La Rochelle: Salon de la Gastronomie

It's that time of year again..No, not Christmas (not yet!) but La Rochelle's annual Salon de la Gastronomie. After discovering this greedy event last year with Cheri, I was eager to see what this year would have to offer. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see on arriving that the entry fee hadn't increased from last year: 3 euros is nothing for an afternoon of wine-tasting, cake-nibbling and general foodie merriment in a world where everything seems to be expensive. 

We started by doing the once round to try a bit of everything (well I wasn't going to say no to homemade butternut squash soup, pineau jelly or a glass of champagne!) I knew I'd have to make some hard decisions. What to buy out of the tens of delicious products? 

After a lot of deliberation, a bit more tasting and another glass of champagne, Cheri and I managed to whittle down the list to a manageable four items. 

Grape jam with safran 

This French-grown safran from the Gers region is used by Domi and Alex to make a selection of delicious jams, onion chutneys and honey. The delicate and raffined taste of the safran goes wonderfully with this grape jam and balances out nicely the acidity of the grapes. Thanks to Dominique for letting us try the whole range of products and for letting me take a photo of the stand! 

Bordeaux Caneles

Literally can't get enough of these delicious afternoon-tea treats since Cheri introduced me to them on one of visits to Bordeaux. Invitingly crunchy on the outside, soft and gummy on the inside, these beauties have a lovely vanilla taste, enhanced buy a generous dose of rum. Needless to say we ate all six in less than 5 minutes of getting back in the house!

Spiced Bread

All of the flavours of Christmas rolled into one sticky, wickedly rich cake. Perfect with a big steaming mug of Earl Grey while listening unashamedly to 'All I Want for Christmas is You'. Yes, it's Mariah time.

Various sun-dried tomato pastes: indian, wild mushroom and black trumpet mushroom

The last impulse buy of the day, I just couldn't leave without taking home a couple of these sun-dried tomato pastes. Delicious in pasta sauces, curries, or simply spread onto a bit of poppadom as a TV snack, I was already a fan of these Mediterranean delights before the Salon but had only tasted them in their natural state. Special mention for the black trumpet mushroom paste: actually died and went to fungi heaven upon trying this!  

Until next year... 

Smoked salmon and boursin rolls / Rouleaux au salmon et au boursin

What to do with a left-over slice of smoked salmon? Spread it with some Boursin (soft cheese with herbs) and roll up the salmon, then cut into strips. Secure each mini-roll with a cocktail stick and serve with a glass of champagne or Prosecco for a delicious pre-Christmas amuse-bouche.

Recette: Scallops in Champagne Sauce

Finally found the photos I took of the New Year’s meal I made for Chéri! And as not a meal can be blogged without images, of course, I can also finally share this delicious and festive recipe taken from a range of seasonal cookbooks brought out by Sud Ouest newspaper. Each month takes into account the ingredients which are in season in the South West of France and gives you plenty of greedy ideas on how best to use them. This one comes from December!

Scallops in Champagne Sauce (serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter)

You will need:

12 large scallops in their shells 
1 tsp olive oil
150ml champagne
60ml double cream
2 tsp fish roe e.g. salmon or cod
sprigs of dill
salt, white pepper, ground black pepper


Open the scallop shells and remove the scallops. Separate the scallop from the coral and discard the corals. Season the scallops. Keep the 4 best shells and carefully wash them. Put to one side.


Heat the oven to 180C/gas 6. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat and fry the scallops for 1min on each side. Share between the 4 shells and bake in the oven for 4min on a baking tray.


During this time, bring the champagne to a simmer and add the double cream. Season with salt and the white pepper. Simmer for 2min, remove from the heat.


Sprinkle sea salt on to 2 plates, remove the scallops from the oven and lay them on the sea salt. 


Blend the champagne sauce with a hand mixer to make a nice mousse and share this sauce between the shells. Add the salmon roe and decorate with the sprigs of dill. Sprinkle with black pepper before serving with a crisp rocket salad.

Greedy Notes: Buy the biggest and freshest scallops you can afford from the fishmonger. They are the key to the recipe and are really worth the money. However, if you are on a tight budget, try swapping the champagne (which can be very overpriced in the UK) for Spanish cava or Italian prosecco, both of which will create the same effect while being kinder on the purse-strings.

Salon de la Gastronomie: La Rochelle

There's something you should know about me: some people like spending Sunday afternoons going for a brisk walk, snoozing in the sunshine, or catching up on telly. I, on the other hand, am a fan of la salon de la gastronomie, or in stark British terms, the food fair.

Having already visited several salons in smaller towns like Pons and Saintes, I was full of high hopes for the La Rochelle fair, La Rochelle being the capital of Charente-Maritime and all. Chéri and I were not to be disappointed. The impressive marquee boasted over 50 stands, offering a diverse selection of high-quality products ranging from Corsican saucisson (which we had the chance to taste while on holiday last year and which I can say is delicious!) to home-made sweets of all flavours, passing by sumptuous olives and, of course, the obligatory coup de champagne.

After snaking around the marquee no less than three times, making the most of the generous free samples, Chéri tactfully made the remark that we'd have to decide on what to buy as my suggestion of buying a bit of everything had evidently not had the desired effect. So, after careful consideration, we decided on champagne from a local distributor, a jar of cheese-stuffed sweet peppers to accompany the champagne for the apéritif, several saucissons (Chéri's guilty pleasure), and finally (after a brief hesitation over the macaroons) a selection of the home-made cookies.

Purchases made, it was with bellies full and wallets empty that Chéri and I left La Rochelle, promising each other that next time we'd resist temptation.