Thursday, September 29, 2011

Summer 2010 part trois

Finally, we treated the whole of the Belle-famille to lunch at la Maison de la Lozere.  One thing you may not know about Jube is that he was born and grew up in Lozere, one of the least-populated departements in France.  The cuisine of Lozere is not necessarily considered the most refined food in France.  Generally it is seen as hearty peasant's fair, with the most famous dish being l'aligot, mashed potatoes mixed with tomme, a special kind of cheese.  Through some kind of Lozerian magic, the potatoes and the tomme mix together to become one seul et unique creation.  Jube tells me of his memories eating aligot, watching the gruff farmers make it by mixing and mixing with a big wooden spoon, lifting the aligot out of the dish to reveal a long string.  It really does look like someone pulling a spoon out of a dish of fondue.  It is wonderful.

La Maison de la Lozere basically serves haute cuisine, but they also bring you aligot on the side.  Jube and the Belle-famille always complain that gourmet restaurants give you a tiny dish of something - but they all like la Maison de la Lozere because if you don't fill up on your entree, you can always get more aligot!  Here are some pictures of our wonderful meal:

This was one of the first courses - I think an amuse-bouche - made with fish.

Unfortunately I didn't take any other pictures of our meal until dessert:



And, one of my favorite things about those expensive restaurants - they always give you a surprise dessert with your cafe:

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