rice and the mushrooms in some olive oil
– Add the stock and plenty of salt and cook until the rice is tender.

– Garnish with chopped parsley and parmesan.

Don’t use measuring cups or weighing machines when you are cooking. Just use your inspiration and intuition. In any case, as most genuine chefs will tell you, it is very boring cooking the same recipe over and over again. Good recipes are there to be improved, altered and adapted depending upon the Chef’s mood, the time of year, the weather, the company, in fact a myriad of circumstances.

Meanwhile here’s a great Sunday lunch recipe:
– Grind up cumin seeds, coriander, peppercorns, salt, cardomom pods, cinnamon and chillies in a grinder (or pestle and mortar).
– roll pork in spice mixture to cover on all sides
– place joint in a dish with two apples and some potatoes (all peeled and chopped into large chunks)
– pour over some white wine stock and place in a hot oven for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 150 degrees (Celsius) for 90 minutes or more (depending on size of roast).

Rain has come, good news for the garden and the mushrooms.The weather man says its the tail end of some hurricane that hit the Americas last week.

The chilli harvest approaches. This photo features the long mild local variety, the fat juicy hot Espelettes from the nearby Basque country and the little round sweet Hungarian paprikas that we use for goulasch.

We also grow Cayenne and West Indian varieties, including the famous “12 curry chillies”, so called because they are so spicy you just need to stir the curry with a chilli in order to make it dynamite hot, then keep it in the refigerator for the next curry, and the next one….

This always reminds me of the very dry Martini, pour gin into glass, show the vermouth bottle to the glass… was this Noel Coward or Hemingway..or someone else?

Anyway last night I simply fried, in some olive oil, two sliced red peppers (from the garden), a sliced red onion (from the garden) and two crushed Espelette chillies (from the garden). Fry mixture until the onions start to caramelise and serve as a garnish for anything (any kind of bland fish is quite good with this).

More on chillies in future posts.

Southern France is wonderful at this time of year, a kind of midway between autumn and summer. The heatwave of July and August has passed but the days are warm. The colours of the trees and plants are at their best, the parched dryness of the summer forgotten.

My kitchen is a pleasure to work in and the produce in abundance. We have our first mushrooms of the season thanks to a little rain at the weekend, and the fig tree is full of ripe fruit. We still have some tomatoes in the garden and we are approaching the day when we will need to harvest our chilli peppers (but that will be the topic of a future post).

Meanwhile my wonderful bread oven has been working hard.

– place several souris (not mice, the souris is the little juicy bit around the bone at the bottom of a leg of lamb) in an earthenware dish (that can stand high heat)
– place a dozen whole garlic cloves (unpeeled) in the dish, add some juniper berries, a chopped onion, some rosemary and lots of salt and pepper
– pour beer (any kind) all over the lamb and fill to at least halfway up the dish, a little more as most of the liquid evaporates in the oven.
– place in a very hot wood stove (or normal oven heated to 250 degrees) for one hour, turning the meat halfway through cooking.
– squeeze out a clove of stewed garlic from its “shirt” and spread on fresh country bread, dunk in the beer sauce and eat with a piece of the melt-in-the-mouth lamb.

The magick is more present than ever, it’s just that sometimes I would like some peace and I don’t necessarily need to know what my ancestors want. Most of the time I can’t understand them anyway.

The worst is when I stop drinking wine and I go to the big city, whether it be Paris, London, Milan or LA. I am solicited at every street corner, in the bus or airport, and, worst of all, I can sometimes see everything with an overwhelming desire to help, to resolve a situation or complete an unfinished task….and so often my offer of help and understanding falls on deaf ears.

We are taught how to deny our ancestors and refuse their help, that is maybe why so many of them are angry.

Meanwhile a japanaese day:
– cut fresh salmon into chunks
– mix crushed garlic, light soy sauce, 1cm crushed ginger, rice wine, lime juice, sesame oil and sugar
– pour over salmon and marinate for a while
– fry drained salmon chunks in a little oil until sealed (high heat)
– add marinade and a little water, reduce to a thick sauce
– serve with rice

Back to a curry tiffin, I do promise that some day in the future I will post some non-oriental recipes here.

It’s like being haunted, the call of the Orient is ever present and sometimes so strong, even though it crosses many generations. The chinaman still comes from time to time, he sits fishing in the pond opposite our house (they filled it in in 1823): he waves to me and sometimes talks in bad broken old English.

– lamb curry with almonds
– vegetable biryani (rice)
– spicy chicken and courgettes in coconut milk
– chicken tikka
– dhal
– home made cumin chapatis, cucumber raita and a selection of chutney (top right: mint/coriander, onion/tomato, banana, mango and fig).

Chemical farming methods are destroying natures inherent equilibrium but, through the wisdom of some of the world’s most prominent wine-makers, a powerful movement to return to more natural farming methods is growing.

These sometimes ancient methods of agriculture have implications for the survival of the entire planet.

Taste it and judge for yourself. The same applies to vegetables and fruit grown with these methods.

This must be the agriculture of the future.

Biodynamics are more effective than organic or natural methods of agriculture because they work with the health of the soil, which in turn gives greater health to the plant, which, when eaten by animals or humans (who also eat those animals), gives them greater health.

Biodynamic agriculture can also heal sick soils and so offers a real solution to the problems incurred from chemical agriculture.

Thanks to Geoffrey FINCH for this input, obviously there will be plenty more on this topic in future posts.

<--This could be a photo from another era. And this is the first in a series of Venice shop windows-->

The secret of good pasta is to put the pasta in the sauce as opposed to pouring the sauce over the pasta. A wok is very good for this.

– cook pasta according to instructions, al dente of course
– fry an onion and some finely chopped peppers (red or yellow are best) in some olive oil
– add some chopped tomotoes and cook to reduce into a sauce
– add strained pasta to the pan and some chopped mozzarella cheese (buffalo)
– heat through and garnish with fresh basil

We’re on our way to Venice now, we will see what culinary delights Italy brings.

Hopefully the next few entries will tell of vaporetto n°13 and bio-dynamic wine growing: vast subject, close to my heart.

Marco Polo apparently brought noodles back from the Orient which is the connection to the recipe today.

– boil chinese noodles for a few minutes, strain and rinse with cold water
– boil some carrots, brocolli and beans for a few minutes, crisp not cooked through
– fry chopped onion, garlic, fresh ginger and pieces of pork fillet in a hot wok, sprinkle and seal with a little flour
– add cooked vegetables, soy sauce, sherry and sugar
– cover and simmer for a few minutes until meat and vegetables cooked through
– add cooked noodles and mix all the ingredients thoroughly until very hot

Denis once told me about his travels in the Orient.

Our education has taught us how to deny and forget the very basic harmony we should cherish with our planet and brethren.

The food can be so good, so simple yet divinely delicious like sometime sex, the moment is savoured then gone forever, never to be relived, except as a memory or a dream.

Meanwhile Oriental Beef Salad, recipe below:

– coat a tender piece of beef with freshly ground pepper
– seal and sear the beef all sides on a very hot griddle or plancha
– leave it to cool in the freezer for 2 hours (helps for slicing after)
– slice into very thin slices like carpaccio
– pour on a marinade of crushed garlic, light soy sauce, thai fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and a little sesame oil
– leave in the refrigerator for a few hours
– decorate with thinly sliced cucumber and sprinkle with freshly chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves, green onion and hot chillies

The hurricanes are coming through again

No progress for some time although the overall story is coming together.

Meanwhile Chicken Thai Green curry and grilled asparagus, recipe below:

– fry onions, courgettes and chicken pieces
– add Thai green curry paste
– add coconut milk
– simmer for a few minutes until thick and cooked through

– heat griddle (plancha) very hot
– cook green asparagus with a little olive oil
– sprinkle with rock salt, parmesan and garnish with grilled peppers

After the storm that destroyed the beach and many houses, the electric company re-erected a telegraph pole right in the middle of the path. We couldn’t get up to the land in the truck anymore.

Domenica looks over us always, for some reason she recalls the sadness of her arranged marriage and how she fell in love with her uncle who saved her and brought her to the West Indies. This is where her life began.

Meanwhile simple stir fried vegetables, recipe below:

– heat wok very hot with a little oil
– chop vegetable into small bite size chunks
– stir fry vegetables starting with onion and the vegetables needing the longest cooking time (beans, corn, broccoli)
– add chopped garlic and ginger
– when cooked but still crisp, add soy sauce, sugar and a little chilli pepper