L’Art de Bien Manger

  • Madame Dubarry en Cocotte

    Madame Dubarry en Cocotte

    The other day I had a moment of inspiration when studying a restaurant menu (one of my favourite kinds of reads btw), the thing is called velouté Dubarry and is made of cauliflower. Do you know who Madame Dubarry was? I wonder what she’d say if she knew that someone named a cauliflower dish after… Read more

  • Wildgarlic season and a Hazelnut Cake

    Wildgarlic season and a Hazelnut Cake

    When we moved into the castle two years ago I soon discovered vivid green leaves poking out of the soil under the centenary magnolia tree, thinking at first it would evolve into a carpet of divinely fragrant lily of the valley when, a little after, it dawned on me that the little green leaves were… Read more

  • Crayfish and Pomelo Spring Salad

    Crayfish and Pomelo Spring Salad

    Despite a weatherwise rotten week with, you wouldn’t believe it, snow, the first signs of spring are undeniably here. I’ve spent much time outside in the park, getting everything ready, pruning and cutting down dead branches. Now it all looks strangely empty except for the daffs that I’ve planted last autumn. March, I admit, is… Read more

  • Winter at the Castle

    Winter at the Castle

    I’ve come to quite look forward to these quarterly, seasonal updates on what happens at the castle, naturally hoping you like reading them as much as I do like writing them. We only had a little snow this year but it was magical. Now with the castle closed for visits until spring, I cook for… Read more

  • The Chandeleur

    The Chandeleur

    I took a little time off instagram in the month of January, it was really nice but now I feel glad and happy to pick up on posting and checking in with my favourite fellows, I’ve really missed it! Incidentally, the day of my instagram return also was the French chandeleur, the day we celebrate… Read more

  • The January Cake and The New Year is a Nine

    The January Cake and The New Year is a Nine

    The New Year is a nine, now I’m not overly relying on it but numerology is an interesting playground. Accordingly it means a lot and everything and commonly is referred to completion and fulfilment. Now did you know that any number multiplied by nine which then is reduced to a one-digit number will give a… Read more