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Transhumance in the Vallée d’Aspe

The transhumance is the practice of moving livestock to high mountain pastures as the weather warms in early summer.  As I learned when I visited the Fromagerie Écologique Agour Irati, this ancient practice has economic and culinary roots. Moving the flock to communal mountain pastures in the summer allows the farmer to use his land […]

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The transhumance is the practice of moving livestock to high mountain pastures as the weather warms in early summer.  As I learned when I visited the Fromagerie Écologique Agour Irati, this ancient practice has economic and culinary roots. Moving the flock to communal mountain pastures in the summer allows the farmer to use his land

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Just another Friday night in Orthez

Chez Cabaillou is a restaurant and bar just around the corner from our little house in Orthez, family run since 1935. At lunch, it bustles with locals enjoying their well prepared daily 3-course lunch menu – an crazy bargain at 16 euros. In the evening, the bar becomes a sort of working man’s hangout, where

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Slide 1

Chez Cabaillou is a restaurant and bar just around the corner from our little house in Orthez, family run since 1935. At lunch, it bustles with locals enjoying their well prepared daily 3-course lunch menu – an crazy bargain at 16 euros. In the evening, the bar becomes a sort of working man’s hangout, where

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Farm Chicken

One of the difficulties of translating French recipes for the American kitchen is that many of the ingredients are just not the same in France as in America. This difference in ingredients can often mean that getting good results using a French recipe can require a lot of modifications in measurements, timing and techniques. Take,

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Slide 1

One of the difficulties of translating French recipes for the American kitchen is that many of the ingredients are just not the same in France as in America. This difference in ingredients can often mean that getting good results using a French recipe can require a lot of modifications in measurements, timing and techniques. Take,

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Preserved and pickled lemons

So it all started with a tajine that I saw at the local vide-grenier (vide grenier =”clear out the attic” = garage sale) to support the Calendretta, the local bi-lingual school, which teaches in French and Occitain.  A brand new Emile-Henry tagine, still in its original box, never been used!  Although my experience with cooking

Preserved and pickled lemons Read More »

Slide 1

So it all started with a tajine that I saw at the local vide-grenier (vide grenier =”clear out the attic” = garage sale) to support the Calendretta, the local bi-lingual school, which teaches in French and Occitain.  A brand new Emile-Henry tagine, still in its original box, never been used!  Although my experience with cooking

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Farm butter

Purchased this Tuesday at the farmer’s market in Orthez:  organic butter from the farm Leit de Brunas.  In Béarnais, the name means “milk from the Brunes”, which is fitting for this family-run farm located south of Pau that raises the Brunes des Alps breed of dairy cows.  In addition to butter, their tiny stand in

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Slide 1

Purchased this Tuesday at the farmer’s market in Orthez:  organic butter from the farm Leit de Brunas.  In Béarnais, the name means “milk from the Brunes”, which is fitting for this family-run farm located south of Pau that raises the Brunes des Alps breed of dairy cows.  In addition to butter, their tiny stand in

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Oysters fine de claire d’Oléron

Fat, briny oysters from Oléron, purchased direct from the producer at the Orthez Saturday market, made a quick and easy evening meal. These beauties are what they call “fines de claire” meaning that that they spent their last few weeks (before I popped them open and squeezed lemon on them) in a “claire”, a sort

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Slide 1

Fat, briny oysters from Oléron, purchased direct from the producer at the Orthez Saturday market, made a quick and easy evening meal. These beauties are what they call “fines de claire” meaning that that they spent their last few weeks (before I popped them open and squeezed lemon on them) in a “claire”, a sort

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Heading for a new adventure!

It has now been over 3 months since I stopped being the owner of Le Pichet, more that 8 months since we sold Café Presse.  I have to admit, as much as I loved opening and operating these two restaurants, as much as I enjoyed collaborating with the the great teams we had in the

Heading for a new adventure! Read More »

Slide 1

It has now been over 3 months since I stopped being the owner of Le Pichet, more that 8 months since we sold Café Presse.  I have to admit, as much as I loved opening and operating these two restaurants, as much as I enjoyed collaborating with the the great teams we had in the

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Sorry for the interruption!

If you have tried to access this blog in the last week or so, you probably got an error message instead. We are in the middle of making technical changes to the way this blog is hosted, which may result in it going off-line in the coming days as we complete this process. But never

Sorry for the interruption! Read More »

Slide 1

If you have tried to access this blog in the last week or so, you probably got an error message instead. We are in the middle of making technical changes to the way this blog is hosted, which may result in it going off-line in the coming days as we complete this process. But never

Leave a Comment

Axoa d’Espelette

Special this weekend at Café Presse: Axoa d’Espelette!Basque-style stew of ground beef and veal simmered with onions, sweet peppers, garlic, tomato and piment d’Espelette, served with pommes frites. Mmmmm!

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Slide 1

Special this weekend at Café Presse: Axoa d’Espelette!Basque-style stew of ground beef and veal simmered with onions, sweet peppers, garlic, tomato and piment d’Espelette, served with pommes frites. Mmmmm!

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