Printemps gourmand

Today we visited the spring festival of food in Les Riceys with some friends. Les Riceys is a delightful little village not far from us. The food festival was being held in a group of marquees near the ‘Mairie’, and was showcasing delicacies from all over France; cheeses, meats, nut products, oils, flours, jams, cakes to name a few, and of course wines and spirits. It was very well organised, and each stall offered tastings, and ideas on how to use their produce. The first thing we tasted was the smoked ham, which was delicious, so of course we had to buy some to enjoy at home.

After that we tasted the fondue au Comté, a pot of hot, melted cheese mixed with wine and a bit of brandy that you can dip your bread into. Comté comes from the Jura region, and is one of our favourite cheeses. They were offering a pot that you could share between two or four people for your lunch. We were not quite ready for lunch, so we decided to just note the recipe, and I will try and make it at home. We then moved onto the walnut stall. The stall holders, Anaïs and Jef were displaying pots of nut spreads, jams, oils and vinegars, and making sugar coated walnuts on the stand. We spent some time tasting various deliciously sweet products and, of course, we couldn’t resist buying a few items here. The sugar coated walnuts are delicious, as is the confiture de noix.

All in all a thoroughly delicious and very enjoyable day.