Palatinate Online ? Article ? Culinary adventures

By Alex Yandell

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A year living in a foreign country and speaking another language is a daunting, if exciting prospect. From setting up bank accounts to finding accommodation, the start of an Erasmus placement is fraught with potential problems and anxieties.

As a student moving from the North of England to the South of France, however, a drop in the quality of food and wine was not really one of those worries. Bordeaux, where I am studying for a year, is of course the wine capital of the world. The town centre is dominated by smart wine shops and bars where people enjoy a glass of white with a platter of oysters, brought in from the nearby port at Arcachon ? a pretty seaside town famous for them.

Aside from oysters, Bordeaux?s main speciality is ?canel??, a mini fluted cake made with egg yolks and flavoured with vanilla and rum. The story goes that nuns, at the city?s convent, originally made them with yolks provided by local winemakers. The winemakers used the whites to clarify the wine and had no use for the rest of the egg. Personally, I?m not a fan; they?re crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, but the predominant flavours are rum and egg. In any case, the ?Bordelaises? (the people of Bordeaux) are immensely proud of them, and when you?re given one to try there?s no option but to nod appreciatively. Other regional specialities include foie gras, confit de canard, and macaroons of every flavour imaginable.

As a keen chef, and cookbook author,? I was curious to see what the food at the university was like. With 18 hours of lectures a week ? twice what I have in Durham ? I?m likely to be getting breakfast and lunch there every day of the week. My French housemate, who was in Durham on an exchange last year, had simply said that it was good value so I wasn?t sure what to expect.

Lectures here start at 8am, which is a shock to the system after a three month holiday, so I was grateful for the shot of espresso and large croissant, costing just ?1 at the cafeteria. The French don?t really seem to do instant coffee, which is absolutely fine with me, but the lack of fresh milk is a problem. I can?t understand how people with such pride in their food can be happy with long-life UHT milk and cream.

Lunch in the university costs ?3.10 for 3 courses, and the selection is good provided you?re not a vegetarian. The portions are large and much of the food is cooked in front of you on open grills. Main course options on the day I went were: steak (cooked rare) with red wine sauce and chips, roasted chicken with ratatouille and pasta, or cheese and bacon omelette with creamed spinach.

For the equivalent of ?2.50 I was stunned by what the kitchens managed to produce. Perhaps as the term goes on and the budget gets tight the quality of the food will deteriorate, as so often seems to happen at college in Durham, but the first impressions are excellent.

In fact, aside from the 18 hours of lectures a week and the hour-long tram ride into the uni, life in Bordeaux isn?t bad at all.

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Source: http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=27561

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