The Pressure to Publish! And Carnard a la Can!!

Aaah...the pressure to keep my blog up to date! We had put aside some time today to see the Teste Family who are again in residence. Over our morning coffee, I learned that Marie & Hubert are diligently following my blog whenever they get homesick for Araches. Their usual routine is to check the internet for the Chamonix weather report, the Les Carroz snow cams and take a little peek at my blog. Of course they find my observations on the french way of life quite funny and so they were very disappointed this week when there was a hiatus in my daily publishing!!

Aaah the pressure to publish!

1/ Hmmm?? - Confit de Canard

2/ aka "Duck in a Can"

Tonight we tried "Confit de Carnard" ("Duck in a Can") for the first time. On special at Carrefours, I thought we'd give it a try. Nothing like picking up a can of something foreign to your tastebuds and being brave enough to have a taste! The can looked rather posh! A gold tin with fancy black label, so I have assumed that Confit de Canard is a bit of a French delicacy. I could also be wrong but it was certainly way more expensive than the pet food so it had to be half decent!??!

Despite his love for duck normally, Graeme was more than a little sceptical. Muttering something about "the only meat in cans is spam or PAL", he was extremely reluctant to participate in my gastronomic experiment this evening.

The duck is already cooked and all you need do is open the can, remove the 3 portions (breast & leg) from the fat and then reheat in the oven.

How do the french not die of heart disease??? Can someone please tell me? There was enough duck fat in this one can to clog the arteries of an entire football team. Gross!!!!!! Somehow I managed to fish out the pieces (would've have been much easier with tongs) and pat them dry with paper towelling. Then into the oven at 180C and reheat for 15 minutes.

3/ Off-the-scale fat levels!!

And the result....Surprising. The meat was tender and moist and Graeme claimed that it was delicious. He even went as far to say that he would like it again?! Tragically, he will be on his own. I am not a duck fan at the best of times and I suspect I will be adding "Duck in a Can" to my list of banned french substances lest my digestive system go into a complete meltdown. I can already feel the heartburn coming on as I am typing!!

"Voila - the end result"

French Observations

Important Tong Update

Well it's official. I had it confirmed by Marie today that real French people don't use tongs!! Incroyable!!

No reason! Just the classic french BOF in response to my in depth questioning. Looks like I am just going to have to get more skilled with the use of "le forche".

Other kitchen mysteries solved!

In the course of my discussion with Marie this afternoon, I also learned more about the "gaps in french ingredients". They don't have soft brown sugar or self raising flour! Our discussion about baking powder and baking soda was also a little confusing. Je ne comprende pas!! How on earth will I make my Sticky Date Pudding? I forgot to ask her about the Real Cream conspiracy but fortunately she is back next weekend....

Skiing with the Gang!

1/ Les Crew!!

A seriously full day of skiing today. I managed to get Graeme out of bed early, even after a late night finish to our dinner party last night!!

Despite not being able to procure any decent Indian food, I was able to throw something together. Curried pumpkin soup, stuffed chicken breast wrapped in proscuitto, and chocolate cake with raspberry coulis and creme fraiche. And lots of roasted vegies.

The French don't seem to eat vegetables and yet the local markets and supermarkets are full of very good produce. Graeme has suggested that "real French men" don't eat broccoli in public? Certainly in any of the restaurants we have been to so far, vegetables don't make an appearance. A plate of meat and potatoes is de rigueur! Our Kiwi friends would be horrified. But the French do appear to eat quite a bit of salad. Nothing fancy, just a bit of fresh lettuce smeared in mayonnaise. Why the french are not dropping like flies from heart disease remains a mystery!!

French Observations - Impossible Ingredients

So far the list of impossible ingredients to procure in France are: -

1. Porridge (well that's understandable isn't it?)


2. Vegemite (that's also understandable.)


3. Indian spices and ingredients.


4. Real cream. Can you believe it? With the huge range of cheese and dairy products you would think that just good ol' cream, as we know it, would be easy to find. Alas, there are 101 different types of sour cream (creme fraiche), yoghurt and fresh light cheeses like ricotta, but no pouring or double cream. Porquoi? Je'n sais pas?


5. Lamb. Well you can get Agneau but you will need to take out a bank loan! A small leg of lamb here is E$45 (= A$90 or NZ$110). Since we are paying with the pacific peso (NZ$), agneau is off the menu, I'm afraid. I have, however, had some luck in the Carrefours Hypermarket at Cluses. Cluses is an industrial town with a big muslim population and after searching high and low in the butchery section, I found some affordable & edible cuts of Halal lamb. So, as long as we're prepared to face Mecca while eating our lamb we can get our fix!!

We met up again with the gang again today sans Liz who had flown back to the UK to visit her mother early in the morning. The snow and weather was glorious and we are continuously finding new routes in our "backyard hill". Having Rick as a guide is also pretty helpful!

Graeme had done such a good job tuning my skis that I will be loathe to let anyone else near them. I positively zoomed down the slopes!! Skiing with a gang is always fun and we decided to stop for an omelette at a little mountain restaurant called L'Igloo. The food was was simply delicious and so far this L'Igloo is our favourite. While all independently owned, L'Igloo is a very popular name for a ski resort restaurant - we've seen Les Igloos at all the resorts in Chamonix and even Megeve and the Portes du Soleil.

As we skied home after a very full day, we were amazed at the number of jet-streams overhead. It's a reminder of just how busy Europe is. We get excited when the Queenstown flight flies overhead at Cardrona. Jets are flying over us here every second of the day!

Looking skyward we were also able to catch a parapenter coming down off the hill. With his skis still strapped on, he made a perfect landing on the beginner's slope in the town centre. Parapenter's are everywhere and it looks like terrific fun. But there's so many more hazards here. Buildings, roads, people, powerlines, lift lines, cable cars....etc. A badly judged landing for a parapent off Treble Cone, might mean giving a sheep or cow a nasty fright. A badly judged landing in the Alps has consequences that don't even bear thinking about!!

2/ The busy skies of Europe

3/ Le Parapenter!