We were sitting around an open fire in a tastefully modernised 200 year old farmhouse near the village of Pexioria, about 10 miles from Carcassonne, in the south western Aude region. Domaine St Raymond, as the farmhouse is called, has a light and airy, but intimate Art Deco atmosphere … and I love Art Deco.We were drinking sweet, fizzy Muscat, and hearing the tale of how Dom Perignon is alleged to have visited the area, taken away the recipe for Muscat, and refined it to produce … champagne.

During the evening, Chef Robert Abraham introduced himself, and explained briefly about the cooking weekend he would be conducting. Now, it might be asked what I was doing on a cookery weekend; my signature dish is spaghetti bolognese, and my cooking has been described as sacré bleu rather than cordon bleu.

This weekend saw the launch of the French House Party’s ‘Cuisine in Brief’ weekend, and I’d been invited to report on it. But, I wasn’t going to sit around making notes, taking photographs and looking all writerly. I’d be expected to muck in.

French House Party offer a number of programmes on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from sketching and painting through creative writing to movie making, And, of course, cookery, in the form of its ‘Gastro Academy’. There’s the 6-day ‘Gourmet Explorer’, the 7-day ‘Cook au Vin’ and the introductory 3-day ‘Cuisine in Brief’.None of these, of course, will teach you all about French cooking, but they do give an excellent overview of the tastes to be experienced, and how it’s put together.

The main focus was on the kitchen. It’s really well equipped, having been only recently finished, with the happy knack of being practical and tasteful at the same time. The Chef presided over it, ably assisted by sous-chef Debbie Hargreaves and her wine expert husband, Carl.

Our first section wasn’t in the kitchen, though. We accompanied Chef Robert to the charming mediaeval market town of Revel, where he selected the ingredients we would be working with. Now, for a long time, I thought the idea of the chef doing his marketing personally was a figment of the imagination of the producers of TV food programmes, but this is the second time in two years that I’ve been to the market with a chef. So, I’d imagine this may indeed be the practice in some places.

There were three cookery sessions, at which three meals were produced, each one tastier than its predecessor. Duck breasts with apples; scallops with braised parsnips and monkfish with a tartine of fried aubergines topped with mussels. And, those were just the main courses! Delicate madeleines, crème brulée,(who’d have thought he’d use a blowtorch on it?) tapioca with coconut milk and pineapple … and to think I used not to like tapioca. One taste followed another, and there were more tastes to come, as Carl managed to find just the right wine to complement each course.

We took a hand at preparing all of these, and we noted, as the weekend passed, we were taking on more and more complicated tasks … and our French was improving, as was Chef Robert’s English.

If you are a proficient cook already, you’ll enjoy these programmes. Even if you have only a smattering of cooking skills, there’s room for you, too. And, everyone will enjoy the atmosphere. We went in November and, as they say in the housing trade … if you like it in Winter, you’ll love it in Summer.

You can find out more about French House Party at

http://www.frenchhouseparty.co.uk/ офис обзавежданеThere are regular flights from UK to Carcassonne in Summer; to Toulouse all the year round. They’ll provide a free transfer to and from either of these airports. However, the fee does not cover your air fare to these places.

I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t rain in the mountainous Haut Savoie region of France. It does. In winter, it snows a lot, too. But, the snow is greeted with joy, for much of the local economy depends on those who come to the area for the winter sports.

There’s another advantage to all that snow and rain, too. On it depend the lush, high-level pastures we’ve come to associate with the Alps. Cows graze here, and from them, we get the rich, creamy milk from which the cheese of the region is made.

The best-known local cheese is Reblochon. It’s been made in the Thones valley since the 13th Century, and use of this name is strictly controlled. It must be produced within the area, and made from milk from only three breeds of cows.

Indeed, most food products of the region carry the AOC cachet (‘Appelation d’Origine Contrôlée’), to qualify for which a product must be produced in a particular region, and restricted in the ingredients and methods used to make it. Unfortunately, it often also means that the item is often hard to find outside the region.

‘Reblochon’ means ‘second milking’ from the product of which the cheese was originally made. I heard a story which said that farmers used to be taxed according to the milk yield of the herd. But, to avoid paying tax on unsold milk, they only partially milked the cows, taking just what they estimated they could sell. Then, they turned the cows back out to pasture, to milk them again when the Inspector had gone. This milk had a sweeter taste than the first, ‘official’ milking

But, they couldn’t sell the milk they obtained by this method, so they made cheese instead.

Nowadays, there are two kinds of Reblochon. Some farmers take their milk to a co-operative, where the cheese is made; this is marked with an edible red disc in the coating of the cheese. But, if the farmer makes the cheese himself, it gets the green disc; it’s called ‘Reblouchon Fermier’, and is made from the milk of a single herd, and is held to be superior.

If you walk in the hills, or drive around the valleys, you will see signs offering cheese for sale outside almost every farm-house. Or, you can go to the market. We went to the one in Annecy, where several stall-holders just sold cheese. And, they take it seriously. The question they’ll often ask is when are you going to eat it? How long do you want to keep it for? The cheese takes 3-4 weeks to ripen, and they’ll select the cheese they consider best for your purpose.

Keeping the cheese in a refrigerator is frowned upon; if you must do this, they say, it should be taken out, and made to stand at room temperature for at least 24 hours.

The cheeses are disc-shaped, about 14 cm. in diameter, and with a saffron-coloured rind. The cheese itself is soft, creamy and ivory coloured.

Reblochon isn’t the only cheese made in the region. Tomme, from a Savoyard dialect word meaning ‘cheese from the mountain pastures’ is made in pretty well the same way as Reblochon, but is cooked at a higher temperature and kept for longer, giving a harder cheese.

We did a lot of walking in those mountain pastures, and, one day, our lunch-packs contained a crusty baguette stuffed with tomatoes, Reblochon and Tomme … a taste which made the description ‘cheese sandwich’ sound so inadequate.

Another way of sampling Reblochon is in a local dish called Tartiflette. Local people say it’s a necessity in any sampling of the regional food, and take great delight in introducing visitors to it. It’s simply a casserole of sliced potatoes and finely-cubed pork, with the cheese melted into and over it.

We had it served as a starter, without the pork … we christened it ‘vegetarian tartliflette’

And, after dinner on our last night, the cheese-board contained Reblochon and Tome des Bauges (note, in this case, it’s only spelt with one M) which is made only with milk from the Bauges massif. These were served with walnuts and dried apricots and I think this, with a glass of the local red wine, is the perfect ending to any meal. Especially a festive one.

How to Get there: The nearest airport is Geneva, across the border in Switzerland; approx. 1 hour’s drive form St. Jean de Sixt, where we stayed. Nearest main rail station is at Annecy, about half an hour away. There’s a bus service from Annecy approximately every two hours; fare is about 7 euros.

There is no public transport form Geneva airport, except in winter, when a ski-bus operates.

Where to Stay: We stayed at the Aravis Lodge Hotel in St Jean de Sixt, where there’s an excellent kitchen presided over by chef John Crompton. Details at www.karibuni.co.uk. If you’re staying there, they’ll arrange a free transfer from Annecy or Geneva for you. If you just want to learn about the food, visit John’s sites at www.cookinginfrance.biz or www.cromptonskitchen.com.

“L’Auberge” basically means a French country inn. Or, more often, the type of food served at a country restaurant. L’Auberge du Champs de Mars, snuggled into a block-long back street only a five-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, provides an excellent chance to try some of this classic French food without leaving Paris.

The €19 “prix fixe” menu of an appetizer, entrée and dessert offers the quintessence of French country cooking as an excellent bargain for the low-budget traveler. However, as with most restaurants, drinks can drive the bill up a bit. A very nice champagne cocktail aperitif, a light house red wine with the meal and an after dinner cognac, plus a glass of the recommended Montbazillac wine for the goose foie gras I’d chosen for my appetizer, pushed the total bill to €45.30.

I was lucky. When I started ski-ing, the UK’s Colin Murison Small had just invented the chalet party concept. In each resort, he’d take over one or more complete chalets, each providing about ten two-bed rooms, a communal area, a dining area and a kitchen. He then hired two girls with Cordon Bleu cooking certificates to look after the chalet and its occupants. It wasn’t expensive food, but it was good - and for one day each week we’d take the girls with us to a restaurant in town to give them a break.
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The Cévennes are located in south-central France. Whilst in an administrative sense they do not constitute a region, to all intents and purposes they possess a singular identity. Thus the ‘La Cevenne’ reference in the works of its most famed writer, Jean-Pierre Chabrol. (see Quand la Cevenne se soulevait/When the Cevennes rose up).

Few locations offer the beauty or variety of the Cévennes, ranging from granite tors to deeply incised river valleys and some of Europe’s most dramatic limestone gorges and caves. (more…)

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