Tartiflette

Welcome to the fine folks of Virginia who saw my piece about ham in the Pilot, the largest daily newspaper in the Commonwealth. Thank you for reading. There are entries here about jambon persillé, wild boar, why French people will probably have cancer, or ping pong, among others.

Since all things porcine are on the brain today, let's talk cookery. On a recent cold, rainy winter day, I stared at the contents of the refrigerator and realized I had all the fixings for a classic rib-sticker lunch for my family of four. 

Feasting

I neglected to express my New Year's best wishes to everyone in my previous post.

My brain and body might be a little cloudy from the holidays. Look, I know what people are capable of eating around the holidays. I have seen heaping tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise stirred into dips and hoovered in minutes. Whole baked bries don't stand a chance against a crowd of holiday revelers. Entire hams, turkeys, and roasts get destroyed around an American holiday table.

Wine Tasting

At work, old school style

Near the end of 2015, it was, as is so often the case here, time to visit some winemakers and taste some wine. Though I know a lot of different winemakers and their products, when it comes time to discover new ones, I basically rely on the good ol' internets to help me through.

I don't know any winemakers based in Chassagne-Montrachet, a village famous for some of the world's finest white wines. At the entrance to the village, there is a sign eliminating any and all doubt about the quality of the town's Chardonnays. It reads, "Les meilleurs vins blancs du monde," or, modestly, "the best white wines in the world." I figured that if I was seeking a new discovery, I could do worse than here.