Detours. A French expat’s insider's guide to exclusive food, chocolate and travel experiences in Sydney, Australia.

Travel: our traditional harvest lunch in the heart of Champagne, France

Fact #37: life tastes better with Champagne. Scientifically proven.

Recently, I got plenty of opportunity to validate these important scientific findings. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Jean and I got married about a month ago in Epernay, in the heart of the Champagne region in France. I know, a dream come true, still squealing with excitement inside!

Anyway, we hadn't planned it that way, but it turned out our wedding day was actually the very first day of the 'vendanges' or harvest that year, so the whole region was buzzing. 

Every year in September, weather permitting, the grapes are picked by hand, crushed, and stored, beginning a process that changes depending on each Champagne house, and whether they're creating Brut non vintage, or other varieties like rosé, vintages, or prestige vintages.

Thousands of seasonal workers flock to Champagne from all over Europe for the 'vendanges', which last for about 3 weeks. Some of them stay in tents, others in caravans, motels or boarding houses. They work pretty hard during the day, starting early in the morning. And one of the 'traditions' of vendanges is that each Champagne house has to provide daily lunch to all the seasonal workers who work for them.

And that traditional 'vendanges' lunch, my friends, is quite a sight, let me tell you. Think long communal tables with all the workers and 'vignerons', a glass of red, homemade pates, slow-cooking regional dishes, baguettes and cheese aplenty, and yummy tarts. Oh, and Champagne aperitif of course.

Established in 1822, Bauget-Jouette is a fantastic family-owned Champagne house based in Epernay. They're still using a traditional press and have some of the best vineyards in the region - hence a most excellent champagne.

On the Monday just after our wedding, Jean and I were lucky enough to be invited to share the 'vendanges' lunch at Champagne Bauget-Jouette, owned and managed by friends of Jean's parents.

And Oh-my-God, the lunch was delicious - and just the perfect way to unwind after the wedding!! The sun was shining high that day too, we couldn't have asked for more...

 

Chocolate MasterClass at Belle Fleur in Rozelle, Sydney (Sat 30 Oct)

Belle Fleur is one of my favourite chocolate artisans in Sydney. Chocolate maker and owner Jan ter Heerdt is a third generation chocolate maker from Belgium. He and his wife Lynne established Belle Fleur Fine Chocolates in 1984 in Rozelle (with a 2nd store now open in Petersham). 

Belle Fleur chocolate maker Jan ter Heerdt

You see, I used to work literally next door for 18 months. So several times a week, I would pop in to drool over their stunning window installations and buy a chocolate or two to go with my macchiato - which means I've probably tasted most of their flavours by now. The chocolates are made daily and there are more than 50 different chocolates on display in the shop at any one time.

Although I'm not a bit fan of all Belgian-style chocolates, some of my favourites at Belle Fleur include "Saffron" (white chocolate ganache infused with saffron threads), "Chilli" (dark chocolate ganache with a hint of fresh chilli) and "Lamington" (chocolate ganache with fresh coconut cream, sprinkled with coconut - triple yummy).

Wasabi ganache - a bit too experimental for me, but that's OK, I like trying new things. 

However, what I like best at Belle Fleur is their superb selection of single-origin chocolates, with high-quality chocolate bars from Costa Rica, Peru, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Venezuela, Uganda and the Dominican Republic.

As some of you might now by now, I'm really passionate about the world of single origin chocolates, so Belle Fleur's a real treat for me! Head chocolatier Jan ter Heerdt even makes single origin Peruvian and Venezuelan truffles (as seen on MasterChef Australia) - which is quite unique... 

Belle Fleur are hosting a series of half-day MasterClasses as part of the Sydney International Food Festival. The next class is on Saturday 30 Oct from 9am-12am. Jan will demonstrate a number of chocolate skills such as tempering, moulding, piping, dipping with plenty of hands-on experiences. These will include making truffles to take home ($200 per person, bookings and enquiries here).

Belle Fleur Fine Chocolates: 

658 Darling St, Rozelle NSW 2039, and 584 Parramatta Rd, Petersham NSW 2049.

www.bellefleur.com.au; store locations here.

Chuao: the world's best chocolate (and a David vs Goliath drama)

I don't know about you guys, but I'm a sucker for good family dramas. On the silver screen I mean - in real life it's not as much fun (my husband, for instance, tends to get offended when I reach for the popcorn box while we're in the middle of a fight...)

Anyway, give me a story of love, revenge, family feud, treason and brothers and sisters arguing over leadership and family inheritance - and I'm in heaven. 

So when I read about the story of "Chuao", the world's best chocolate, and found it to be a cross between "The Godfather" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" - it got my full attention. When I realised it involved Italian vs French protagonists, I knew we'd be in for a bloodbath.

Chuao chocolate bars from Kakawa

You see, even though our two countries are very close (my mother's family are Italian, just to give you an example), we've had our share of 'irreconcilable differences'. Notre-Dame de Paris vs St Peter's Basilica. Eiffel Tower vs Tower of Pisa. Chanel vs Prada. Catherine Deneuve vs Sophia Loren. Baguette vs focaccia. Perrier vs San Pellegrino. France vs Italy at the 2006 Football World Cup. And now Valrhona vs Amedei chocolate.

Amedei, founded in 1990 some 40 miles outside of Florence in Tuscany, is the joint project of a 43-year-old Italian named Alessio Tessieri and his younger sister, Cecilia; he buys the cacao and she turns it into dark, glossy bars. Last, a competition in London awarded a gold prize to one of Cecilia's handiworks, a single-plantation chocolate called Chuao. Two other Amedei products tied for silver.

Both the cult French pâtissier Pierre Hermé and the visionary Spanish chef Ferran Adrià have said that Chuao might, in fact, be the world's greatest chocolate. It's very aromatic, with a clarity and elegance more often found in wine and some single malts. And yet Amedei is sold in only a handful of stores around the world - let alone in Australia.

My Top-10: why I love Manly, Australia

Wow, time really does fly... I've now been living in Australia for four years - and still very much in love with Sydney. It's funny because people ask me all the time 'Oh my God, how come you're living in Sydney when you could be living in Paris??!'

The thing is, Paris is amazing of course - and I'll always remain a Parisienne at heart - but believe me, there's quite a difference between visiting Paris when you're on holidays (completely carefree and with lots of time on your hands to walk around, go to markets, and enjoy everything the city has to offer), and working there full time in a crazy-hours industry such as PR or advertising.

Enjoy the view (talking about the sea, of course...)

This is why Jean and I decided to come over to Australia. I guess we needed a bit of a break from all that 'métro-boulot-dodo' frenzy, as we say in French (for 'train-work-sleep')...

And I have to say, so far it's been for the best. It's like, instead of being this all too familiar husband, Paris became this exciting French lover I come back to once a year or so, with only the fun bits to share and no time to get blasé.

And so without further ado, here's what I like most about my 'new husband' - aka Manly Beach in Sydney's Northern Beaches. We moved here after two years living in Elizabeth Bay (which we really enjoyed as well), but Manly is a very special place and every day I feel really blessed that we're living in this area. So if you're coming to Manly for a day - or just a couple of hours - here's my Top-10 list of what to do:

#1: Go for a walk - or a run - on the main beach.

Frolick in the waves. Enjoy the salty sea breeze. Check out the (hot) volley-ball players. Go for a swim - or a surf (I couldn't surf for the life of me, must suffer from some sort of childhood trauma in big waves). Make a sandcastle with your kids. Show off your new bikini. Take your iPod and go for an energising run, in true Rocky Balboa style.

Jean surfing - Manly Beach - Freshwater Beach

If you're up for a little exercise, you can walk all the way to Freshwater Beach next door (go left if you're facing the sea). Fab views and you can reward yourself with a delicious coffee and gourmet sandwich at Pilu's little kiosk, voted by food critic Terry Durack as one of the Top-50 experiences every Sydney food lover should try.

Edible art

Wow, just came across the really beautiful "They Draw and Cook" blog. Every day, Nate and Salli share gorgeous recipe renderings by artists and illustrators from around the globe. You might want to save this blog in your favourites for a daily dose of beautiful food!

And the good news is they're making a cookbook with their Top-100 recipes - sounds like a cute gift idea to me...

Here are some of my favourite illustrations and recipes from the blog - what do you think?

Irena Inumaru - London, England

Meta Wraber - Ljubljana, Slovenia

Alya Mark - Madrid, Spain

Tatiana Dorokhina - Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

Gaëtan Heuzé - Paris, France

Laura Mayes - Ann Arbor, US

James Orndorf - Skull Valley, US


Kristen Almeida - Fort Worth, US

A spoonful of colour

I just came across that shot from the UK ELLE Decoration magazine, promoting a new line of paint. Simple idea, but how gorgeous is it?! Love the colours... I can really see it framed in my kitchen!

UK Elle Decoration, via Old Faithful Blog and Shelf Life blog

Move over Louis Vuitton, here come the TT Trunks from Paris

Dear new husband Santa,

I've just found the perfect travel accessory - and Christmas-gift idea for 'moi'. Considering I've been really nice this year, could you please be so kind as to arrange the delivery of a TT Trunk under the Christmas tree for me this year?

I know it's a bit early to start thinking of Christmas, but because the TT Trunk is 'a bit' pricey, around the $16,000 mark, I thought I should give you an early notice, so you have enough time to transfer funds from your savings account.

Besides, each trunk is cut, dyed and sandpapered by hand, resulting in over 250 hours of work to produce one single trunk, so you might want to place my order early.

So I had a really good look at the TT Trunks catalogue, and although the Champagne trunk and Shoe trunk sounded divine, I think I'll go for the over-the-top Pool & Spa trunk.

The Champagne trunk comes with its own completely silent, 60-litre fridge and can hold 20 bottles and 18 flutes.

You see, the Pool & Spa trunk is an invitation to "farniente". Its large drawers are perfect to store all these must-have items in summer, such as sunscreen, towels, hat, shoes, books, books, magazines, water, champagne, and there's even a dock for iPods and iPhones. It's going to be so useful for our honeymoon. 

Besides, dear hubby Santa, you do realise we live in Manly, Australia, right? As in Manly beach. So you'll agree with me that the Pool & Spa TT Trunk is almost a first necessity product for us? In fact, I find it a bit hard to understand how come we don't have a TT Trunk yet - that's a bit sloppy, honey Santa... What do you mean, it will take you three years of salary to pay for it?? Errr, I don't know if you've heard but the GFC is 'kind of' over. Nuff said.

Anyway, here's the gist of what TT Trunks is all about - hopefully that will convince you. And who knows, you might even be tempted by the Dandy or Cigar trunks yourself? I'm sure if you talk to them and say you're interested in buying two trunks, they might give you a good deal, you know.

TT Trunks is a young and innovative luxury goods company specializing in the creation of high standard furniture trunks. It was founded less than a year ago by Damien Finot and Julien Trossat, two Paris-based entrepreneurs and friends - and former Louis Vuitton project managers.

 The Dandy Trunk

 

The world's best lemon chocolates by Kakawa, Sydney

I have to confess... In spite of a commitment to myself to stay away from sweets after a month in France dieting on baguette and cheese, I can't stay away from these lemon chocolates from Kakawa, one of my favourite chocolate artisans in Sydney. I'm totally smitten with them!

They're made with milk chocolate ganache and fresh lemons from the orchard of David's [the co-owner] parents, in the Hunter Valley. And believe me, they're one of the most divine things I got to eat in a long time! As they melt in your mouth, you just feel transported in a leafy garden somewhere in Tuscany, drinking fresh lemonade...

You see, that's one of the reasons why I love what I'm doing so much... I feel so lucky. Every time I take clients on a new chocolate tour with Mytinerary (and the Sydney International Food Festival has been keeping me busy this month), I get to taste something new, discover new flavours, new single origin chocolate bars, new chocolate bonbons. I get to travel with my tastebuds and I'm loving it!

To visit Kakawa and stock up on these little lemon babies:

147 William St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 (near corner Bourke St). 

www.kakawachocolates.com.au.

DIY 'Miami Rice' pudding

When Jean and I came back home a couple of months ago, we spent a fair bit of time in Bayonne in the Basque Country, in the southwest of France, near the Spanish border. That's where his family's from, and because Bayonne is home to so many world-class chocolate artisans, I always love going back there and stocking up on gourmet goodies.

One of my favourite pastry shops there is Lionel Raux (7 rue Bernardoux, 64100 Bayonne, www.patisserieraux.fr). Their cakes are to die for, they have a very chic macaron & chocolate bar upstairs, and they make over 30 different sorts of chocolate bars - you got the picture. But what really caught my eye was their really gorgeous range of "DIY" rice puddings, or "riz au lait" as we say in French.

 Riz au lait (pronounced "ree-oh-leh") is the epitomy of the French grandmotherly dessert : simple, homely, comforting, sweet and creamy. It's one of my favourite desserts and immediately conjures up images of childhood bliss and summer holidays at my grandparents'.

About 10 different rice pudding pre-mixes are available at Lionel Raux, featuring all sorts of spices and ingredients. All have funny names as well, I always love a good sense of humour when comes to food and pastry. The one I've tried at home was "Miami Rice", with candied orange, cinnamon and sugar cane. Just divine!!

If you feel like making "riz au lait" at home, here's a recipe I really like from Cannelle & Vanille.

So tell me dear reader, what are the childhood recipes you're most nostalgic about?

The divine Cannelés Bordelais

Have you ever tried a “Cannelé Bordelais”? It’s one of my all-time favourite French cakes, and each time I travel back home to Paris I always make sure to visit Eric Kayser’s bakery in the 5th arrondissement to indulge in a couple of divine cannelés. 

Cannelés or canelés - pronounced [ka-nuh-leh] – are a humble regional speciality from Bordeaux, in the southwest of France. They're an absolute must-try if you're visiting that part of France, with its world-famous vineyards. They date back from the 18th century and were invented by the nuns of the local convent of Annonciades, who would bake them for the city’s homeless kids. 

Cannelés are made from a vamped-up crepe batter cooked in tiny copper molds, baked at a high temperature until a really nice caramelized shell develops, hiding and protecting a rich custardy interior. The crunchy burnt sugar shell makes an exquisite complement to the smooth sweet filling fragrant with vanilla and rum (back then, Bordeaux was the important port for French trade with the Caribbean, hence the invention of a cake stuffed with rum, sugar, and vanilla).

The traditional cannelé is made in copper molds, but nowadays homebakers use silicon molds instead - not exactly the same results, but good enough.

Image courtesy of FXCuisine.com

Cannelés cost about 2 euros per unit and are available from the famous Baillardran pastry in Bordeaux (they also have outlets in train stations and airports in Paris and the Basque Country). Most good Parisian pastry shops also bake cannelés these days, including the brilliant Eric Kayser. 

If you want to try your hand at baking cannelés yourself, here’s a great recipe in English from the fabulous Chocolate & Zucchini food blog.