Awakening the Senses
The French love nothing better than to come together for an evening of good food and entertainment. Sometimes the evening is organized around a holiday (Valentine’s Day), an association (e.g. rugby or hunters), the visit of a well-known musician, the culture and cuisine of a particular nation (Spain, Morocco), or a product such as truffles or wine.
Occasionally these events are organized around a fanciful theme and that was the case of last evening’s “Awakening the Senses” in neighboring Cazes-Mondenard. The evening had music (hearing), a sculpture exhibit and contest (seeing, touching) and a gourmet meal (smelling and tasting) featuring ginger in various guises: a ginger cocktail, pumpkin soup with ginger, gingered pork and cabbage, cheese with ginger syrup, and a ginger treacle tart.
To make a successful evening, you need not only a willing crowd of diners (not a problem in France) but also a team to work behind the scene. In the kitchen, our leader was Clare Brigstocke (aka the Culinary Coach) who with her partner Michael planned the ambitious menu and prepared most of the food in advance.
She then assembled a crew of neophyte “sous-chefs” to do some last-minute chopping, plating, and garnishing.
After a little schmoozing with the crowd and viewing of the sculptures....
...we were ready to roll in the kitchen.
The hardest part of the evening was getting the hot courses out to the 80 diners while they were still hot....
but thanks to Clare and Michael’s expertise and the energetic wait staff, everything was served in a timely manner to an appreciative crowd. Whatever happened the rest of the evening, I’m certain the ginger-infused menu successfully awakened some senses and opened some eyes (and palates).
Orr d’oeuvres
Sunday, February 22, 2009
