Combier Distillery

Next stop...the Combier Distillery. Founded by Jean Batiste in 1834, Combier takes credit for creating and manufactuing the finest Triple Sec, hence their motto "La Beaute Du Zeste!" Along with Triple Sec, Combier was also one of the primary manufacturers of Absinthe! Unfortunately, Absinthe production was banned from 1915-1988...but it's back baby! There is actually a picture of me below holding the wormwood grain that produces authentic Absinthe.

The actual distillery equipment room was originally designed by Gustave Eiffel...you know, that guy who created the tower.

The front gates of the distillery looked like the outside of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I half expected some drunken oompa loompa's to be in the back room chugging Pastis and Cognac all morning.

Why do I know so much about the Combier Distillery? It may be because I didn't have a change of clothes out of my chef whites, so I was walking around the tour in my kitchen gear...we believe the tour guide thought I was a fancy-schmancy American chef galavanting around the french countryside.

One of my favorite moments of the day was realizing that I didn't have my wallet on me...which ultimately led to Pamela, our designated non-drinker, having to pony up and spot me so I could buy a bottle of Absinthe. Thanks again Pam, I will think of you with every glass of that sweet nectar!

Musee Du Champignon

Next stop, the Mushroom Museum

(insert drug reference here...)

Tell me this kid isn't trippin' his face off!

Le Musee du Champignon is a fully operational production site tucked away deep inside a dark, moldy cave.

There were a couple of things that kept running through my head making me laugh to myself as we were wandering through the production site.

1. I see a family with a two kids who are obviously not as excited to be wandering the mushroom caves as we were and I kept thinking about my dad quoting Clark Griswald in National Lampoon's Vacation, "Hey kids, everyone in the car...that is unless you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth.
2. Then I saw a sign on the wall that talked about how mushrooms are formed and I started thinking about JB quoting Dr. Egon Spengler from Ghostbusters, "In my spare time I like to collect spores, mold, and fungus"
3. Finally, as I we reached an area of the site that had active mushrooms growing from bricks of manure hanging from the ceiling, I kept thinking about George Costanza from Seinfeld trying to justify why it's ok that he stepped in horse shit, "Horse manure's not that bad. I don't even mind the word "manure." You know, it's "newer" which is good and a "ma" in front of it, MA-NURE. When you consider the other choices, “manure” is actually pretty refreshing."

Cuisine traditionnelle et gastronomique

Our lesson and subsequent lunch was as follows:

Foie gras de canard poele, mangues et emulsionde patates douces aux 4

epices

(sauteed duck liver foie with a mango emulsion and a sweet potato foam with cinnamon, clove, ginger, and garlic)

Filet d'agneau en croute de pommes de terre, Meli-melo de primeurs et confiture de tomates cerises au balsamique

(lamb fillet with a potato crust, seasonal mixed vegetables over a cherry tomato jam and

a touch of balsamic)

Ananas roti, Creme brulee au lait de coco, Sirop d'epices douces et Sorbet exotique

(coconut creme brulee covered in a cider vinegar, vanilla, star-anis, and cinnamon syrup over a pineapple round along side a passion fruit/banana/raspberry

sorbet)

L'Oree Des Bois

Our first stop of the day brought us to L'Oree des Bois, the home of wonder-chef, Eric Bichon. I love the translation of the restaurant...it means "edge of the woods"

Chef Eric had an unfortunate kitchen fire a little while ago...but he took a crappy situation and turned it around by replacing all his old kitchen equipment with the most insane set of cooking toys around! His new playground includes a paco-jet (sick!), a cryovac machine, and two combi ovens (I can't even begin to explain this thing...it's kind of like Chef Eric is playing an XBOX 360 in 1988 while all his friends are playing the original Nintendo).

After meeting Chef Eric and his apprentice, Matthew, we were immediately prepping for our 5 hr lesson. The next post will get into the actual dishes, but I need to take a moment to give props to Chef Eric for his unbelievable garnishing skills. As you'll see in the picture above, he flawlessly knocked out champignon tournes each one more symmetrical than the next. For those unfamiliar with the delicate touch required for a proper tourne, it's a bitch...here was my effort:

Sleeping quarters

My room was the bomb, yo!

I was kickin it 19th century style in a gorgeous bedroom with a queen-sized bed and lots of antique"y" French furniture and paintings.

Le Petit Dejeuner

Le Moulin Bregeon's le petit dejeuner c'est magnifique!

Every morning we were greeted with fresh crossiants, pain au chocolat, fresh local fruit, blueberry & apricot jam that Bernard prepared, strong coffee, and my new favorite yogurt called la lilette with a lil fresh granola on-top...delish!

Wake-Up Call

You wanna know why those geese and I have such a beef??? Maybe it's because they felt it was their obligation to wake me up at 6AM with their incessant quacking!

I tried to quiet them by opening my window and giving them a death stare...then I told them to shut up (stupid me, I forgot that they're french geese, so they probably didn't even understand me.)

Oh, you silly geese...you're messing with the wrong dude...keep it up and you'll be foie gras!