Here comes Lobbie, Lobster Tail…

Ah, the joys of new traditions. Such as lobster for Easter. Such as eating lunch on the patio of Le Petit Paris, in the centre of Daglan. Such as enjoying the most wonderful springtime ever (at least in my lifetime).

Today at Le Petit Paris, we decided to choose all three courses of the chef’s l’idées du moment — and then to go one better. While the entrée and the dessert were the “standard” choices, we opted to pay the extra 12-euro supplement per person to have the lobster as the plat principal. We began with a kir each, and also ordered a bottle of Sancerre to accompany the lobster.

The starter, or entrée, was a dish with three  spears of white aspararus, served with a small dish of mousseline. White asparagus is much more popular in Europe than in North America, and is considered quite a delicacy. But it’s hard to cook properly — if cooked too much, it gets mushy; if not cooked enough, it can be tough and stringy. These spears were perfectly cooked:

Left to right: Mousseline; asparagus; salad greens.

Then came the main event: “Blue” lobster (from Brittany), served with a creamy risotto that had a rich seafood flavour and was studded with lots of mussels. Delicious:

Lobster and risotto: As good as it looks.

For dessert, we enjoyed a parfait that was built on a bed of stewed rhubarb, topped with a pistachio-flavoured mousse, topped with fresh strawberries, topped with whipped cream. (On a side note, the fields around here are now jam-packed with covered rows of strawberries.) Here’s the dessert:

Our strawberry-based dessert.

Finally, to show you just how advanced our spring has become, here is a house across the street from Le Petit Paris. Note how the banana tree has shed its drab brown winter leaves and is now growing strong.

A road, a house, a banana tree.

Wherever you are, I hope that your Easter was enjoyable too.