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‘le
Bourdonnais’, 113 avenue de la Bourdonnais,
Paris
“la cantine des gourmets” - Micheline Coat
is the hostess, helped by Chef Jean-François Rouquette.
The self-effacing classification, “cantine” belies the
superb experience within. Situated between the Eiffel
Tower and the Military Academy in the 7th district of
Paris, no school or army canteen experience can compare
with the fare here.
My French host and I entered
the establishment, for the first time, in early April
2003. It was an adventure of discovery as Antoine was
checking out the validity of the good reputation about
the place. I was honoured to be his 'guinea
pig'.
"La découverte d'un mets nouveau fait plus
pour le genre humain que la découverte d'une étoile" -
Anthelme Brillat Savarin
“The discovery of new facts
is better for humankind than the discovery of a new
star.”
I had spent a sunny Spring afternoon
strolling around Place Vendôme like a child in a candy
store and had built up an unhealthy appetite  .
[See “Lazing with Luxury in Paris” in
the Travel forum].
I love eating with Antoine in
France as he takes charge of ordering. Usually, these
days, people look expectantly to me when the menu list
arrives; the pressure is sometimes too much to bear. The
downside is that a Frenchman takes too long to choose
the wines (plural)  .
The
table decorations were quirky chunks of quartz and rock
crystal tossed “artistically” about. The ‘red
pomegranate’ was actually made up of thousands of melon
seeds stuck together.
We had champagne and cheese
puffs to aid the selection of our courses.
Amusement
de bouche: Cream of asparagus slurp.
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Wine:
Pommard 1999, Prosper Maufoux, Burgundy.
The young
wine took some time to ‘open up’ but was just about
perfect, midway through my main course.....or maybe I
was inebriated by then?
100% Pinot Noir grapes.
Vinification 18 months in wood; 1/3 in one year old
wood, 1/3 in two year old wood and 1/3 in 3 year old
wood. Eh? This one’s for the wine-buffs......What’s all
this about?
Clay and limestone soils give the wine
its original qualities. It has lots of color, an intense
nose, good tannins, full-bodied and a long
finish.
Complementary foods: terrines, patés, game,
venison; aromatic and full-bodied cheeses such as
Epoisses, Livarot, Pont l'Eveque.
In the south of
Cote d'Or, near the town of Beaune, is the village of
Santenay [how’s that for French language construct
style?]. In 1860, Prosper Maufoux (former lawyer and
descendent of Jean Francois Maufoux, Mayor of Beaune in
1789) started the winemaking firm that still bears his
name.
It is the Maufoux reputation and winemaking
skill, not the vineyard, which the consumer relies on in
every bottle. Pierre Maufoux, a 3rd generation
descendent of the founder, explains the firm's
philosophy: "Finding the best quality procurable, which
exemplifies the true characteristics of the particular
wine in question. It is then enhanced with judicious
handling and barrel-aging in new French oak to maximize
what nature has given us."
Pierre Maufoux is
still very much involved in the winemaking, overseeing
operations and European marketing, from the firm's
headquarters - a large 1835 Chateau that forms one end
of Santenay's town square.
In 1994, Robert F.
Fairchild, President and owner of House of Burgundy, Inc
bought Maison Prosper Maufoux. House of Burgundy had
been Prosper Maufoux’s exclusive U.S. importer since
1947. Mr. Fairchild, once a foreign correspondent for
Fairchild Publications (Woman's Wear Daily and eight
other publications) fell in love with French wine and
soon began pursuing his true vocation. He has done a
good job too.
We shared the starters and
remarkably, we independently chose the same main course
despite Antoine’s mutterings about Baby Pigeon being his
favourite plat.
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Starter
1: Britanny sea urchin and crab cappucino with coral:
The urchin had been removed and then the emulsion
re-introduced into the shell. The toast was topped with
sea urchin eggs; we could have been back in Japan. The
foamy echinoderm and crustacean mixture was most
delicious especially with the champagne.
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Starter
2: Crumble of foie gras, flamed with cumin, drizzled
with slightly acid carrot juice and argan oil. Now I
know why Antoine ordered the red burgundy. I do not know
what ‘huile d’argan’ is; any suggestions from French
speakers? It was delicious in any language with the
choice of wine. Bravo Antoine!
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Main
course: Young veal medallion, gnocchi and morels
fricasee with sago. This was also delicious with the
choice of wine, which tasted different – somehow fuller
and drier. Brava Antoine!
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Breton
shortbread biscuit with demi-sel butter and chocolate
ganache cream.
I was so busy devouring this that
I forgot to photograph Antoine’s dessert! I am sure it
was good as we did not speak much. In fact, we did not
talk a lot during the meal – the mark of fine
cooking.
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Good
old Adrien reserved this fine calvados for us. Well,
actually Jean-Gabriel and Claude Camut did, since
‘Adrien’ founded the firm in 1800 and is not around
anymore.
Apple cider is pre-aged ten to eleven
months in oak barrels, until it is double distilled in
the September of the year after harvest. Wood-fired
boilers are used and the Camut family use one which has
already been in service for 75 years. New barrels are
not used, in order to exclude wood taste to a large
extent. The barrels from Limousin oak are on average
therefore 50 years old. At the end, one receives a
Calvados, which retain the natural flavours of the
apples and whose soulful taste and strong flavour are
legendary. Probably the oldest reserves of Calvados
stored from the last century come from Camut. For
calvados, Age is the key to Taste.
Land:
The
Pay d’Auge [Country of the Trough] is between the plains
of Caen and Eure in Normandie, France. The majority of
orchards are planted on clay-with-flints grounds. There
are two types of orchards:
1. high-stem or meadows
orchards on which animal and apple trees co-exist
2.
low-stem orchards which allow a more intensive culture.
Varieties:
The very specific varieties of
cider apples in Pay d’Auge are often late-harvested and
in mostly bitter or soft-bitter, with names like
Domaine, Cimetière de Blangy, Argile Rouge, Groin d'Ane
and Noël des Champs. They are kept, for additional
maturation, within shelter in attics for several
weeks.
Manufacture:
The cold temperatures of
the winter allows slow fermentation and to ‘communicate’
subtle flavours to the ciders. Ahh – terroir
indeed.
Distillation can only be done with cider,
which is at least 6 weeks old. It is carried out twice
in a still (double distillation). One starts by
collecting the "brouillis" [approximately 28% alcohol].
It will rest out of barrel for several months before
being again distilled. At the time of this "bonne
chauffe", the fore-runnings and of tail [beginning and
end of distillation] are isolated to leave only the
“heart”. This distillation will reveal a brandy full of
‘fat and marrow’ with the bouquet of great complexity,
suited to a long aging in oak.
For AOC Calvados,
producers must obtain approval of their product. For
that, they must submit products to the Interprofessional
Inspection Boards, which process the analyses and
tastings of conformity.
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Some
things to go with espresso. This is not the full amount
of goodies as I forgot to take a photo until some way
into the munching
Conclusion: A fine “canteen”
indeed; ‘le Bourdonnais’ is also anglophilic because
they provide les menus in both English and
French.
I agree: "La découverte d'un mets nouveau
fait plus pour le genre humain que la découverte d'une
étoile" but the fact is that we found a star in le
Bourdonnais.
Photos and text copyright Melvyn
Teillol-Foo
Restaurant website
http://www.le-bourdonnais.com
MTF
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