All posts filed under: Burgundy&Rhone

pumpkin tortellini

Pumpkin Leek Tortellini with Duck Ragu

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Finally comes the duck story… And I’m afraid yet delighted that you’ll hear more duck stories this winter. How come? Well, I’m spreading the duck spirits around me and so many people are eager to eat more of the delicacy. Leading up to the last day of my sejour at the winery, I was thinking hard everyday about the duck: how and when to cook it.  Sensing the accumulated anticipation of almost two months, I decided to get the task over and done with. Originally, it was destined for Duck a l’Orange, but I incorporated a Chinese Peking Duck method by adding more herbs and oriental spices such as star anise and cinnamon, and also by drying out the skin for crispiness. The warm aromas had the effect of stimulating a holiday mood as well. After resting in the fridge overnight, rubbed with salt and spices, it was ready for the oven the next morning. Despite some unexpected events, I managed to cook it for as long as 2.5 hours. The tough parts, the wings …

Burgundy Revisited

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The sights of Burdundy didn’t disappoint me as the vineyards were sporting the best of the best autumn colours. Though it was a week earlier to all the events lined up in Burgundy including Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction and Beaujolais Nouveau. I can’t always be lucky with dates, can I? Sometimes we just have to go with the flow and this tour was set out for the eyes to indulge rather than for the palates, and especially not for my interest, but for that of Cyrille, who would never have bothered to visit Burgundy if I hadn’t made the plan for him. The towns in Burgundy seem to have a mystical and mysterious ambience. We drove around and between the vineyards, getting lost at one point on the hill somewhere, thanks to the old GPS, but got a good view looking down the slope. This town, Gevrey-Charmbertin, is always wet whenever I’m there; it doesn’t seem to like me as much as I do him. I love its masculine and meaty personality, as I’m …

Burgundy Wine Tour – Part 2 – Meursault, Montrachet

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Continuing on the road after the Cote de Nuits and Beaune (Part 1), as we were passing through Meursault, we stopped by in Domaine Delagrange just to check out their interesting cave. The owners were busy drinking and talking with clients but still tried to be as hospitable as possible by asking us to see the barrel room and pouring some wines for tasting; imagine how chaotic it would be in June to August! Because of my preference for rich and powerful red wine, the reds in Burgundy tickled my appetite but the whites were good, which compensated for the desire for reds. So I decided to drink nothing but whites till the Rhone. While driving along Rue de Grands Crus, we saw some life happening in this rather quiet town so we checked it out. It was a medieval festival where people were dressed in medieval costumes and making and selling crafts and home-made food. We bought some of the aged mouldy goat cheese and the bread that was baked at the site, which we …

Gevry Chambertin

Burgundy Wine Tour- Part 1 – Côte d’Or – Gevrey Chambertin, Pommard, Beaune

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This time last month I was driving from Bordeaux to Dijon to start the one week long tour of Burgundy and Rhone regions. So many memories flick through in my head and I don’t know if I can deliver my experiences and feelings at that time exactly as they were after a lapse of one month. Let’s see…. When we started out on the road, the sky looked grim and it got worse and worse we were getting closer to Dijon. It was very late when we arrived in the starting point of our journey so we turned toward the most touristic part of Burgungy, Beaune, for the night. It was a very charming town with rich architectural interests from the Flemish-Burguandian time in the Middle Ages, such as colourful tiled roofs. I am at the heart of the Côte d’Or!!! It took some time to relocate my head from Bordeaux to Burgundy. Though in the same country, they were so different; physical features of the people, mannerism, ambience, smell, sound, food, and everything else. The …