We had the distinct pleasure of dining at a neighbor's. She's French Swiss, 86 years old and her husband for the last 53 years is 74, originally from Sardinia. Partners in life, partners as independent cultural photo correspondents, with their photos having been published worldwide in hundreds of magazines over the decades, many of the original prints ensconced in museums. They travelled almost everywhere, raising 3 children along the way. Never ending beautiful stories, and their home is overwhelmed with folk art from everywhere they've traveled, a story with each object of art typed on index cards.
They served a pot au feu (pot in the fire), basically two dishes, a rich broth with meats and root vegetables cooked in the broth for days. Traditionally a poor person's dish, using the least expensive cuts of beef or game meats which needed to be cooked for days to make them edible. Hers was based on a bone broth, with brisket and short ribs, parsnips, carrots, mushrooms, wild rice, legumes, unidentified herbs and spices, accompanied by her fresh baked French peasant bread, with cracked wheat and a thick chewy crust. Knowing what she was serving, we brought a couple of bottles of a robust fortified New Jersey wine. Greatly appreciated as it stood up to the deep flavors of the dish.
Toward the end of their careers, when they decided to put down roots, they opened a French seafood and fish restaurant nearby, which stayed open for ten years and was busy every night it was open for about ten years when they decided to call it a day 15 years or so ago. It was one of my favorites when it was open, and people from all over the world visited, including many well known artists, their restaurant creating a culinary and cultural legend. They had a sign on the door, "No Politicians Allowed."
Almost every region of France, and seemingly every family has its own recipes for pot au feu. They are all perfect winter dishes, and yesterday here temperatures reached the 20's. The recipes for both can be found by the hundreds on the net, and any of them are well worth the effort. Almost all can be slow cooked for a few hours, not days, but the longer they cook the more pronounced merged flavors develop.
I doubt I'll be eating much today, maybe a cup of soup from the Vitamix this evening, a nibble of this and that, as the flavors from yesterday evening linger on my palate.
