Choucrote

Food has played a very important part of our Provencale experience. Having spent the Winter here,  we have found that many of the restaurants have been closed for the off-season, but fortunately several restaurants and brasseries that cater for the local population remain open. Being less touristy, we have enjoyed many authentic regional dishes.

One of our favourites restaurants is Le Tourne au Verre, which is in the village of Cairanne not far from where we are staying in Rasteau. As an aside, strangely, while just adjacent to Rasteau, we have found the Cairanne wines generally better than those of Rasteau. 

Lunchtimes are busy and getting to the restaurant as soon after noon as possible is advisable as it is a converging point for lunch amongst the local vineyard workers. They usually offer set menus with three choices each for starters, main courses and deserts, at very reasonable prices. Many of the choices are regional, a favourite of ours being caillette, which is a meatball made from minced pork meat and fat, chard or spinach, salt, pepper and local spices. There is no one set recipe to make a caillette and it can even vary from family to family. I know no better, but this particular caillette tastes good to me.

Choucroute is also popular and is a type of dressed sauerkraut often served with sausages, chaucuterie, boiled ham, and boiled potatoes. The cabbage is less piquant than the German kind.

Feeling adventurous, last time out, I tried a main course of Andouilette sausage. The waiter explained that it was made of intestines, which is something that I have had before and was therefore forewarned, but nothing could quite prepare me for this experience. Six pieces were sliced and served in a cream sauce. So far so good until the smell hit me, which at best could be described as a camp toilet that was overdue a hosing down. I soldiered on, but the taste and texture did not improve the sensation, being both sickly and chewy. When asked how I found it, I had to admit that it was not something I enjoyed that much - to which he replied that: of course, it is acquired taste.

Pauline then googled andoulette sausage on the internet to find out the ingredients, which as well as intestines can also includes all manner of body parts including pig's colon. There are some hilarious comments with one describing it as France's stinky, urine-smelling sausage and the Pooh Sausage. My favouite article called "the Andouillette or… The Dish Of Death".

http://www.thegrubworm.com/2010/12/andouillette-or-the-dish-of-death/