There are still a few things that I will set my alarm for a 6:30 wake up call on a cold, wet winter morning to report in by 9, and one of them is a community picking party of the last grapes on the vine for ice wine. This was the most fun I’ve had in a while; I think sloshing around in the rain and the mud made it even better, and all of it was punctuated with passionate singing for each stage of the process from the men’s wine choir in prayer-like tones to seemingly to bless

We had the great honor and pleasure to learn from the owner and Master baker of the Mendez-Nouven Boulangerie-Pâtisserie  how to make special anise seed holiday bread and baguettes. When you come to visit on my tours, we can take a baking class together. It is amazing how simple and few the ingredients are (water, yeast, pinch of salt and local flour) for the most incredible and delicious bread. When you come to visit on my tours, we can take a baking class together, where yo

At the Victor Hugo Market in Toulouse Someone got me really obsessed on the preparation and various styles of Coquille Saint-Jacques. One could not possibly ask for a more local dish, after-all it was named from the pilgrimage of Saint James or the Camino de Santiago which passes through the region. How sea scallops ended up in an area that is so landlocked I may never know, perhaps the pilgrims used them for trade for shelter along the way and to this day one can recognize a

The Market Experience at Victor Hugo Aside from the food and wine, my most favorite thing here are the "micro-interactions" that occur each day. I look back on my weekend in Toulouse and the most memorable part of it is from the "lamb lady". There she is, the grande dame of the stand in the Victor Hugo market gorgeous in her wooly fur coat looking elegant as ever with perfect lipstick and eyeshadow while gracefully spooning up lamb chops with her bare hands to weigh, fold int