Articles

The notion of gap years in a career was not totally invented by the present generation. After about two and a half years in our first jobs in Dublin, mine in Snaffles as a chef, Sile as a teacher in Basin Lane in the Liberties, we decided to throw all up and head for the world outside while we still had the liberty to do so.
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We always went to Lotaville for lunch on Christmas day. Lotaville was my father’s family home, a stately Victorian Villa in Glanmire, overlooking the river Lee about 3 miles outside Cork city. It was what they call a “Gentleman’s Residence”, in about two or three acres of gardens, including a disused tennis court and large greenhouses where we were allowed to pick the delicious black grapes in September.
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This is really a marriage between Languedoc and Ireland. Since we moved to France from Ireland to open our Chambre d’Hote here in the Languedoc we have been very aware that, in our own small way, we are flying a flag for Ireland, not just for Ireland but in particular for Irish food.
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Every so often I get a chance for reflection on our life here in the Languedoc and this morning, sitting at 7.00 in a guestless house, coffee in hand, enjoying the cool of the morning before the heat of the day descends, is a perfect one for such thoughts.
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It must have been in 2007, shortly after we bought the house, when we were exploring about the lovely villages in the Haut Languedoc that we saw a man who had set up a stall outside his farm gate and seemed to be selling cherries.
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Last month we went back to Ireland for a catch-up with the friends and relatives. As we were going for about three weeks we thought it worth while to drive to Cherbourg and take the ferry across to Rosslare. As we live in the very south of France, we can see Spain from our terrace - on a clear day - we are over a thousand kilometres from the Channel so this is a journey we don’t do often on our trips back to our native land.
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This month: On French School Meals
Running a chambre d'hote in France, which also serves table d'hote meals to guests, you get a real insight into the eating habits of various nations.
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A little introduction to The Wines of the Languedoc - there are lots of them selling in Ireland now, as Martin noticed on his last visit.
We are just back from a winter break in the Cote d’Azur, that part of the country which is known, outside France, as The French Riviera. This is a wonderful part of France and one that has enjoyed a healthy tourist trade for many many years.
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Veronica Steele, who died last month was indeed one of the most important innovators in the food revolution of Ireland. The story of how she, virtually single handedly, reinvented the cheese industry is now well known, how an almost chance tasting by Dermot Ryan and Myrtle Allen in Annie Goulding's restaurant in Sneem led to the wonderful flowering of Irish craft cheese.
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This month our man in the Languedoc, Martin Dwyer, shares the wonderful lobster recipe, Homard à l’Américaine and its history - and wishes you all a Joyeux Noel!
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