Joyeux Noël, Merry Christmas Everyone!
I just spent my first Christmas in France and it has been amazing. Today I would like to share with you guys my first Christmas dinner in France!
- 23.12.2017. 9am - Le Marché D'Enghien: Christmas Food Shopping -
Like many other places, if you want to have fresh products in France, the market is the best place to go. 9 o'clock in the morning, Maman and I went to the market nearby gathering all the ingredients of 25th's Christmas feast. Since this market only opens on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning, everyone rushed to the market on the 23rd morning to get the freshest ingredients possible.
By mid-December, seasonal refrigerators in French markets and supermarkets are filled with local delicacies for Christmas luxury dinners: foie gras, escargot,... Here are some of the items we got from the market for this Christmas holiday:
1. Guinea fowl (Fr: Pintade)
Unlike the markets in Hong Kong where chickens are sold alive, here all the poultry items are labeled and prepared. Guinea fowl have a gamey flavor and it is leaner and darker meat when compared to chicken.
2. Duck Breast (Fr: Magret / Filet de Canard)
Magret de Canard, a specialty of south-west France. These fantastic and juicy alternatives to steak come from the foie gras birds. Just season it with salt and black pepper. Pan-seared. A glass of wine. Best thing ever!
3. Oysters (Fr: Les Huitres)
"Le plateau des fruits de mer" are one of the essential dishes that go into making a French Christmas truly festive. It would be rude traveling all the way to Paris without eating oysters. Fresh, plump, juicy oysters are the perfect appetizers for any meal.
4. Greek Starters
Maman also bought Taramasalata (fr: Tarama) and Sun-dried tomato tapenade for the holiday. Tarama is a to-die-for dip made with salted and cured roe of the cod, carp, or grey mullet (bottarga) mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, and a starchy base of bread or potatoes, or sometimes almonds. A twist on the usual olive tapenade, the tomato tapenade was made of olives, basil, lemon juice, garlic and most importantly -- Sun-Dried Tomatoes.
- 24.12.2017. 8pm - Home: The Christmas Dinner -
- The Table Decoration -
Time for Christmas dinner! I adore the Christmas table decoration. From stunning Christmas centerpieces to place settings, nothing too fancy or extravagant, but it has a warm, pleasant, homey touch on it.
- The Appetizers -
We started off our dinner with 2 delightful cold appetizers: 3 kinds of "amuse-bouche" cups, and a Christmas tree bite-sized sandwiches. "Amuse-bouche", mouth-amuser refers to the petit bite-sized appetizers that goes with the aperitif. One cup was filled with duck foie gras and topped with a ginger pineapple compote and ginger crumble; one with Prawns and Asian vegetable salad; one with chorizo cream, grilled peppers, and Manchego chips. The tree consisted 34 bite-sized sandwiches with 5 kinds of fillings: Comté cheese and chanterelle mushrooms, Blocks of duck foie gras and onion compote, Tomato, cheese and basil, Smoked salmon and green asparagus, and Serrano ham and arugula. To be frank, I got so excited when I saw this festive and adorable Christmas tree sandwich tower, I just missed having a proper Christmas dinner too much.
After the refreshing finger food, Maman brought us 2 more appetizers to warm up our stomach for the main course. The buttery escargot puffs were stuffed with snail cooked in butter, garlic, and parsley. The signature appetizer was definitely the foie gras rosebuds. In each rosebud, it has a block of foie gras in it. Guaranteed the smooth and creaming texture on every single bite with the delicate flavor that melts in your mouth.
- The Main Courses -
This was my first time trying roasted Guinea fowl and I was surprised by its taste. The texture was similar to chicken, but it was packed with unexpected flavors. My favorite part was the dark meat, it has a slightly deeper and gamey flavor. On the side, we had aligot with truffle and fresh wild mushroom stew. If cheese and mash potato have a baby, aligot is definitely that baby. It is a melting cheese potato dish that you didn't even know you needed in your life!
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