Villefranche-sur-mer fall 2021 - 6 Mac and Cheese à la Côte d'Azur

 Dear Friends,

Sundays are usually days with nothing on our schedules so we often go out to lunch somewhere.  We particularly like to walk to the marina in Beaulieu-sur-mer.  Over the years we have found that the restaurant that we prefer the most is La Maison de Beaulieu (here).  Last Sunday, we went there again.  

One of our favorite dishes at this restaurant is the "Mi-cuit de thon rouge, sauce Bon'gù", that is to say seared tuna.  Jane really prefers her tuna more like medium and has a hard time convincing chefs that she will not complain if it is a little dry.  In fact the last time we were at the restaurant the chef agreed to cook her tuna a little more and then apologized profusely about the slight dryness.  This year Jane was prepared and told the server that she wanted her tuna more well done.  They then went on to negotiate how well done her tuna would be.  They agreed to half way between mi-cuit (seared) and bien cuit (well done).  So here is how they came out.  Here is the dish done as it should be.

Here is the compromise dish.  You might also notice that Jane ordered the vegetables, and I ordered the salad.  The salad was fine, but the vegetables were great.

Jane's was perfect for her, mine was perfect for me, and the chef and server were happy.  Of course we had to have some wine.  Unfortunately for the rest of our day, I ordered and we drank a whole bottle.

As you can see, Jane was very pleased with the beautiful day and the wonderful meal (as was I).

I splurged and had some mousse au chocolat.  It was just as beautiful, smooth and rich (but not overly sweet) as it looks.

But now to get to the point of the whole blog  -  Mac and Cheese à la Côte d'Azure.  It is clear that if you are on the Côte d'Azure you can't just have Kraft Macaroni and Cheese or even Annie's.  You need something more special.  Well La Maison de Beaulieu has just the dish for you  -  "Linguine dans la meule de parmesan" to which you can add truffles for just another 8 euros.  It is made table side.  The word meule has several meanings in France.  This morning we bought a meule de pain - a round loaf of bread.  In this case it is referring to a whole wheel of parmesan cheese.  In this picture the server has just rolled out the cart with the meule de parmesan on it.  As you can see it is quite big and has been hollowed out a little over time.

The next step is to flambé some Jack Daniels.  

Once you have gotten the Jack Daniels flaming hot and the alcohol burnt off, you add the liquid to the meule de parmesan.

The hot Jack Daniels will melt the cheese, and you begin to scrape it off the inside edge of the meule.

Once you have scrapped most of the cheese that you want, you add the fresh homemade pasta.

You continue to stir the pasta and scrape more cheese off the sides until you have just the right amount.  At which time, you put the pasta and cheese mixture onto the serving plate and add the cream sauce (with truffles).

The final step is a few homemade croutons.  

Et Voilà!!

If you have a meule of parmesan, fresh homemade pasta, some wonderful cream sauce with truffles and a few homemade croutons, you can make Mac and Cheese à la Côte d'Azur faster than Kraft out of a box.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

PS The photos of the making of the linguini dans la meule de parmesan were taken by Jane.

Villefranche-sur-mer fall 2021 - 5 Les Trois Corniches

 Dear Friends,

There are three roads that are built into the mountainside that runs from Nice to Menton along the French Riviera.  In this area, the mountains drop precipitously into the sea.  The lowest corniche (Basse Corniche) runs very close to the sea in some places but in some places it moves back a ways from the sea and can be quite high.  The top one (Grande Corniche) runs along the top of the mountains.  The middle one (Moyenne Corniche) runs sort of in the middle of the other two.  They are all rather incredible engineering feats.  They are both dangerous and beautiful.  Hence they have been used in many movies and have had many accidents over time.  Think "To Catch a Thief", "Dirty Rotten Scoundrals" and several James Bond movies.  Probably the most famous accident was the one in which Princess Grace died in 1982.  You can learn more about Les Trois Corniches here.

We get to enjoy the view from the Basse Corniche often, mostly because it is closest to the sea.  However for the most part, we prefer to walk right by the sea because the Basse Corniche can be very crowded with the cars and trucks driving very fast.  If you are in a car, the driver needs to concentrate on driving and if you are walking, you need to pay attention to the cars.  The other day, we were sort of forced to walk along the Basse Corniche between Beaulieu and Villefranche in an area where we can and usually do walk along the beach.  

This panoramic view was taken from almost the highest point on the Basse Corniche (the lowest of the three corniche) between Beaulieu and Villefranche.

This picture was taken at a lower spot on the Basse Corniche.  I include it because it has a nice view of the apartment that we usually rent when we are in Villefranche.  It is circled in blue.  Keep in mind, our apartment is 6 full stories above sea level.

Here is a commercially taken photo that is probably taken from the Moyenne Corniche.  Our apartment is circled in this photo as well.  Notice how much higher it is without going any significant distance inland.  These hills are really steep.

Here is a map of the three corniche which I think gives you a perspective of how steep the hills are as they rise from the sea.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Villefranche-sur-mer fall 2021 - 5 A couple interesting things

Dear Friends,

Jane and I are still in Villefranche and having great adventures.  From time to time, we are surprised at things that we notice in every day life.  The other night we had dinner at our favorite restaurant.  It serves pizza as well as different specials every day.  It is not fancy, but the food is good and the servers and owner are great.  Since it is warm and the pandemic is ongoing, we ate outside on a covered patio that is also the street although there are no cars.  We noticed that directly over our heads was someone's laundry put out to dry.  We do this every time we do laundry, as does everybody else in the old town.  We, of course, should have noticed this before but had not.  

Once we noticed this phenomenon, we were more aware of how often it occurs.  A couple of nights later we went to a fancier restaurant and noticed the same thing although this time the laundry was not directly above us.

This restaurant has been in Villefranche for a long time, but we had never eaten there.  It has new owners and was recommended to us.  We went to have some fish and the mushrooms which are in season here.  Unfortunately, the fish selection for the day was very limited.  The restaurant features local food and wine. The catch of the Villefranche fishermen that day was small so we could not have the fish that we had anticipated. However, I did start with camembert with mushrooms.  It was quite rich but very good.

Notice the small amount of lettuce on the side.  Now look below to see how much lettuce can be put into a very small bowl,

For our main courses,  Jane had an entrecôte.  Please notice the inventive way that Jane uses some bread to hold her silverware so as not to soil the placemat.  Also notice how the bread was delivered in a paper bag.

I had duck breast done rare as it should be.  Please notice the wonderful haricots verts (green beans) wrapped in bacon.   

We needed to have a bottle of local wine since that is what the restaurant features.

And of course it would have been rude not to try their desserts.  I had a profiterole, and Jane had wonderful vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries.

I am afraid that I have strayed far from the laundry hanging over your table at a restaurant, but it was a great meal even though it was not what we expected.  

We took the train the other day for an adventure that I will write about soon.  We are used to seeing dogs everywhere as is a well known occurrence in France, but on the train we experienced something new.

Yes, you are correct that is a rabbit being served a meal of lettuce on the train.  In the car we were in, one side was a cushion running parallel to the train.  Normally it would have held 4 people, but a woman had set up house here with half the settee for her and half for her rabbit.  At least she put out a towel to hold the rabbit's food.  It was about 4:30 in the afternoon which is the time for the first wave of people returning home after work.  The train we were on was heading to Nice and was fairly empty until we stopped at Monaco when lots and lots of young people got on heading home after work.  The woman made no attempt to use up less space.  Even when a man asked if he could sit.  She said yes but made no attempt to move her rabbit.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal