It's Fondue-arama! Friday night -venison fondue with Rick & Liz and last night - cheese fondue with the Teste Family. They have driven all the way from Lyon just to meet the Kiwi celebrities, Mike & Leanne and introduce them to the delights of the Cheese Fondue!!
Put aside memories of that last cholesterol test...you are about to enter the "Danger Zone!" The traditional Savoyarde cheese fondue is a 200g/ per person mixture of melted Comte savoyarde, emmental & beaufort cheeses combined with 100ml of dry white wine per person. Hubert has a "close relationship" with Christine from our local Haute Savoie fromagerie! She knows just how Hubert likes his cheese combination!! If my description is sounding a little risque...it is intended. The French have a sensuous and emotional attachment to their food. It is important to know all the vital statistics, source, melting temperature, fat content and the taste subtleties between varieties. I'm sure that the French would ask for the names of the cows who donated the milk if they could!! The thought of picking up some pre-packaged supermarket cheese is unthinkable!!
We had to procure "Hubert's special cheese mixture" from Christine on our way home from skiing yesterday. We hid the bag under our coats and locked the car doors ....this stuff was obviously like gold!"
2/ Not our best photo - missing Leanne and Graeme, but they were there!!
Hubert's fondue recipe is a little modified from the traditional recipe. He found that he ended up with very sleepy children with so much white wine! So now he uses beer instead. The procedure is relatively simple. First the fondue pot (a caquelon) is rubbed with garlic. Hubert reluctantly has to be gentle with the garlic. According to him, Marie is one of only two women in the whole of France who does not like garlic. (The other woman is her mother!!). Next comes the cheese and the beer. Nothing complicated there, but woe betide if you don't keep stirring and burn the cheese. Along with murder, this is a capital offence in the Haute Savoie. Mike was motivated to keep stirring!
The mixture is then served on a warmer and eaten with bread squares skewered on long forks and dipped into the cheese. Accompaniments can include pepper, mustard and a light salad. But beware: there are penalties for losing the bread off your fork and into the cheese. In the Teste household, if you lose your bread you have to sing. This rule was quickly changed after I launched into what I thought was a spectacularly tuneful version of "Once a Jolly Swagman". Very disappointing! I was less enthusiastic about the new rule - a lap around the house outside in your underwear!!
If the fondue mixture has been kept at the right temperature there will be a thin crust of toasted (not burnt) cheese left at the bottom of the caquelon. This is called "la religieuse". It more or less means - "the nun". Why? I have no idea?? La religieuse has the texture of a thin cracker and can be lifted out and eaten. Alternatively, an egg can be cracked into the bottom for cheesey scrambled eggs or sugar and more alcohol added for a caramalised treat. We had the caramalised version. Fortunately, Marie sensibily provided a delicious orange segment dessert to help with the "internal deglazing".
French Observation
I continue to wonder why the Haute Savoie or indeed the whole of France is not knee deep in people turning purple and clutching their chests! In addition to cholesterol loaded meals like fondue & raclette, the French consume copious quantities of butter, dairy products and pork. Why doesn't France lead the world in heart disease? Apparantly someone else has also given this some thought. See Wikipedia - The French Paradox
I like the "red wine" explanation myself. Consuming red wine is thought to cancel the cheese effect! Well thank goodness for that!!! Bottoms Up!!!
Teaching Marie to Telemark
Still digesting our fondue from last night, Graeme and I headed out on the slopes again this morning. We had promised to introduce Marie to the "Misery Sticks" ie. the delights of telemark skiing. Despite the glorious warm sunny weather, we were abandoned by the Bartons who wanted (read: needed) to have a break from skiing.
As we've come to expect from the multi-talented Teste family, Marie picked up telemark skiing very quickly. After one run on the beginners slope she was off down a Red piste. Click here to see today's footage and the marvellous example set by Marie's instructor! Way to go Andy!!
During the day we kept asking Marie if her legs were tired. She kept assuring us that her legs were fine! Hmmm...Graeme and I suspected that she was not trying hard enough!! We had to retire hurt at lunch time - our legs were killing us! Marie continued to ski on into the afternoon! We'll have her out on the moguls next time!!
We returned home for lunch with the Bartons and a relaxing walk around our village in the sunshine.
Another French Observation
Now I'm not saying that the French are short. We have only a small sample group here in the mountains from which to judge. But so far, I have yet to meet any tall Frenchies! The few tall men that I have seen on the slopes have had British or German accents. I will continue my search for "de grande taille" Frenchman!
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