06 July 2014

Disappointing weather

The weather this weekend has been disappointing. I was disappointed to have to cancel our trip to Bourges on Friday, even though we had a good afternoon in Genillé and Loches. Yesterday, it threatened to rain all day, and we had a few showers. The threat was enough to make us curtail our activities.

Ah, summer in the Loire Valley! In England it's even worse, from what I can gather. Here, a chilly rain is falling as I type this. And I have to take the dog out for a walk in it.



Meanwhile, here are a couple of photos of our entrées (first courses) at the Agnès Sorel restaurant when we had lunch there on Friday. Nasturtiums were one of the meal's themes; they're in season and the flowers are edible. My starter course, above, was a steamed artichoke bottom filled with what is called a faisselle de chèvre frais — a sort of cultured goat's milk concoction that has the texture of yogurt — with a lot of fresh chives on top and some salad greens and pine nuts underneath. It was delicious...


Walt ordered tête de veau, a kind of head cheese (fromage de tête in French) made of veal instead of pork. It was served warm, so that the gelatine that is a feature of head cheese had melted. You either like that gelatinous texture or you don't, and Walt said it was very good. It was served with salad greens, chives, chopped walnuts, and a nasturtium (capucine in French) blossom.

7 comments:

  1. It was lovely in Yorkshire yesterday....
    for the Grand Depart...
    we sat in the PreHisto location spotting...
    and keeping an eye open for our Leeds 2CV friends...
    and watching the rain shower here through the door!
    'Twas but a shower....
    just enough to dampen the spirits of the pompiers...
    who were having a ladder exercise....
    by repairing slipped and broken tiles on the church roof.
    And then the sun came ought again!!

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  2. Wow, meal perfectly prepared and the flowers which are edible great idea. Definitely the best restaurant

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  3. Those nasturtium flowers are absolutelly fresh. I'll bet they have their own kitchen garden. Beautiful preparation - a feast for the eyes. And green asparagus! Not, I trust, from Peru. P.

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  4. Not in our little bit of England! Beautiful sunshine...

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  5. We had beautiful weather for the holiday this year. I hope it's on the way to you now! I doubt if I'd be brave enough to try the tete de beau, but if I did try it some day, I would want the presentation Walt had.

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  6. I can hardly imagine a better meal in your first choice of location. What lovely presentation. I do love that gelatinous texture, but have never had it served warm. What a lovely contrast in color and texture the nasturtiums are.

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