When Clement Chauvin has new chefs come into his kitchen at Les Bistronomes he has one piece of advice for them.
"When you think you've put in enough butter, double it," he says. "That's pretty much the secret to French cooking."
Ahead of Bastille Day on July 14, he was happy to share some recipes and tips for how to get a little taste of France at home in your kitchen.
"I could give you the classic tips, cook with love, use fresh ingredients, but if there's one thing people are afraid of when it comes to French cooking it's butter.
"But butter makes everything taste better.
"People sometimes ask me what's the difference between normal mash and Paris mash, well Paris mash is one-third potato and the rest is cream and butter."
We did baulk at his escargot recipe which uses a little more than 250g of butter, but he says that's the secret.
"People can be put off by the idea of eating snails but if you think of them as little dumplings to soak up all the butter, garlic and parsley, it's the perfect dish.
He'll be hosting a Bastille Day dinner at the Campbell restaurant. Starting with some amuse-bouche of pork rillettes, goat's cheese boursin and duck liver parfait. Sauteed snails are next, with mushrooms and a parsley sponge (and butter); followed by a coq au vin, prosciutto-wrapped chicken in a red wine sauce; with a poire Belle-Helene to finish, a vanilla poached pear with chocolate sauce and truffle ice cream.
It's $110pp, plus $90 for champagne on arrival and matching wines. Book at lesbistronomes.net
Recipes
Escargot
Ingredients
- 48 snails (note)
- 1 eschallot, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 bunch of chopped parsley
- 25g butter
- vegetable oil
- salt and pepper
Method
1. Take snails from the tin and wash under cold water for five minutes.
2. Put your butter and a bit of vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat. Let butter foam
3. Add snails, cook for one minute, then add eschalot, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for two minutes then finish with chopped parsley. Set aside to cool down.
Snail butter
- 250g butter
- 1/2 bunch of parsley
- 3 garlic cloves
- salt and pepper
1. Blanch parsley and cool down with ice water.
2. In a blender or food processor, blend the parsley with garlic and salt and pepper.
3. Beat butter in a mixer with the paddle attachment until it is smooth.
4. Add parsley puree, season to taste, and transfer into a piping bag
To finish the dish:
Put each snail in a snail dish or in the snail shell (available at The Essential Ingredient), cover with a dollop of parsley butter, and bake at 180C for six minutes until the butter starts to foam and fry.
Notes: You could use a muffin tray with six snails per mould if you do not have a snail dish. The Essential Ingredient sells tins of snails, the largest contains 96 snails.
Serves 4.
Creme brulee
Ingredients
- 500ml cream
- 500ml milk
- 200g egg yolks (roughly 10 yolks)
- 200g sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
Method
1. Bring milk, cream and vanilla to boil (85C).
2. Whisk egg and sugar. Pour milk mixture (still at 85C) onto egg mixture. Whisk well, let cool down in the fridge.
3. Transfer into moulds. Cook for 40 minutes in a bain-marie covered with foil on top, in a 180C oven, until the egg is all set, then chill in the fridge.
4. Serve, with brown sugar on top. Use a blowtorch to melt the sugar and give the creme brulee its caramelised crust.
5. For a real "brulee" feel, pour a bit of cognac or Cointreau, five minutes later and using a blowtorch or a match, light up your creme brulee.
Serves 4-6.
Wine time
Christophe and Nicole Rebut are the go to people for all things French when it comes to the world of wine. The couple own French Flair la Boutique, a tiny corner of France in Manuka's Palmerston Lane.
Christophe was born on a vineyard in Beaujolais and sells his family's wine alongside many other French wines. He also supplies restaurants such as Les Bistronomes, Ondine, Raku, The Boat House and Rebel Rebel.
He has some suggestions for your Bastille Day menu
"To drink alongside the garlicky buttery escargots I recommend a 2020 Denis Jeandeau Pouilly Fuissé Vieilles Vignes, a chardonnay from the south of Burgundy, a classic match," he says.
"Or a Cru of Savoie, showing plenty of ripe fruits with bees wax, citrus and spice. In the palate, the wine is opulent but balanced and refreshing."
For red wine drinkers, a 2021 Charles Frey Alsace pinot noir Harmonie would work well.
"It's a beautiful pinot noir showing plenty of little berries and spice with a light, bright and long palate," he says.
The creme brulee deserves something such as a 2019 Clos Bagatelle Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervois.
"From a stunning limestone plateau, it is a muscat that keeps beautiful balance and freshness with typical muscat flavours and hints of mint," he says.
"Or a 2020 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis sur Loire Moelleux, a late-harvest chenin blanc with slight botrytis, a dessert wine with not much sugar but heaps of flavour."
All these wines can be found at French Flair, where there'll be a special Bastille Day tasting with Christophe opening some special bottles until 6pm.
There's also a fun "Ze Tour de France" wine tasting on July 18 where he'll feature wines from different stages of the tour. $50pp, from 6pm.
Or if rugby is your thing there's a Rugby World Cup Wine Dinner at Ondine European Brasseries on August 9. This fun evening will include a menu from participating nations with wines to match. Plenty of rugby banter, food, wine, and prizes for lucky winners. $175pp.
Bookings via frenchflair.com.au
Christophe Gregoire's home kitchen
Keen to cook like a proper French person? We spoke to Le Tres Bon chef Christophe Gregoire about what's in his kitchen.
Originally from Vosges, in the Lorraine region of France, Christophe and his wife Josephine have called Bungendore home since 2007.
"Bungendore's winter reminds me of home, cold and frosty, with lots of comfort food," he says. "My kitchen at home is filled with the flavours and tastes of home, aromas which remind me of sitting in my grand-mere's kitchen."
He loves his home-made preserves, lots of jars stored away for quick meals and unexpected guests.
"Rhubarb confiture is so easy to make, peel the rhubarb and dice, use a large cooking pot, add a kilo of rhubarb, 800 grams of sugar, use a wooden spoon to mix the rhubarb and the sugar, until boiling point, then cook slowly for one-and-a-half hours," he says. Don't forget to skim the top every now and then.
"I made a delicious confiture with my neighbour's green tomatoes, perfect with cheese." Speaking of cheese, he says it's the most important thing in his kitchen!
"My favourite joke is we have a serious problem in France, there are more than 400 different cheeses, and only 365 days in a year."
Cheese is simply comforting and convivial, he says, so if friends call in unexpectedly, no worries, bring out the Roquefort, fromage de chèvre, Camembert and my favourite, the smelliest cheese in France, Munster, from his region.
"The now-fashionable charcuterie board was something I grew up with, the spirit of a shared platter is better described by the term 'a la bonne franquette' - which means an informal meal, not fussy, relaxed."
His kitchen is always ready with the ingredients to make a tart, shortcrust pastry, sweet or savoury. Simple ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, butter, one egg. Not complicated.
"Almond meal is a staple in my kitchen to make my favourite dessert, clafoutis, using the over-ripened fruit sitting in the fruit bowl on the kitchen table. Cherry clafoutis is the traditional one, but you can also use pears, apples, raspberries or rhubarb."
- Le Tres Bon will be hosting a truffle degustation dinner on July 29. Five courses for $190pp, $250pp for four matching wines and a French champagne on arrival. Bookings at letresbon.com.au
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