An invitation from neighborhood to Raclette night
We have the legs living in France for about 4 years, and we have established ourselves very well within our town community. Our closest neighbors, Didier and Maryvette, were the first to give us a very hot welcome as soon as we moved, and we felt blessed to have them so close. They are a very sociable couple who have lived in the town most of their marriage life, so they absolutely know everyone and the organization of meetings at home on a drink or a meal.
Last Saturday night, they invited us to eat. This is something they do, either for Apéro (drinks and bites: a real institution in France), Sunday lunch or dinner on the weekend. We are always happy to accept since thesis equations are fun, and an excellent way to mix with other villagers. There is a great community spirit in our people and, although most people still call us “les Anglais” (they know I am from Bordeaux but we are still “les Anglais”!), We feel that we have complete bone.
Maryvette is an excellent host. She did not release or panic (how does it?), Makes her guests feel extremely welcome while they take care of the preparation, chatting and serving, finally, but not least, her food is always delicious and abundant.
A large winter dish to share
The weather has been an incredible cold recently and, while walking towards the house of Didier and Maryvette, we were anxious for a warm and comforting meal. What can I say? We were certainly not disappointed. As usual, a great crowd had invited Bone (about the guests to the boxes), and our hosts had planned to serve a French winter classic, the coexistence food par excellence: the raclette.
In a nutshell, a raclette, a simple and shared meal: boiled potatoes cooked in its skin, along large large dishes of cold meats and cheese. The Meat Can Be Anything from Jambon Sec (Bayonne, Parma, Or Serrano Ham), To Rosette (A Curced Saucisson From The Lyon Region), And Coppa (A Form of Salami from Corsica), and The Cheese is usually the traditional raclette cheese, as well as morbier, rebloo Saint Agur): Any Cheese that melts asily is suitable.
When we sat down for our food, 2 large electric raclette racks had one leg on the table, each with a hot plow and antiferent spatulas (cupelas) that are used to melt the cheese. The melted cheese is simply poured on the potatoes, accompanied by meats, et voilà!
It is not necessary to say that Maryvette also had large bowls of fresh salad for a good measure, as well as beautiful vegetables such as peppers, mushrooms and onions, in addition to a tasty leek fondue. Delicious crispy Gherkins added a lovely spike of food. We were not hungry … or thirst!
Wine is Didier’s domain. He likes to think of himself as a connoisseur and enjoy marrying dishes with their respective wines. He had chosen several dry white wines (white wine is very good with a raclette meal): we enjoyed Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, as well as a wonderful Pinot Noir for those who preferred red wine.
Raclette should be enough. But no, there must be Pudín!
He will never be invited to a meal in France without the Buddine served at the end. However, as Raclette is a very rich dish, and due to the true French fashion, Maryvette is such a fabulous host, the Buddine had to be perfect: satisfactory while reasonably light. They invited us to choose a beautiful winter fruits salad, climbing pears and mark pommes aux … or the 3 for those who still had their stomach for it!
The French certainly know how to live! We had a fantastic night: many jokes (in French, obviously … Well for Martin’s linguistic skills!), Fun, gossip, food and drink, followed by a crispy walking stimulant of return home under a clear and starry sky. I would change this life for anything in the world.
Editor’s note
The photos that were chosen to illustrate this publication were tasks on a different day. Martin and I have a Dinky Raclette Grill and regularly enjoy a small party party for 2 on a much narrower scale. Our neighbors already think that British are quite strange sometimes. We did not want to demonstrate them in which they took photos of our dishes and the food that turned the reglette of the evening!
