In Advance of Sunday Lunch-What to Cook?
Champêtre: At My Table
Most days, the food flows through my kitchens (yes, there are more than one!) in a natural pattern of shopping at the market, how many people in house, and what the weather is like - dining inside or out these bright May days. May has been devoted to the Food Writers Sessions at the Relais de Camont, and with a chef-in-residence, I have struggled to ramp up from my usual slower pace in the kitchen to accommodate the voracious appetites of both the market abundance and the newly arrived residents. But always up for a challenge, I have extended more invitations to my table than in the last quieter months. Ultimately, it’s easier to make food for more people than just for one or two.
Arriving on this weekend for a short stay, an incoming resident guest (a well-known food writer) asked if she could bring along a friend, another star food writer, who happened to be in France at the same time. I’m a sucker for a full house. There is a different energy demanded and delivered by the quiet bustle of disparate souls quietly coming down the stairs into the still dark kitchen and making their coffee, tea, or herbal concoctions to sip in the quiet morning of a French garden. When a spare bedroom is empty, I prefer to fill it with talented, energetic souls rather than have it sit empty. Of course, I said yes.
So now with a full house, and a few local friends invited for Sunday lunch, I set about deciding on what we should cook—good, Gascon, local, in-season food! After all these years, it should be easy. Still, I dithered about how to highlight the best of the adopted countryland for newcomers, and especially those who came from a land rich in culinary lore and culture. This is how I got to my menu, which I share below.
