Tag Archives: France

Parisian fireplace

A special day!

Once in a while my lifestyle/food/wine blog gets more egocentric and personal, and today is one of those days –it is my birthday!

This is what it looked like in the morning when I woke up:

The first thing I received in the morning was this beautiful bouquet my husband got me. It is on the fire place in the living room next to some Finnish design objects.

Then we paid a visit to Edouard Nahoum who sells excellent and elegant jewellery with friendly service…. and I got to visit his atelier!

Then, as I arrived at home a while ago, this box full of oysters from Cancale was waiting for me in front of our apartment’s door. Merci beaucoup dear Parisian friends!! What a lovely gesture!!

Indeed, une belle journée and it is not even finished yet. We are now heading to a restaurant but I have no idea which one. I have been trying to guess but my husband’s lips are sealed. I guess I will find out soon enough, and you dear followers will know some time next week, too. Until then, have a lovely evening and preferably with some champagne!

Maison Lorgeril from Languedoc-Roussillon

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Le salon des vins des Vignerons Indépendants (Wine Exhibition of Independent Winemakers) begun in Paris on Thursday. All wine lovers, don’t you just love this photo? Wines from eleven regions of France, and all you have to do is choose where to start!

Our time was quite limited, but oh so rewarding! We were particularly interested in producers coming from Languedoc-Roussillon because of our recent trip in the region. As you may know, Languedoc-Roussillon is the world’s largest wine-growing area, possessing very interesting geographical and climate conditions: it is between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, surrounded by the mountains, and its burning sun is cooled down by strong winds. The grapes often grow in the altitude.

We found Maison Lorgeril and had an informative, pleasant talk about their wine making. We learned that the owners, count and countess de Lorgeril live in Château de Pennautier, which has been owned by the same family since 1620. The castle is located near Carcassonne in Languedoc-Roussillon; the region between Rhône and Pyrénées in the southern part of France. The castle is considered the heart of their wine production, and its wines include AOC Cabardès, Vins de Pays d’Oc and Vins de Pays de la Cité de Carcassone. In addition, Maison Lorgeril has five other estates where grapes are grown, totaling in nine different AOC.After tasting two whites, three reds and a white dessert wine, we left the stand with a heavy bag full of wines we will serve at Christmas… nice! We love buying directly from producers, and especially from those ones who have the kindness to share their knowledge and wine-making stories!

Maison Lorgeril: http://www.lorgeril.com/ (the map was copied from this website)

Le salon des vins des Vignerons Indépendants: http://www.vigneron-independant.com/ (until Monday) and Wine tasting at Salon des Vins des Vignerons Indépendants

Wine Fair ticket to give away!

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It is the return of Le salon des vins des Vignerons Indépendants in Paris next weekend. The wine fair begins on Thursday morning and ends on Sunday evening. Independent winemakers from all over France gather together to present their products and the buyers happily stroll from one stand to another. A fantastic, joyful wine event not to be missed I say!!I will be going to the event most probably on Thursday evening, but I have an extra ticket to give away. As I have no idea how many of you would be interested in acquiring the ticket, I suggest the following:

Like Pearlspotting on Facebook and write on the wall what your favorite wine (French or foreign) is
Respond before the midnight on Monday (Paris time)
If I only one person responds, this person will naturally have the ticket
Should there be several interested ones, I will organize a raffle on internet
When the winner is identified, I will announce his/her name on Facebook and send the ticket to the winner (in France or abroad, does not matter!)

Sounds fair? I hope so!

PS The ticket is for two people and valid any day during the wine fair.

Mielcke & Hurtigkarl: Danish gourmet at its best

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A sunny, rather hot Saturday in August. It could have been like any other Scandinavian summer night when the sun never seems to set, except that it was not. It was special, because it was the wedding day of my brother.

The wedding dinner was organized at the Mielcke & Hurtigkarl restaurant, which is highly praised by critics from all over the world. For example, Condé Nast Traveller reckons this restaurant is one of the 25 reasons to visit Copenhagen. Others say Mielcke & Hurtigkarl has earned its place in the league of emerging creative and contemporary chefs of Denmark –a country whose food scene was until recently mainly known by Noma.

As I am sure you can imagine, living in Paris can make one obnoxious about food. I confess that at times I fall into that category and therefore I admit my expectations were very high regarding the dinner. And now, please listen to me. For your next weekend trip, book tickets to Copenhagen and reserve a table at Mielcke & Hurtigkarl. Yes, it is THAT outstanding, and the following photos will prove my statement.

Shrimp amuse-bouche:

Cucumber amuse-bouche:

The amuse-bouche were served with an excellent crémant from Bourgogne (France), which proved that a high-quality crémant can be as good as champagne (or even better!).

After the garden we moved inside and begun with the first starter: a terrine of hake, rolled in A.O. Nori seaweed and served with compressed cucumber, pea crumble, green vinaigrette, herb oil and pea sprouts, accompanied with Portuguese white Regueiro Alvarinho Minho from 2011.

For the second starter we had a smoked mackerel with small new potatoes braised with summer truffle, radish and herbs from the garden, and wild garlic sauce. As each dish had its own wine, we were now served an excellent French white Saint Veran Bourgogne from 2011.

For the main course we were spoiled by a braised veal breast rolled in fried onions
and ash, served with garlic-flavored celery fondant and red wine sauce of smoked marrow and cranberries. The accompanying red wine was Spanish Oliver Conti Catalunya from 1999.

Instead of a traditional wedding cake we had a very creative and delicious yogurt sponge cake with cocoa crumble, fresh berries and berry preserve, which was served with French sweet wine Chartreuse de Coutet Sauternes (2007).

I could not have imagined a more fantastic restaurant choice. Everything was simply perfect, beautiful and delicious. Just as the dream wedding dinner is supposed to be! If you have a chance, make a stop here the next time you are in Copenhagen:

Mielcke & Hurtigkarl:
Frederiksberg Runddel 1, 2000 Frederiksberg
Reservation: +45 3834 8436 or booking@mhcph.com
http://www.mhcph.com/

PS These wonderful photos were taken by the official wedding photographer Lina Ahnoff. Talking about talent! In addition she is a well-humored, kind woman who loves people and glimpses of life. Highly recommended! http://linaahnoff.com/

What to expect to eat in Roussillon?

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Earlier this month I was in the region called Languedoc-Roussillon and specifically in the southern part of it, Roussillon. This area of France is truly interesting food-wise: it is very Mediterranean but the mountains lurk in the horizon, it borders Spain and it is considered part of Catalonia. It has a strong culture of jambon, sausages, different types of seafood, snails, rabbit, cod, anchovies and tapas plates etc., and one should not forget the local wine and cheese making!

This blog post is about sharing my culinary experiences during the recent five-day trip in Roussillon, and to show you what to expect to see and taste both at restaurants and at markets. Enjoy!

Beautiful garlic! After all, it is the Mediterranean!

Cheese! (mixture of cow and sheep):

Roquefort-flavored sausage:

Sea urchins! Salvador Dali liked them… do you?

Catalan snails in tomato-jambon sauce:

Warm goat cheese salad:

Mussels with aïoli and grilled cuttlefish:

Mushroom with Balearic spicy sausage called soubressade on a toast:

Duck legs:

Beefsteak:

Razor shells (my all-time favorite!!):

“Small tapas assortment”:

My only regret is that we did not have a chance to taste the local oysters, but one always needs to keep a reason to return!

PS Why not to follow Pearlspotting also on Facebook?

Travel fever

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Since returning to Paris on Monday my “travel-advisory-services company” has received a bunch of inquiries from different people about traveling. Some examples:

my brother has already been to Zanzibar, but asked me about Lamu in Kenya
someone else wanted to know about driving to Oman from Dubai
a blogger friend from Sydney is coming to Paris and asked for bistro recommendations
my husband asked me to check out “what to do around Colmar” in Alsace (his work trip just got confirmed there and I may join him)
and then before I noticed, I got caught up in a discussion about means of travel to reach the Aral Sea! (I have actually been there! out of all the places, yes!)

All of these discussions brought up memories, so I went to see some old photos and found this photo I took in 2003 in Mombasa, Kenya. It is one of my favorite photos ever.

PS Have you checked Pearlspotting’s Facebook page? It has a bit more updates on what is happening in Paris!

Collioure: the pearl of the coastal Roussillon

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Collioure is one of those Mediterranean towns that every artist seems to have loved. Matisse, Picasso, Derain, Dufy, Chagall, Braque –you name it– have all immortalized this cute seaside town in the south of France. We spent one night in Collioure, and even if the weather has turned cooler and greyer, we could see and feel the charm of the old town and the historic harbor area.

I could only wonder how old these plane trees are! It looks like many artists have leaned on them… …imagine the storied they could tell us!

We also witnessed one brave man having a swim in the sea. But after all, who would not be tempted in such beautiful surroundings?

Collioure has a rich past. Throughout its history, the Spanish have had their fair share of Collioure occupation, and once upon a time Collioure was a summer residence of the King of Majorca! It has been part of France only since 1642.

There is an impressive fort built by Vauban, the military architect of Louis IV, which reminds us of the old battles and the strategic location of Collioure.

If you are traveling in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, make sure to stop here for a day or two. Even during winter season (like last weekend) the life goes on and the tapas scene is quite active. In addition, there are delicious anchovy shops and a dozen of art galleries. And there is the wine route that passes by Collioure –after all, Collioure has its own appellation (appellation d’origine contrôlée, AOC). No wonder all of those artists loved it here!