Do you remember the book that came out around 2005 "French Women Don't Get Fat"? It was all about how French women eat bread and pastry, drink wine and enjoy three course meals. We shall see after this trip, if all of that is true!
Speaking of food, today is our cooking class. I am very excited about it. Today on Facebook, memories of three years ago popped up. Three years ago, I was in Tuscany and I was participating in a cooking lesson. Here I am three years later, learning how to cook the French way. Now what is really humorous, I don't really cook. I cook basic meals, but I am not into all the spices and the steps of creating a masterpiece. My sister, on the other hand, LOVES to cook. It is therapy for her. And yes, I love it when she cooks. All her meals are so divine. The others in the group were very excited about cooking a French meal, especially Cindy. Cooking is therapy for her, as well.
As we arrived at the cooking lesson, our instructor, Gabrielle, took us to a classroom where we each would have our own individual space with household appliances, as well as all the utensils needed to make the recipes. The meal that we were cooking was lunch and we would enjoy the delicious meal that we cooked.
A typical French lunch consists of a starter(une entree), such as a mixed salad, soup or pate. The main course(le plat principal) is typically a choice of meat or fish with potatoes, rice, pasta and/or vegetables. After your meal, you could enjoy a cheese course and/or a dessert.
Gabrielle said that we would be preparing a salad, quiche and a dessert. While us westerners prefer to have quiche for breakfast, the French prefer to eat it for lunch. For our dessert, where the real baking would take place, we were going to each create our own creme brulee. Yum!
As we put on our aprons, we were each given a task. One person prepared the salad. One group worked on preparing the crispy pastry base and another group prepared the quiche. The quiche had bacon, milk, heavy cream, eggs, cheese, chives and seasoning(salt, pepper and nutmeg).
Then there was the group that began the preparations for the creme brulee.
As the quiche baked, we all participated in the creme brulee lesson. Creme brulee is one of the most raved about French desserts. We each had our own ramekin(small glazed ceramic dish). We each created our own custard and then we poured it into our ramekin. The pan that the ramekins were on were placed into the oven until the custard center was jiggly and the edges were set. We then topped the brulee with a texturally contrasting layer of hardened caramelized sugar.
We were now ready to set the table to enjoy our salad, bread and quiche and creme brulee. Of course with our meal, we had wine. The French don't really like to indulge in a meal without wine. What a great way to enjoy the meal!
Lots of photos were taken during our class and everyone looks forward to sharing them with family and friends.
It was early afternoon, as we kissed (bisou) and hugged our goodbyes to Gabrielle.
Next stop is "Maison des Canuts". The 1 1/2 hour tour of the 19th century building with displays tracing back to five centuries of silk production. We learned about how the silk workers shaped Lyonnais culture, as well as how silk gets made. The tour ended at the lovely boutique where we were able to purchase a chic scarf to remember our visit.
As we left the boutique, we toured through "La Croix-Rousse", which has a unique atmosphere compared to the rest of the city. The appearance of the neighborhood is influenced by the central role that Lyon played in the silk industry. The majority of the buildings in the area feature large vaulted ceilings with exposed wooden rafters. These large buildings were necessary to house the tall silk looms, that were operated in the area. The name "La Croix-Rousse"(the russet/red cross) comes from a reddish-brown stone cross erected there in the 16th century.
The day ended by Hotel de Ville, which is the city hall of the City of Lyon and one of the most historic buildings in the city, located between the Place des Terreaux(the square) and the Place de la Comedie, in front of the Opera Nouvel(opera house).
We enjoyed another exquisite meal and then located a music venue that catered to all our tastes in music.
It was a long day and we enjoyed every minute of it! Until tomorrow, when we discover the chocolate factory.
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