Bouilliabaisse:

The most famous fish stew of the Mediterranean is bouillabaisse, and its home is considered to be Marseilles, although it is made in every little port throughout the coastal regions of Provence. The apocryphal story of the origin of bouillabaisse told by the Marseillais is that Venus served bouillabaisse to her husband Vulcan in order to lull him to sleep while she consorted with Mars.

The most distinguishing characteristic of a bouillabaisse is not the fish, because all fish stews and soups have fish, but the unique flavoring derived from saffron, fennel seeds, and orange zest. A famous Provençal food writer, Jean-Noël Escudier, called bouillabaisse the “magical synthesis.” Another famous French epicure, Curnonsky, called it soupe d'or, soup of gold. The origin of the word bouillabaisse has been attributed to the abbess of a Marseilles convent (a pun on bouille-abbesse, the abbess' boil?) and, most credibly, to bouillon abaissé “to reduce by evaporation.”

 Strong opinions about the proper bouillabaisse are typical from its proponents such as the French writer and gourmet August de Croze who said it is a culinary heresy to use white wine in a bouillabaisse because wine only changes the nature of the fish.  The other argument is that TRUE bouillabaisse does not have Shellfish.   If you know Henry, you know Henry is very, very TRADITIONAL...He wants real bouilliabaisse.     As we would be returning home via Nice and Marseille was on our way we were off to tick another box on the bucket list..... have some REAL bouillabaisse!

We had a recommendation from Jim and Yolaine that the place to experience delicious bouillabaisse was Chez Michel in Marseille.  Yolaine is very French, a history buff and traditional and having experienced her delicious fois gras we were confident in her recommendation.  Again, not to assume anything, Henry set off researching.  Reviews on Chez Michel were generally very good and the restaurant does have a Michelin star.  We knew it would be pricey but what was a concern to Henry were some of the comments on Chez Michel indicating the staff could be pretentious (HATE pretentious...not there to pay big bucks to have the staff make me feel grateful for being there) and that the staff somewhat bored ... "ho hum... more boring smiling excited tourists").   Also dress was "elegantly" casual... might be difficult for us to pull that off.

After some research he came across Chez Fonfon....reviews were good and expectation that they would serve traditional bouillabaisse confirmed, reservations (a must) were made and off we went to Marseille.  We found the street where the restaurant is located pretty easily and fortunately were able to find parking nearby.  Situated next to what I'll call a small port but which is more like a wide street with water running through it.  Beautiful day, beautiful setting....

The restaurant is elegantly casual inside.  All tables were filled during our time there and 90% of the diners were having bouillabaisse.  Our waiter firstly gave us the option of viewing our delectable fish which would then be cooked in the kitchen or alternatively, having the bouillabaisse cooked at our table.  We opted for what the "locals" appeared to be doing.... viewing the fish and having it cooked in the kitchen....  I have to comment... there was no fish smell in the restaurant AT ALL... and our delectable collection of fish appeared just as though it had just been plucked from the water..

We were also presented with an "amuse bouche" which appeared to be watermelon infused with some type of herb....(I've since tried this at home and enjoyed it with mint but it wasn't quite the same so not exactly certain what the herb was) delicious and refreshing...

Next our table was adorned with croutons and two types of garnish.... Aioli and Rouille... I love them both.

Interesting to us also was the presentation of the soup or stew.  Firstly the fish soup (stock) is presented separately from the fish.  During the course of our lunch, as we ate the fish, we were offered additional serving of hot stock ..... now this stock is amazingly delicious too (have I already used that word several times?)

Simply add the fish and potatoes to the stock as desired (Henry notes that the other diners appeared to eat one fish at a time.  I was too busy eating to notice) A couple of croutons dressed with the sauces completes the serving...... this is SUBLIME!  My personal opinion is that any shellfish at all would take away from the softness of this bouillabaisse.  Perfectly flavoured stock and perfectly cooked fish.

This is a very nice restaurant.  But it could be a dump and I would have loved it.  No shellfish in the bouillabaisse, no vegetables, just fish and potatoes, slowly cooked yet still fresh and tender.  Some of these fish are only available locally, which is why Marseilles bouillabaisse is famous.  I may never have it again, but at least I've had it once.   Merci beaucoup... perhaps another trip to Marseille is necessary!

Lyon.....

“I know of only one thing that you can do well in Lyon, and that’s eat,” the 19th-century French novelist Stendhal remarked.  France’s third-largest metropolis is still buried under a heap of food. No surprise. France’s most celebrated chef, the octogenarian Paul Bocuse, hails from Lyon, and the city’s bouchons — homey restaurants serving rustic, traditional cuisine — are famous countrywide.  Henri was on a mission and when that mission involves food Henri researches well.  With that in mind, two reservations were made for our arrival in Lyon, both restaurants said to be traditional "bouchons".  

A bouchon is a type of restaurant found in Lyon, France, that serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, such as sausages, duck pâté or roast pork. Compared to other forms of French cooking such as nouvelle cuisine, the dishes are quite fatty and heavily oriented around meat".  It should be mentioned that meat also mainly includes "offal"  (yes, that's pronounced just how it looks and to some OFFAL is Awful!

of·fal

ˈôfəl,ˈäfəl/

noun

1. the entrails and internal organs of an animal used as food.

   • refuse or waste material.
   • decomposing animal flesh

     
     

     
     

Admittedly I'm fairly adventurous with food when it comes to a "white" person (for instance I love chicken feet) but I can also be quite skittish (not fond of brain or some other entrails).
Henri found a couple of Bouchons, highly rated that had some choices suitable for the likes of me.  With that in mind we proceeded to manger. Our first restaurant was lunch at the Cafe des Confederations.

 









For starters, there is charcroute de lyonnaise which comprises some cornichons, sliced cold meats and a potato (mashed) type of salad.  We thought we only had a choice of one but actually, all starters are included.  So, in addition to the above we had a lovely green lentil salad (I don't really like lentils, but I liked these) and a red cabbage salad... all were delicious.

Typical Joanne pose....

For his main course Henry ordered the Andouillette sauce moutarde

Now for those of you who know Henri, this would be the ultimate but I could tell by the look on his face, after his first bite, he did not enjoy the sausage.  On reflection, he says, it was the smell that tainted his enjoyment. The meat was very strong tasting (likely only full of Offal) and even with the lovely mustard sauce, not easy to take.  

I, on the other hand, lucked out.  I chose the Civet du Porc which in fact was pork cheeks (I'm assuming a pig pork cheek).  It almost tasted just like Beef Bourginone due to the strong flavouring of red wine.... now what's wrong with that?  I finished it off in two potato strokes!

Henri, still recovering from his Andouillet Sausage, refreshed his taste buds with some Almond Cake.... now that was good I have to assume....

When we arrived, as usual, the place was empty but then (VOILA!) filled up completely... we seem to attract a crowd... PAPARAZZI!  ugh...

With hope in our hearts and a refreshed need for nourishment, we headed off to dinner (another day, another dinner)..... Henri had researched his 2nd choice also and it was called Le Bouchon Les Filles....  Having learned his lesson from lunch the previous day he changed is tack.....

We went to Le Bouchon de Filles and enjoyed our meals immensely.  Henri had Kidney and I had Quenelles (fish).... it was delicious and thoroughly enjoyable evening..

The place filled up. Ambience was wonderful and as with our lunch at the Bouchon started with three salads including lentil and cabbage.  We were also offered an "amusee bouche" of a beet tasting shot drink.. it was delicious.  All in all.... great experience! Highly recommended!  Open your heart and your mind.  Experience all that there is and savour the moment!.... more on Lyon to come, it's not always all about the food!  Hugs to all and hopefully you have (or are about to or are going to) enjoy a meal with your family.... Food is the greatest way to experience a moment in time and savour your memories... Henri and Joanne...

Madrid and Toledo.....

Guilty.  I've been dragging my feet and therefore we've been gone from both of these places for at least 10 days... We arrived in Madrid by train from Granada.  Our hotel was the Liabeny which was well located near Puerto del Sol... As with everywhere in Spain we are amazed at the number of people simply walking the streets (the "paseo").  The hotel is well established in Madrid and does not appear to be part of a chain.  Our room is on the 4th floor and does have a window... however our view is of an internal courtyard... really nothing to see. There are two beds which are very, very hard and the room has a lot of built in furniture made of fine quality wood .... I like the "old" feel of the room.  Bed linens are fine cotton and again not typical of today's new hotels..  However...staff are very very rude.  From seeing the other patrons, this is a "local" hotel for Spanish people visiting Madrid. They are not amenable to trying to interpret English.. so be it.... and rudely pointed Henry to the map cache when he asked for one.  Doesn't matter, we're not here to make friends but to visit Madrid and Toledo, so let the visit begin.  We wandered out of the hotel, past the Puerto del Sol and head over to the Mercado.




The selection of food is amazing and the place is teeming with people.  We found a table however no chairs so stood to eat our Tapas.   I must say that although they are good, they are very very expensive and in my humble opinion, not worth the price.  The crowd appears to be very touristy What I thought were skewers of olives and cheese were actually 1 olive and 1 piece of cheese and this cost 1 Euro (about $1.20 per olive).

We ate here a couple of times but felt we could do better....


Our plan in Madrid was to visit the the sites, take a train to Toledo and then continue our visit to Madrid.  However, due to expected rain, we left Toledo until the last day.  Imagine our surprise when we arrived at the Palace to find that it was closed for the day...WOW... here we are in Spain, our last day in Madrid because we had tickets to Toledo the next day, and unable to see one of the major sights.... alors!

We had an early morning train to Toledo and planned on a full day returning to Madrid at 7:00 pm... Toledo is like many European cities... an old centre core and newer developments and material commercial outlets on the outskirts.  The old centre is up a hill so we caught a local bus to the top.   Well HOLY TOLEDO!  The Cathedral is jaw dropping.  The interior is lofty, rich and vast.  The sacristy has a collection of paintings that would challenge any museum on the map... such an iconic church in such a small city.  Because of its importance in Iberia, Toledo was the first city to fall under the Reconquista Christian forces.   The fall of Toledo marked the beginning of the end of the Muslim domination of Iberia. Just a small sampling of what we saw....

The altar looks chaotic, but is actually structured thoughtfully outlining the story of Jesus, up past the archangels to the Last Supper high above..

The Cathedral is really all there is that is a "must see" in Toledo and as we were finished by noon we went back to the train station with a view to changing our tickets.  Turns out that was easy peasy so we were back in Madrid by 1:00 pm....   Yaaaaay.... we're off to the palace.  This is the outside and the building is very imposing... but NO PICS ALLOWED.....

Inside, just another palace. Lots of tapestry, fine silk upholstery, gold, silver and rich rich... you know what I mean.

Henry and I have been to weddings all over the world (France, Italy, Vietnam, Turkey to name a few).  Turns out we were at two in Madrid (gatecrashers yes..)  Here's the groomsmen at a higher end wedding...

and then we happened on a more traditional Spanish wedding with horses and all...unfortunately, I can't find my pictures.  Well Spain is done and we have since flown to Lyon to start our French adventure. More soon I promise and I apologize... there is so much that we've seen, done and eaten that isn't reflected here. We'll have to catch up in person soon.  Love to all, Joanne and Henry....

GRANADA

Granada is GRAND.  I say that in all sincerity.  At one time Granada was the grandest city in Spain but after the tumult that came with the change from Moorish to Christian rule (refer Cordoba blog) Granada lost its power and settled into a long slumber.  Granada is not large (Pop. about 300,000) but it has a large student population (about 70,000 including more than 10,000  from abroad) giving it a youthful zest.  It is also a shopping, shopping, shopping mecca.  Oh to be young with a body to match... the clothes are gorgeous.  Our hotel is very very nice and well located unless you want to sleep with the window open.  I don't know what it is about metropolitan European cities or even small villages but there is noise ALL NIGHT LONG! Yelling, screaming, shouting, singing, cheering and just general NOISE and partying.  As I said our hotel was well located... right in the centre of everything at the spoke of 5 esplanades.  People everywhere..... like Times Square in NY.... no lie.

Our room....3rd floor, 2nd balconiette on the right (European 2nd floor because they don't count the 1st floor in Europe)

Funny thing, I was standing in the lobby waiting for Henry to get his sweater (which he didn't find because he forgot he had parked it elsewhere). Anyway I see this young guy walking bump into a parked car.  He did a couple of twirls and tried to cross the street.  Well then I heard SPLAT!  Face plant on the road.  I started out to help him get up but thankfully two guys on their way to work picked him up and placed him on a bench.... one of those late night partiers?   

Naturally we were off running to explore our neighbourhood.  We started with the Albayzin neighbourhood.  This is Spain's best old Moorish quarter, with countless colorful corners, flowery patios and shady lanes.  The Albayzin is unique.  We climbed high to the San Nicolas church for the best view of the Alhambra.

More on Alhambra in a bit but for the moment just take in the enormous size of this fortress.

Back through the streets of the Albayzin....

Naturally after a while our stomaches reminded us it was time to eat.  We  came across a square with three restaurants.  Picked one and this is what we had..... it was simple but tasty and so so healthy... just tomatoes and omelette ... yum it was good.

But then...... what could we do, our neighbours had THIS!  What could we do?  We did share it though and besides we're at the top of the world and it's a long LONG way down...

Well now back to history.  ALHAMBRA.....it is amazing and we have no less than 536 pictures of it but I'll have to keep it to just a few.  Imagine a beautiful village with beautiful gardens and gathering places.  Imagine water features everywhere and imagine what an engineering feat this was years and years ago.  Bit of history now... Alhambra is named after the fortress's reddish walls. 

Alhambra fortress was the last stronghold of the Moorish kingdom in Europe, really a symbol of retreat.  For centuries, Granada was merely a regional capital.  Gradually the Christian Reconquista moved south, taking Cordoba (1237) and Sevilla (1248). The Nazardis, one of the many diverse ethnic groups of Spanish Muslims, held together the last Moorish kingdom, which they ruled from Granada until 1492.   While Europe slept through the Dark Ages, Moorish magnificence blossomed - ornate stucco, plaster "stalactites," colors galore, scalloped windows framing Granada views, exuberant gardens and water water everywhere.  They were engineering geniuses as evidenced by these handrails which were conduits for water....

Unfortuanately I can only post a few pictures of Alhambra.... it is far too beautiful for words so perhaps these will give you just a teensy bit of taste for what we saw....

We spent hours at Alhambra and have over 500 pictures which we'd be happy to share when we get home.  Needless to say, the place is spectactular and busy busy.... 

Another couple of places we visited were the Royal Chapel housing the tombs of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand (no pics allowed) and the Cathedral - the 2nd larges in Spain with a bright Renaissance interior...

No, it isn't that we didn't eat in Granada because we did but I guess we didn't put as much effort into finding something delicious so what we ate was so so, so I won't waste time on pictures.  Actually, we got coupons for Burger King (2 for one burger) and we did go there a couple of times when not very hungry and just to put our feet up.  It was right across the street from us and we were tired at the end of long days. It did turn out that when we sat down to eat some tapas (not extraordinary) I looked up and saw this...

Funny, when you're a long way from home you seek out the familiar.... "M.D. of Canada"... shame we lost one..

Well this has almost been too big to document and I'm behind so I'm going to sign off now.  Still to come Madrid and Toledo in Spain.  We are already in France and at our home away from home but I hate to miss anything so more to come shortly.... hugs to all and hope to see you all at one time or another.... soon. Henry and Joanne...