I love food and love Paris!

A new cookbook turned up on my desk today! Yes, I was as shocked as you no doubt are! And saying it turned up almost implies that fairies brought it. Well that's not quite true! In fact it came from play.com, my bookseller of choice. To my mind a much better option than that rainforest based one! Ordering off play.com is perceptively easy; you almost don't feel like you're doing it. You don't do anything irritating like having to dig out your credit card or type in a delivery address. That's all remembered. You just click a few buttons and generally a couple of days later you are a proud possessor of a new book, DVD or CD. It's almost scarily easy! And my deliveries seem even easier and I have them delivered at work to save the aggravation of not being in to sign for a parcel - the scourge of internet delivery. Those nice people in the post room used to squirrel away my parcel until I was free to collect; now they just deliver it straight to my desk. What a service!

Many of the book orders I place are pre-orders, I get the merest sniff of a new book (generally cook book, surprisingly!) coming out and add it to my order for future delivery. This means I generally get a new book as soon as, if not sooner, that it's out in the shops. I can be one of the first to open the virgin cover, smell that special new book smell and start slowly turning the pages. Bliss! It's not just me that feels the same about books. I was reading my favourite blog that's not about food (and yes, they do exist!) Dooce, and she talks of her three year daughter Leta who loves her Elmo and Dora books so much that she has to sleep with them all. Well I don't go that far, granted I may read a book in bed but if I took them all to bed, if need less of a bed more like an aircraft hangar with sheets!

But this book was a little different than usual, it hadn't been pre-ordered like most of the others but whilst browsing in a bookshop I spotted the title Love Food, Love Paris and immediately thought yes, yes! This is totally up my street, or even up my boulevard! And it's more than just a cookbook; it's more a culinary journey through the artisan food shops, the markets, the bistros, brasseries and restaurants of Paris. There are some recipes including a better version of the petit pois a la Français that I made for our French dinner but the emphasis is really on where to go and what to buy. In the prologue it says "It is almost impossible to think about Paris without thinking about food". And that's true I recall some wonderful meals in Paris, not just great food in convivial surroundings but the unforgettable times with fabulous family and friends. I can remember sharing a big cheese fondue followed by an everlasting pot au chocolat. Not that I could squeeze in any seconds after that fondue, but the concept was very pleasing. I recollect middle of the table bowls of fat moules alongside plates of skinny frites, dining rather finely in the Train Bleu which is rather madly above Gare de Lyon (this seems rather mad as I defy you to find a restaurant remotely as impressive in a British station!) and there's been a plethora of croque monsieur or madame in little art deco mirrored cafés and a magical lunch cruise on the Bateaux Mouches enjoying exploring both wonderful food and the joys of Paris without risking blisters. And I still have Parisian foodie adventures I wish to experience. I had booked a table at La Tour d’Argent to partake in the ever so famous ‘canard à la presse’ enjoyed by kings and epicureans the world over for my birthday before last. According to my new book you receive a commemorative postcard when you eat this special dish. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances I couldn’t go to Paris for my birthday and I still haven’t experienced the fabulous duck. But one day…

As well as La Tour d’Argent there are many other places in the Love Food, Love Paris book that I’m keen to discover. For example, Place des Vosges has always been my favourite Parisian square, the stunning classical architecture and the elegant façades but I wasn’t aware that it’s also home to Ambroisie, one of France most luxurious three Michelin starred restaurants. But it’s not just about the stars; I also want to drop in on some of Paris’ legendary gourmet emporiums that are nearby also.

Since discovering the amazing confection that is a macaroon, I am now compelled to explore Ladurée as their celebrated macaroons just look stunning. There’s a beautiful photograph of the most stunning dark pink cassis macaroons in their window in the book and there seems to be many websites dedicated to worshipping them.

And for more mouthwatering images please visit the Ladurée site as you will just literally drool!

I’d also love to revisit Fauchon and Hédiard again; it’s just such a pleasure to peruse the shelves of these well stocked world renowned purveyors of fine epicurean treats. And if I feel the need of further kitchen apparel or table accoutrements (as if?) I could pay a fruitful visit to either A. Simon or E. Dehillerin.

This is certainly a book to make you salivate, immediately start searching for your passport and reaching down your biggest case (just to ensure there's plenty of room for your Parisian treats!)
If I hurry I might be able to make the last Eurostar train, see you there!

Eating France

As the Vive La France show at Olympia is not just about food and wine (unfortunately) but about how to get to France and where to live when you get there, the bits that really interest us don’t take up too much time to explore. That’s okay as D, MC and I seem to be quiet happy to meander through the various stands, MC checking out any wine samples and filling in any competitions to win trips to or holidays in France as we ambled. When we we got a little peckish there were several options: the restaurant, the various stalls selling sausage sandwiches etcetera, Pret à Manger for their usual sandwiches or the four restaurants preparing little sample meals in the Taste Terrace. This set up was very similar to the Taste of London show I’d been to in the summer and some of the dishes were even the same. The variety seemed to clinch it so off to the Taste Terrace we trotted. We decided to make our own French tasting menu after we’d bagged ourselves a table. But that was going to be a problem! There were many people desperately circling clutching little paper plates of food and wondering how they would balance them safely and eat if no tables were forthcoming. One advantage with visiting these events alone is that you can perch on someone’s table to consume your booty but we wanted to eat together so it was going to be much more of a challenge. Eventually with skill and stealth we pounced on a table that was becoming free though we had to share with another couple. If they thought it was remotely odd that all food was photographed before consumption, they never let on.

Now we had a table we could concentrate on food, the first port of call was Club Gascon where we purchased all three of their dishes: duck foie gras, Gascony pie (duck mousse, cream mushrooms and leaves) and cassoulet of tarbais beans, duck machon and Toulouse sausage.

The foie gras was incredibly light and the Gascony pie such a fabulous taste and texture. It is actually a duck mousse and even though doesn’t look the most attractive dish but tastes really good and a great contrast to the slightly bitter leaves. And even though I’m not particularly a bean girl, the cassoulet is actually very fine indeed! The Toulouse sausage is just as it should be firm, meaty and just the right amount of garlic and herbs.

Next it was a trip to Brasserie Roux for gratin de macaroni à la Lyonniase and Le Gavroche for their fabulous daube de boeuf braisée and gratin Dauphinois. The macaroni was interesting as I wondered why Lyonnaise and guessed that it meant with sliced onions but it seemed devoid of onions but had some little pieces of mushrooms. Well maybe, because they denied it! It tasted really flavoursome though and also went remarkably well with the daube de boeuf. The daube itself was small but really good but did look rather a sorry state with the gratin Dauphinois but looks aren’t everything! The gratin may looked curdles but it certainly didn't taste it.

And For the final act we send MC to Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and asked him to choose some desserts for us all. We did suggest possible something chocolatey or lemony. He duly returned with raspberry and pistachio tart, a pear tart and some macaroons. D had spotted the macaroons earlier and expressed a desire to try some. And I must admit they looked very impressive in their pastel colours and pleasingly convex slightly shiny tops and all lined up neatly in their various colours. But in my head I suspected they would taste like those spaceships we used to occasionally get on the way home from school. Frankly they tasted of nothing, or maybe paper or even rice paper. But dull, anyway! And certainly not something I’d like to have when there may be more interesting lemon tart or some amazing chocolate confectionery on offer. But they were a revelation; I had the lemon one first and marvelled at the soft yet crisp coating which then pleasingly shattered as I bit into it. And then it just melted on my tongue! The two half shells are sandwiched with a tangy lemony paste and the whole effect is just so good. Why wasn’t I aware of the sheer fabulousness of macaroons before? We also enjoy the pear tart with the crispiest pastry and the raspberry with the surprise pistachio layer – all good, nothing bad!

Feeling sated after our exertions in the taste terrace we continue to explore the stalls and stands selling French goodies both edible and for the home. There’s also a few jewellery stalls and sparkly things are always interesting!

After a long day winding our way around the show we secure some front row seats in the food theatre for the final cooking demonstration at 4 pm. We have enjoyed Club Gascon’s food today so it seems very fitting we end watching their head chef Pascal Aussignac whip up a rabbit baked in clay treat. The presentation is accompanied by a deaf signer for the visitor who cannot hear Pascale’s dulcet French tones and what D and I are most intrigued about is the sign language for ‘rabbit’. It seems to be making bunny ears out of the index and middle finger of each hand almost like making those dreaded imaginary air quotations! Ughh! I’m not sure why D and I found this so enlightening but we did. The lovely Pascal (and he is rather lovely!) wrapped his rabbit in Swiss chard then a cabbage leaf and then the clay. The clay is shaped into a kind of large pasty before baking. The clay keeps the rabbit very moist. This is accompanied by sautéed mushrooms and polenta cooked with milk. I’ve been meaning to try polenta cooked in milk for ages; it looks creamier that normal polenta. I was keen to taste a little but they are terrified that you’ll try something, fall ill and then sue them so testing is strictly forbidden.

Pascal also waxed lyrical about his beloved ‘piment d’ Espelette’ which is a much prized AOC protected Basque pepper that he uses as a condiment instead of freshly ground black pepper. It tastes like paprika but maybe slightly softer in flavour. It is definitely something worth adding to the cupboard, possibly even one of the liquorice piglets!

We’ve had a great day, tasted a a whole host of things, made a few interesting purchases and entered a myriad of competitions. Now all I’ve got to do is decide to cook for everyone tonight. Something French perhaps?

A la prochaine

K and I have been hearing stories all week about one of Roger and Jenny’s neighbours, well he was a neighbour and now they have moved across the road (at least 4 paces!) apparently they’re not considered neighbours anymore. Monsieur Couturier sounds a fantastically eccentric farmer who even in his eighties was recently fixing his roof. What makes Monsieur Couturier rather curious is not that he was fixing his roof but the fact he was up there with a chainsaw in one hand and a bottle of homemade Pineau in the other! Monsieur Couturier likes to keep an eye on everything that happens in the area and is terribly frustrated when he doesn’t know what is happening. As well as his little farm his pride and joy are his sheep, which he delights in referring to as “yum yums”. Apparently the only English word he knows! Each Christmas the sheep help feed his family of 37 (he even received a special award from the mayor for his proliferation, an example to us all!) These yum yums are very spoilt and Jenny in particular keeps them well fed with left over bread and potatoes.

We had our final full morning grabbing more shots at another market but even though the vegetables and fruit looked tasty they weren’t as beautifully arranged as some of our other well photographed purveyors of vegetables. An irate rotisserie guy pursues K as he thinks she’s taking just too much interest in his mechanism!

We have our lunch at La Forge and admired yet again the unusual décor, this restaurant favoured light fittings made from ox collars but with the über bright bare bulbs to finish it off. They also had collected various butterflies and little feathery birds and of course, some lurid artificial flowers. Roger was able to have his Eels in Parsley Sauce that he’s been craving and I had a nice piece of Peppered Steak with some Frites. There was some interesting meat lover’s option but it sounded too huge for me with the lamb tonight! I had seen an old favourite from travelling in Belgium - Dame Blanche in the menu and hoped it would be delivered with a little jug of hot chocolate sauce – but unfortunately it wasn’t!

We spend the afternoon slaving over a hot printer and commit some of our most prized photographs to fine art paper – not glossy but pleasingly matt and perfect for framing! Now we’ve just got to get them home.

For our last supper we have Asparagus and Smoked Trout with a sauce made of chopped egg, egg yolk and olive oil and seasoning, which a recipe Terrence Conran gave to Roger, back when they were talking! For main we tucked into a Gigot of Lamb, studded with anchovies and an extremely delicious and fabulous Gratin Daupinoise (how it should be!). The meal was finished off with a very fine hard Cheese and a bought Strawberry Tart. I know it’s very chic for a Parisian to grab a dessert from their local patisserie so we had our strawberry tart. Frankly though, Roger has whipped up some very impressive sweet treats for us and we didn’t need to buy in though I still have a little craving for a good chocolate dessert! We finish the remaining bottles of Christian’s wine and recall the many fabulous moments from the last week, K is going straight back to La Rochelle early tomorrow so we all say goodbye.

We have easily eaten the best food on this holiday ‘chez Roger’ and I feel a very worthy “trois fourchettes” should be awarded to him. And there were no tomatoes at all! It is possible to eat well without tomatoes! We did.

I’ve had a fantastic holiday, eaten some fabulous food, met some great people and have really improved my confidence behind a camera. Roger deserves his legendary status in the world of photography – especially food and I feel his energy and encouragement has helped me to really achieve something and all whilst having a wonderful time. Thank you.

A la prochaine… until the next time!

Just call me Donna!

Today I came over all Donna Hay-esque and wanted to work with stacks of white bowls, piles of stainless steel and silver cutlery and the odd lemon or fig. I became fascinated by the stacks of dishes when clearing the table after we'd had our meal last night, and it wasn't just down to the lovely red wine we’d been drinking. I started thinking about shadow and form and especially how this would affect the reflections in the shiny cutlery. I’ve also started flicking through the piles of food magazines with a rather critical eye and not just thinking about the food, as I normally would be looking at the composition and styling. How very curious for me!

Fortunately K agreed with me and we spent a pleasant morning staring at stacks of bowls and folded white napkins through a lens. Hopefully Donna Hay would approve! I also got rather obsessed by a silver apple we’d borrowed off George, which after spending ages trying to eliminate my image from the shiny contours of the apple, I then decided I might as well give in and it actually would make an unusual self-portrait!

Photographing empty bowls all morning meant we were quite keen to have a procur ourselves a full bowl. A popular place for lunch is apparently the local supermarket - Super U. Which I am assured is the local equivalent to French Waitrose! The chef is occasionally seen hot footing it down the aisles to grab a missing ingredient and like to remark with an expansive hand gesture behind her 'this is my larder!' K had a Chicken and Chips, which she said was rather good. Instead of the Croque Monsieur that I'd been hankering after I plumped instead for the today's special of Salmon with Pasta in a light sauce. I even managed to successfully request a portion 'sans tomates, si possible'! And I didn’t get any tomato!

After yesterday's disastrous chocolate tart, which was so wrong I, had a craving for a little chocolate hit and discovered that the best part of having a meal in a supermarket is that if you don't fancy any of the desserts you can go shopping. And being rather far from the nearest Gü I opted for another Pot au Chocolate in little glass dishes which was okay but I feel Gü could clean up if they desired!

We’ve been dodging inclement weather nearly every day but after lunch we decide to finally head off to the local vineyard though we opt to stay inside and not bother which schlepping through the regimented fields of vines, as I can’t really photograph in the rain. Christian who, nine years ago decided very unusually to establish a new vineyard on an old sheep farm escorts us round the quite small operation. They had never grown vines on this land previously but Christian was convinced that he would be successful and whilst working for one of the wine houses laboriously planted the vines every evening and weekend. Apparently it is almost unheard of to plant a brand new vineyard, old land gets replanted but Christian having this kind of epiphany has only been done once before in recent times. When the first harvest was ready 2003, Christian gave up his day job and worked exclusively on his precious vineyard. All the large vineyards look at him and think it odd that he doesn’t force his vines to work harder but he wants to nurture them and make small quantities of high quality wine. During the harvest, Christian employs travelling grape pickers who pick select the grapes carefully and pick everything by hand. Christian then checks all the harvest for quality and presses the grapes. Then depending on the colour the resultant juice ferments in a serious of vats or vats and oak casks. We got to taste the grape musk at various stages from recently pressed and sweet and fizzing on your tongue until a few weeks before bottling. It was a very interesting education. K purchased a couple of bottles for testing purchases for us all later!

After the visit to the vineyard it was more piles of white crockery and learning about hot windows, which many photographers would have to simulate in a studio but we have some fine windows in the cottage to utilise instead. Roger is keen to start cooking the evening meal but there’s so many lovely thing to photograph in the kitchen, it is difficult to give way for the chef!

We have a lighter dinner again, as we intend to go out with a bang tomorrow so we have a starter Ham and (the excessively photographed) Figs, the main of a very tasty Courgette Frittata and Green Salad, then Cheese and an Eton mess as a finale.

Good tart, bad tart and a fabulous mash!

Today was a jaunt into La Rochelle to do some more work on vegetables. We found a fantastic market stall that arranges their stall with little vignettes of vegetabley abundance. And around the front of these harvest festival displays are small wicker basket of beans and other legumes and each is decorated by a ring of the brightest red tomatoes. Someone has found a use for tomatoes! At the end of the vegetable market, we had espied a rotisserie with racks of slowly gyrating bronzed chickens, piles of ribs and potatoes cooked in all the lovely juices. But when we returned for our eagerly awaited hot chicken sandwiches we were 'desolee' to discover they'd run out of bread and couldn’t help us. So we went of and found a tart restaurant and I have a nice slice of Salmon and Leek Tart. They did have the Tarte flambée d’Alsace (Alsatian flaming tart), which I am rather partial to but this one looked a little custardy.

There was rather enticing chocolate tart that started to call to me so I suggested a split three ways. Unfortunately it turned out to be a rather disappointing third share of a Chocolate and Orange Tart as firstly it was covered with the thinnest and oddest custard I've ever tasted which only served to dampen the tart unnecessary, the pastry was too cooked and very difficult to penetrate and the chocolate stuff was like some hideous chocolate flavoured blancmange. Truly a disaster! We managed a couple of mouthfuls each before rejecting it outright. Waitrose and Marks & Spence both do a fine Tarte au Chocolat. How can specialist french tart shop get it so wrong?

On the way back from La Rochelle we stopped off to capture a few pumpkins and gourd shots for our portfolio. They have enormous flatbed trucks just piled high of knobbly gourds just itching to be photographed.

Fortunately Roger didn't get it as wrong and we were treated to a starter of Green Beans with Feta and Pinenuts. I’ve never been a fan of feta but I found this to be very acceptable. Jenny had made us a tasty Coq au Vin whilst we were out and this was served with a bowl of Roger’s glorious Mash Potato. I wonder if they know about my mash obsession?? And after the Cheese we tucked into a small bowl of a fabulous Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding.

Do not adjust your sets!

Clutching my tiny Leica in my hot little hand, we take lots of photographs in an impressive indoor market in Niort. Rather curiously Roger informs us, Niort is the Angelica capital of the world, though we saw little evidence of this. I never cease to be amazed in France not just by the sheer quality of the food but the enormous effort they make with the displays. There was a wall of lemons with all the lemons lined up, pointed the same way that must have taken an age to arrange. The fish are not just tipped into a shiny heap but instead carefully lined up with all their heads facing in the same direction making an iridescent carpet of glistening scales. The French laws on privacy are very strict; you cannot photograph someone without their permission and ideally a written release. I'm not concerned by this as I'm not planning to gather a lot of 'Robert Doisneau' style shots of photogenic French couples kissing each other in the street and fortunately, artichokes don’t seem to be camera shy.

However the fishmonger is intrigued by our interest photographically of his wares and modelled his impressive catch for me anyway. He also very kindly briefly liberates a lobster and crab from their tank so we can get a couple of action shots.

(Thank you to K for the inspiration of the 'smiling crab'!)
After all the snapping we went in search of lunch and despite many possible places being shut we eventually found somewhere where the wafts of garlic beckoned us in. Feeling keen to get a garlicky hit I ordered Snails in a Pastry Case. I was only slightly disappointed when it arrived sans pastry case and instead in the more typical ceramic garlic dish. At least there were lashings of garlic butter to dip my bread into.

As a 'special treat' for me we head for a tomato farm, Roger is feeling deprived after removing them from this week’s menu but after I convince him that I can be in the presence of them as long as I don’t have to ingest he leaps off eagerly! K and I head off to the poly tunnels to take artistic pictures of lettuces (as you do) but rather curiously the owner pounces upon us, as he believes us to be ‘Turkish farmers or spies (or both!) stealing his ideas’! I cannot actually say how far K and I are from looking like Turkish farmers – I am wearing Chanel for God sakes! But it does serve to show that my limited French doesn’t include “we are not Turkish farmers spying on your poly tunnels” and luckily Roger can be torn away from the tomato fields to rescue us. When he realises we a students of digital photography and not remotely interested in agriculture other than aesthetically he eagerly shows us his special tomato houses – oh goody, more tomatoes! Though I am intrigued that to ensure pollination in these huge glasshouses where there is no wind for airborne pollination they ship in boxes of large bees to perform the job. The bees live in little cardboard hives and make a tiny little bit of tomato honey – ugghh! But as tomatoes don’t produce enough sustenance for the bees they have to be fed syrup to keep them working for the good of the tomato harvest.

The afternoon was spent persuading artichokes and mushrooms to pose seductively.

After a day toiling over both a hot camera and equally hot Photoshop we were ready for Roger's meal.

He'd opted for a lighter feast after last night's bathing in both duck and goose fat and we had huge Artichokes in a piquant Vinaigrette, followed by Cep and Girolle Pasta with Cheese and a plate of very fresh Pineapple to finish

.

I really think with Roger's ministrations that my photography has come on leaps and bounds and I can finally be proud of some of my food photography.

I have to give some of the credit to the Leica also. As I expected, it maybe tiny but size is not everything and it has hidden depths. When I bought my new camera who knew that it would have a food photography setting? I’d seen it in the manual but no one really reads manuals so I just thought it was curious but it does help considerably with adjusting the light and white balance (do I sound more professional?) when shooting under artificial Tungsten light – so now I understand what it’s doing I am going to make fine use of it!

So don't adjust your sets I intend to have many more delectable and mouth-watering photos on this site going forward. Say cheese or maybe artichoke!

We have been confited!

We spend the morning arranging loaves of crusty bread and lemons by the pool so we can photograph them. I also spend a lot of time chasing bees (probably rather a dangerous occupation!) to try and capture one on the throes of busyness!

After our first suggested lunch spot being found to be shut for the season or just becuase it's Tuesday - either is possible - K and I headed off into the forest. And with Roger's assistance we were very fortunate to stumble across odd little place with singularly some of the most eclectic decor ever. There was a giant snake skinned hammered to one beam, there was a huge plastic globe that probably lit up but we didn't get to witness to that, there was a head of some deer like creature, random buckets lying around and lashings of huge and garish plastic flowers. And the omnipresent extra strong florescent tube lights to ensure all vestiges of ambience are totally eliminated. A truly bizarre place!

The set menu seemed rather restrictive so I had a little Foie Gras Terrine with masses of strange garnish followed by a nice Steak (again) and a bit of Gratin Dauphinoise (though slightly curdled I have to say – I am sure I could get better at Roger's) and a random extra garnish of a miniature Vol au Vent filled with Spinach. We have some nice Cheese and a rather curious Raspberry Cream Charlotte with same garish carved fruits and excessive garnish as the starter.

Clearly our best option is to save ourselves for Roger's excellent food.

And we were proved right; tonight was a wonderful starter of Mussels in water and oil (a la Elizabeth David) and then a (light?) main course of Duck Confit with cubes of Roast Potatoes (cooked in duck fat obviously) and accompanied by Haricots (which, for a change) are in Goose Fat. We then had a couple of tasty cheeses to savour with the very good bread and a sliver of Tarte Tatin and Raspberry Tart with a Creme Anglais to finish. All served with a complete absence of day-glo garnishes, amazing!

I may not need to eat again for some time!

My camera is bigger than yours...

Lunch today was in a transport cafe full of French lorry drivers. I had wanted the duck in a peppercorn sauce and Roger had wanted one of the local specialities - eels in a parsley sauce but being Monday they couldn't oblige. Instead we both went for Steak Frites followed by a selection of really good French Cheeses and washed down with a small carafe of light red wine. The steak had a great flavour, the chips were fine and the cheese was just at peak perfection. Really not bad for a transport caff!

Tonight Roger swapped his lens for a chef's hat spoonfuls of a very ripe and gooey Vacherin and the most stunning locally picked grapes. And finally, a sliver of seriously good and terribly photogenic Raspberry Tart.

The best thing about being the first to arrive is that I was able to peruse the week’s menu and request a few tweaks – i.e. the removal of the Thai Red Curry and some Egg Mayonnaise thing. Very cunning indeed! Everything else on the planned menu looks exceedingly good.
The other course attendee, K - a lovely woman who runs her own catering company in Winchester, had joined us. We have Roger to ourse and produced a rather wonderful salad of Mozzerella, Crispy Bacon with Pine Nuts and my favourite Mâche. The main course was a really delicious Roast Chicken with Tarragon Sauce and a stupendous Mash. We then had a couple oflves this week, which is rather good for us as someone else would mean less of his undivided attention!
K’s camera is a much more impressive professional looking Canon eos with a dazzling array of dials and settings and more familiar territory for Roger. It makes my little Leica look indeed very small but size isn’t everything and I am convinced my tiny little Leica can show the big boys a thing or too!

J'arrive!

- one of Roger's giant artichokes!

Roger Stowell and his wife Jenny have a charming cream thick walled stone cottage outside the village of Vouvant. Roger is a photographer with many years of experience and worked with so many of the food writers, chefs and other foodie people that I admire. He worked with Anna del Conte on the photographs for her Northern Italy book and with Nigel Slater on a food supplement his did. He worked years ago with Terrence Conran on his Gastrodome cookbook, Albert Roux on a biographical piece and also Mark Hix when he was at the Ivy. The photography residential course – Camerahols - he runs attracts other likeminded foodies like me and as Roger is also a dab hand in the kitchen, we get to learn techniques to improve food photography and to eat his fabulous food. How perfect is that? You get to sleep in a lovely chambre d'hote across the way ran by George and Trish which used to be Roger and Jenny's old house but they wanted a place with less garden to maintain.

Roger was somewhat a pioneer in the world of food photography and prior to that worked on fashion shoots and album covers. He seems to know everyone both behind and in front of the lens. I was showing him a little booklet on comfort food that accompanied this month's Olive magazine and he knew and in many cases had worked with every photographer bar one. He worked with a then little known Elton John on his first album cover, the Rolling Stones for many years, Karl Lagerfield back in the day and currently has one of his organic food shots hanging up in Marks and Spencer's.
Clearly I am in the presence of a legendary photographer!
Jenny whipped up tonight's fare which Roger felt the need to apologise for (entirely unnecessarily) as he was collecting me from La Rochelle. We had Rilettes with Warm Toast followed by Salmon with Buerre Blanc (Roger was mortified that it wasn't homemade this time!) with New Potatoes and Minted Peas. We then had a few slivers of Rebloucon, Parmesan and Comte and a small piece of Tarte tartin. I think we are going to eat really well here.

Another surprise!

I only realised yesterday that the holiday in France (to near this place in photo) I booked ages ago is actually this weekend, I knew it was coming soon but not so soon. What a fabulous surprise! I am off on a digital photography course which has gourmet food thrown in – I think I will be in complete heaven!

I also get a chance to really put my lovely black baby Leica C Lux through its paces. It took me two days in New York to remember how to select the setting to take black and white only shots – I always think New York architecture looks so fabulous in black and white. Unfortunately it took me so long to change my options, the torrential rain had arrived so no architectural monochrome photographs for me!

I am hoping to return with much more proficient photos to scatter about my blog. I am a huge admirer of the photos on Posie’s Place, even if I don’t particular fancy the food – a curry with tomatoes in (I cannot explain what that does to me!) - the photography is just so incredibly vibrant. I should really get around to asking Pam the secret of her incredible photos. If you're reading Pam, how do you do it?

So I am off to learn from an expert who does the photography for adverts and for many of the food magazines I admire. We get to visit markets with a view to finding some photogenic foodie subjects to work with. And of course to eat!

Say ‘cheese’ or should that be ‘fromage’?