Mackerel and Mustard Sauce

SEMAINE DU GOLFE 2009
A house by the Golfe – ( Original pic by Jacques Ducoin).

We left the City of Vannes for a more bucolic life by the shores of the Golfe of Morbihan, “The little sea”… Séné wasn’t quite a town, even if on Irish standards, it would definitely be one. It was not a village either, as it had a town hall, an elected Mayor with an office in his Mairie, a hotel, a few bars and a couple of restaurants. Séné was what we called a Borough, and its district was quite vast; known as a “commune”, it was made of a myriad of small villages and hamlets; Port Anna, Mousterian, Montsarrac, Cressignan, Falguérec, Brouhel… We built our house in the village of Kerarden, nearly in front of the chapel of the same name, celebrating mass every other week. A quiet life, with a beautiful view from my bedroom window!

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Aronia and Chocolate Farzig

Choice 16
Aronia berries and Chocolate “Farzig”

“Farz” in Breton means or rather refers to a patisserie from Brittany. There is not one household from Armorica, the land of the sea, that doesn’t get served this famous little gem. It is right up there, between the Breton Cake and the Kouign-amann, our famous multi layered super buttered national dessert. Breton Farz, or like the French call it “Far”, is normally made with tea soaked prunes inside and a dash of rum. It is basically a crêpe dough or batter, slowly baked. Everyone has a recipe back home! I decided to jazz the whole thing up with modern flavours, some 70% cocoa chocolate and a little something called Aronia, wonderful and tasty berries I planted two years ago; let’s say between a blueberry and a blackcurrant… Instead of the Farz being made in a big dish, I decided to make small ones; hence the name “Farzig” meaning little farz. I could also have called it “Farz Bihan”, bihan being “small” in Breton, a bit like the Irish “Beag”… See we are so close to each other, much more than one could think. But hey! Before I go any further… What are Aronia berries I hear you say? Well, let me explain…

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Apple and Caramel Pie

Choice 15
Apple and Caramel Pie

I love apple compote. It reminds me of my grand parents’ house, where we used to make batches and batches with the apples of the garden. Where I am from, apple compote is mostly used at breakfast, on bread instead of jam, to flavour a natural yogurt or inside those wonderful “turnovers” my mother used to buy after school… Another thing that is synonymous with Brittany, is a love for salty caramels… Oh yeah. I got some beautiful cooking apples at the weekend and decided to put the two together; sure, what could go wrong with those flavours?

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