PHOTOGRAPHS MYLES NEW FOOD STYLING SOPHIE AUSTEN-SMITH STYLING LUIS PERAL
FELICITY CLOAKE
Food writer in residence No 7
the residency.
Savoyarde bilberry tart, p42
“July is, for me, traditionally a month to spend indoors, curtains drawn tightly against the sun, watching a pack of skinny cyclists battle their way up mountains and down the Champs-Elyseés in pursuit of a yolk-yellow Lycra jersey. This perhaps unlikely interest in the Tour de France can be partly attributed to too much time spent hanging around campsite bars as a child, but I’d be lying if I said my passion was purely sporting. Tour champions come and go: the country itself is the real star.
I’ve long been in love with France in that clichéd British fashion, its mighty Alpine peaks and wide Atlantic beaches, the lush hydrangeas of Brittany and dark forests of the Ardennes, its style and silly sense of humour, and most of all its food, fiercely regional and treated with a refreshing reverence from Calais to Cassis.
Much has been written about the decline in France’s famous culinary culture, and it’s true that you can buy microwaveable burgers as easily as a jambon-beurre these days – but, after numerous, rather more leisurely two-wheeled expeditions of my own, I’m happy to report the provincial restaurant, serving an unfussy three-course menu for less than the price of a London main course, is alive, well and open for business – to everyone from local workmen to hungry cyclists.
Sometimes, of course, it’s tempting to bypass them, pack the panniers with ripe fruit sticky with juice, charcuterie and cheese, and have an even cheaper roadside feast instead, but the indulgence of a long lunch is rarely regretted. Here are a few of my favourite discoveries from my very own ‘tour de France’.”
Salade Lyonnaise
SERVES 4. HANDS-ON TIME 20 MIN, OVEN TIME 15 MIN
“This bistro favourite conforms to the unwritten French rule that all salads require copious quantities of either meat or cheese to qualify as such. Salade Lyonnaise is traditionally made with dandelion greens but bitter frisée lettuce makes a good substitute, as does chicory, or indeed a bag of crunchy mixed leaves.”
MAKE AHEAD