It’s been a while since Ballymaloe, but a busy while. D, L & little H came to stay which was the opportunity to serve my exam menu to guests rather than examiners—and also to serve the wines I’d proposed. Apart from not having the time pressure there was another big advantage: sous chefs. Especially D who seems to delight in roasting and peeling peppers!
There were a couple of additions, however—an aperitif and a cheese course.
You’ll note from the second picture that we’re eating indoors, the heatwave having temporarily given way to a torrential downpour!
As L is vegetarian, there was also a Ballymaloe dish of roasted aubergine with ricotta but, guess what, I forgot to take a picture of that!
As mentioned, L is vegetarian but is happy to eat mussels (as they don’t have a central nervous system), which was good as it gave me an excuse to try a recipe (mussels, fennel & cannelini beans) from Rory’s “The Joy of Food”, the book I chose from a list offered by Darina, Rory and Rachel. Finding dried cannelini beans isn’t easy, though, so I substituted dried flageolets rather than canned cannelini. Probably not a good idea as I didn’t soak them overnight and they took rather longer to cook than in the recipe. Still, something worth trying again and maybe I’ll remember to take a picture.
No pictures, either, of our meals at CVG or Côté Sud, but both were good.
J and I head off to Galicia later today for the upcoming eclipse. There’ll be stops in Bayonne, Oviedo, Betanzos, Lugo and Pau. Perhaps I’ll manage to create a visual record of some of the meals along the way. (Felicity fans may remember that she visits Bayonne and Pau in One More Croissant for the Road… Both places also rate two stars in the Michelin Green Guide, though!)
Food in Provence (and elsewhere) 
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