Restaurants in the Greater Daglan Area are now allowed to serve people indoors, not just outside on terraces. Still, Jan and I have been cautious, and have used the take-out services of nearby restaurants for our Sunday lunches. And so it was yesterday — with food picked up from Daglan’s lovely restaurant, Le Petit Paris, a short walk from our home in the village.
I give the restaurant a lot of credit for varying its take-out menu day by day. Yesterday’s plat principal was anything but “fine,” but it was certainly delicious. It was the classic home style dish, pot-au-feu, at just 11 euros.
In case you’re not sure what pot-au-feu is, here’s what one of my favourite cook books, Saveur Cooks Authentic France, Rediscovering the Recipes, Traditions, and Flavors of the World’s Greatest Cuisine, has to say about the dish:
“Literally ‘pot on the fire,’ pot-au-feu dates back to the Middle Ages and is now unarguably the national dish of France.”
In somewhat less grand terms, this might be described simply as a boiled beef dinner. In any case, it consists of slow-cooked beef in a vegetable broth, with potatoes, carrots, leeks, celeriac, and celery. It’s not glamorous, but it’s very tasty. And here’s my serving:
Meat, veg, potato — the big three.
The take-out desserts at Le Petit Paris for yesterday included Crème citron mascarpone at just 4 euros, and so that’s what we ordered.
The creamy dish, decorated with a fresh sprig of mint and some red currants, was smooth and delicious. Here’s my serving:
Nice and creamy, with the fresh taste of lemon.
As for next Sunday, who knows what we’ll try. But in the meantime, we have a date for lunch on Wednesday with friends — inside an actual restaurant for the first time in a long time. No doubt I will be reporting. After all, it’s a top-flight restaurant specializing in seafood.
Where is this restaurant that specialises in seafood please