This was an easy meal of mostly prepared ingredients
for after another hot (it got up above 90) day. On the
table a respectable but not notable commercial pate,
really good boiled ham that beat the socks off anything
you can get in any deli in the states, pretty good thin-
sliced Limousin prosciutto analogue, paired with muskmelon.
Also a local salami-like sausage that was ripe but not
overripe.

For afters, sugared white peaches from the garden and a
reprise of the spiced strawberries for those who wanted them.

Jeunes Vignes de l'Ancienne Cure nv (Bergerac blanc sec),
served slightly too cold as an aperitif, helped to slake a
certain parchedness brought on by the weather, but on a bit
of warming up offered gooseberry and grassy flavors; this
isn't my favorite, but the wine wasn't urinary enough to be
objectionable.

Bourgogne 09 (Mikulski) was pleasantly Pinotish, a little
meaty, a little plummy, mild but with enough oomph to stand
up to salty charcuterie.

-

The three of us were going to Auberge de Forges for a
modest lunch, but Ian and Jacquie asked if they could
join us. The place has been run for a couple decades
by a couple, one from England, the lord of the kitchen,
and the other from Friesland, doing everything else.
Oddly, the waiter-maitre is a bit of a grumpy gus, and
the cook is the more outgoing and friendly one. I'm not
sure how they divide the chores in the small hotel they
run in the same building - apparently at one point they
hired a young local woman who decided to try to extort
them by accusing them of unwanted sexual attention, which
went to court and was rapidly thrown out as an open and
shut case, but a bit annoying, so now it's just the two
of them doing all the everything.

These guys, who would normally be some sort of competition
for La Souvigne, get along quite well as it turns out,
especially Mr. English, who seems eager to hear his native
language now and again. Also, Ian used to do their Website
and has to rein them in to keep them from giving him lots
of free stuff whenever he eats there.

We started with 500s of an unprepossessing but quite
acceptable local white (more of that Sauvignon Blanc) and a
quite decent local red (mostly Cabernet I think, with scraps
thrown in(, a bargain at $10 the liter.

It's a limited menu, three appetizers, three mains, four or
five desserts including ice cream and sorbet.

The starters were the culinary equivalent of easy listening -
pork rillettes were nicely porky but I thought perhaps not
fatty enough (Swisher); pate de campagne (Lilli and Ian) had
the right livery and meaty notes, and salmon terrine - thin
layers of white fish mousse, poached salmon, mousse of green
herbs, and salmon mousse, held together with aspic, was
unexceptional and unexceptionable.

For mains, carpaccio (Swisher and Jacquie) was made of delicious
local beef drizzled with decent olive oil but kind of spoiled
by more than a sprinkle of powdered Parmesan - Jacquie thought
there was too much cheese; I figured that would have been okay
if the cheese were better and/or shaved rather than suspiciously
reminisceht of stuff from the dreaded green can. My schnitzel was
definitely commercial from frozen, the coating too uniform and
on the hard side, the meat slightly well hung, if you will. It
needed the lemon that came with. Ian and Lilli had ham steak,
something I'd never think to order; it was well flavored,
locally sourced, not too salty, and generously portioned.

We needed another half liter of the red to go with the meats.

On each plate came a decent ratatouille (Ian said that his
was better), and there was a big bowl of frites to share.
These were cooked from foodservice frozen but in good oil and
at proper temperature, so they were crisp outside and potatoey
inside. Ian, being a glutton at heart and off his diet this
day, went back to the kitchen and demanded a second bowl,
which came out with complements.

For some reason my schnitzel came with gratin potatoes (I'd
have thought to pair these with the ham, but whatever).

After this hearty fare, dessert comes. Apple tart (the ladies)
was classic and quite good; cranapple tart (Swisher) I didn't try.
Ian had the special trifle, which he refused to share tastes of,
so I presume it was good. I am a sucker for creme brulee so had
that, It was also a standard recipe (Ian suggested from a mix)
but smooth and tasty and bruleed enough.

To finish, the boys brought out a cheese board - young St. Nectaire
(I prefer it this way) and adolescent Cantal (I prefer old, but at
least it wasn't too soft and boring). I believe there was a blue as
well, but if so I didn't try it.

So our light lunch became quite a big lunch.
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
* Origin: Fido Since 1991 | QWK by Web | BBS.FIDOSYSOP.ORG (1:123/140)