I was very recently part of a foodblogger daytrip to Lille, fully sponsored and put together by Eurostar’s PR bods to help promote their current ‘little break, big difference campaign’….. yup, it was fun, lots of pictures inside.

Here’s what came into my inbox a few weeks ago:

“We would like to invite you to for a little break in Lille on the 22nd August 2009 to experience the culinary delights of Lille for a day”

… for those of you wondering, yes PR companies do use the word ‘invite’. Loads of foodbloggers came along for this free trip as well, and I’ll highlight my interaction with them later in this post.

The day began dim and early at 6 am at Kings Cross, I was really groggy. Somehow I managed to haul my pot belly onto the train, and the next time I opened my eyes, a Frenchman was serving me breakfast.

I woke up to this. We sat in the Leisure select coach (I think) and I actually found the salmon and bellinis to be quite edible. The portions were ridiculously tiny though (check out the relative size of the plate to the apple). Dinner on the way back was laughable, it was dry tortellinis with bone dry chopped olives, and it was so shocking that it wasn’t worth blogging about. So um, yeah, looks like train food suffers the same problem as plane food.

I sense another virgin letter coming …

Right then, more exposition as we ride the train into Gallic lands. I was told that this is the third group of bloggers Eurostar has sponsored, fashion bloggers went to Paris and I believe arts and design peeps went to Brussels. Its kinda ironic, because I was actually on vacation in Paris and Brussels for long weekends last month, couldn have bumped into them.

It didn’t take long to arrive in Lille. It was a sunny day, but the next time I really woke up again, we were in a shop full of sweets. Oh how appropriate. We stopped at Patrick Hermand for their macarons and the rather eye catching mini cakes. The cakes were pretty good, I bought five, and each were selling for a reasonable 1.5 euros. But their macarons… nothing compared to Pierre Herme, which to me, is still the gold standard. The Hermand macarons were not bad but tasted quite typical, you know crunchy and sweet.

Lille is a beautiful place, we passed through lots of side streets, and the whole town is still very much rubble and bricks. Some buildings even had cannon balls still lodged in them from the wars – very picturesque and auld europe. Oh, they filmed a video short of this trip (you can just about see the camera in the distance) , and I’m in it for a couple of seconds, you can watch it here.

It is now about 11am, and we’ve been on foot around Lille for about an hour and abit, and I’m still waiting for a big brunch after the canape sized breakfast on the train. We passed by alot of classical looking bistros and brasseries which me and Helen really wanted to check out. Some really looked atmospheric, and being restaurant goers, it naturally caught our eyes. Thankfully, Sarah told us that we were stopping in a traditional teahouse called Meert which served amazing waffles. Honestly though, I was hoping for something savoury.

So that’s what the tea room looks like inside. Yeah, very grand and all, food please, I’m hungry.

The waffles have landed. I was expecting something alot bigger, these were really tiny, and it was one slice for each of the three of us on my table!!! And it costs about 3 euros each. At this point, I was beginning think that canape sized food was a theme in Lille. I also ordered a lait russe and it came with a straw in it…. I found it a little amusing sucking hot coffee from a straw. Oh right, yeah so the Meert waffles were… nice, but I was more taken with the expensive looking wall sized stained mirror than eating this hobbit sized waffle. I’ve been awake for more than 6 hours now, and I still hadn’t had a big meal yet – that is a first.

A large chunk of our afternoon was spent in a cooking school, namely L’Atelier des Chef. I found it a little odd that we were cramped into a swish kitchen… and had to cook our own lunch, proof there really is no such thing as a free ride. Our chef looked like a younger and slicker version of Heston Blumenthal, and he was French.

I actually really enjoyed the cooking, it was really alot of fun and I might even spend more time in the kitchen after this. Personally though, I still wouldnt go on holiday to learn how to cook (L’Atelier is also in London..), but as an experience it was worthwhile.

So, we were sizzling cod …

….. and making our own french tiramisus.

And here’s the finished product… I cooked (parts of) this!! The full description: A piece of cod lacqued with honey and flower beer sauce and a quick sauté of finely cut seasonal vegetables from the North. The fish was beautifully fresh and bouncy, but the chef was underhanded with the seasoning as I found myself vigorously salting the fish. He needs to go back to cooking school 101, in my opinion. Fail. Oh wait, but I cooked it. Dammit, I hate these food bloggers slaging us chefs off, have they no conscience, can they not taste the care and attention which went into this loving creation?

Pudding was Ch’tiramisu, which is the same as tiramisu, except it is made with Spéculoos biscuits instead of sponge fingers. It was startling how easy this was to make, especially when you have French Heston watching over you. Seriously, that guy should consider applying to the Fat Duck, he can act as Heston’s body double, and wow the guests every now and again by simply stepping into the dining room. Nobody will be able to tell the difference, people will just think that Heston has started going to the gym.

(Not that he doesn’t already, nor am I suggesting that he doesnt look athletic, ok stop typing.)

A bit more walking later, we found ourselves in the basement of a pub , for a beer & cheese tasting session. The cheese was supplied by Philippe Olivier and all four of them were fantastic. I think the crowd favourite was the Maroilles, which was a beautiful soft cheese presumably washed in French beer. Other bloggers can confirm this, I was too drunk on dairy to notice.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip, Lille is a charming little getaway and I would go back again to try some of the bistros I came across. I leave you with this picture of us, after a tiring day, settling to cool beer and some luscious cheese. Ah, before I forget, it really was lovely meeting fellow foodbloggers, we know each other’s words, so it was nice to finally put a face to those words. It took me almost a year to meet Niamh and Chris. Of course, it is always a pleasure hanging out with Helen and Helen; Margot and Michelle had very swish camera gear with them, and I was excited that Krista got a new camera! I didn’t spend enough time talking to Liz and I was admiring Ms Marmite’s fluency with the French Language. Stephen and Kerri are lovely, lovely peeps and most of all, it was a blast getting fake-lost in the side streets with Andy of Spittoon.

Hope you liked this little photo essay folks, You can find the full set of pictures on my flickr account, separated by categories: People, Food and sights , and if anybody wants me to take down any pictures, please be sure to let me know.

Have a beautiful bank holiday weekend folks and see you back here on tuesday!

Like this blog? Why not subscribe to the email newsletter ; alternatively you can subcribe to the RSSfeed.

The things I do for food. Sunday and I’ve signed up to the Nom Nom Nom Cooking Competition, and amazingly, was one half of the final nine teams. My cooking partner in crime is Billy of Cowfish, and we face-off against… lots of bloggers, with the grand prize of a dinner at Tsuru.

I didn’t win, I can’t cook, I almost made a fool of myself, but I did eat alot. Photo essay time folks, follow me behind the scenes to learn what made Team Cowfish+Eater tickle like clockwork. And so we go, into the kitchens of The Cookery School…..

Arrivals

So, we all got there at 9.30 am…. actually I got there at 9.30 am. Billy had been waiting for about twenty minutes, and he was so nervous that I would be a no-show. Are ya kidding? I always show up for food. Right then, breakfast is scones, cookies and brew. Ahh… right then, let’s get to work.

Sourcing Produce

We set off at around 10am to go and get our raw materials, our budget was £40, and this has to be the best part of the day, I love food markets.

Alright, so we need to pick up some really fresh produce, I haven’t gone through our menu yet, I will do so abit later, but we are starting with a fresh and summery salad.

One more of the fresh vegetables, before we move on to my favourite part, of the favourite part of the day. Hmm. So we’re serving up roast beef for mains, and we popped into The Ginger Pig for some proper bovine stuff.

Oh man, this shop really rocked hard. There’s alot of really tasty looking beef, all over the shop. It looked so good, I could have eaten it raw. Billy informed me that they did amazing sausage rolls, hmm, mid morning snack d’you think?

I don’t usually like featuring myself on the blog, but ah well, this picture is funny I think, I’m stuffing my face (and I need a haircut).

Yup didn’t even think twice about it. Picked up the £2.80 Pork and Stilton flavour….

Oh my gosh, the sausage roll is heavenly. Rich and intense flavours, the porkiness was full on and the stilton only added to flavour. There’s quite abit of oiliness, and the crust was crusty and crispy. It is really savoury and really, really good. I was hungry for more.

We also picked up some cheese from La Fromagerie, who informed me that I had to photograph the cheeses with at least ‘one person in the picture’. Too much trouble, no pictures of cheeses in that case. OK time to head back.

Cooking time

Ok so we had 2.5 hours to whip up a true storm, we’re team no.2, and we started with the desserts first. We’re making a trio of granitas.

That means we needed to squeeze all the juices as we can from the gooseberries, raspberries and blackberries, and then blast chill them. We had to take them out of the freezer every ten minutes to chip away at the ice crystals such that the final mix was a smooth one.

The roast beef, 45 minutes in the oven, and I think it came out pretty succesfully. But I have to give all the credit to Billy, he did all the magic. Can I just say that Billy is amazing in the kitchen. I was standing on the sidelines watching him work (no seriously, I really was) and I was so glad he was leading the way. I really am rubbish at cooking. But you know what they say, those who can’t, eat…

And here’s more of Billy doing more work, this time with the vegetables. We had very, very little time to plate up, about 8 minutes to be exact. And I was like what? how? where? huh? shitealicious? We managed to get the plates to the judges in time though. Phew. Ok, ok. Without further ado then, Team Cowfish+Eater presents…..

Starters: Seasonal Game Salad

Ok well, not quite game (we couldnt find any), but smoked duck in it’s place. The salad is rocket, land cress and sorrel, with radish shavings and crumblings of Sardinian Pecerino cheese, in a lemon balsamic dressing.

Mains: Roast beef with Trimmings

This one came out as expected. Roast beef, with butter infused carrots, roast potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli and peas.

And also, served with an oversized yorkshire pudding.

Pudding: Trio of Granitas

Raspberries, Blackcurrant and Gooseberry, garnished with mint leaves.

Clap, clap, clap. Billy, you are a true star, and you’re the real winner to me, watching you cook and working with you has been a real privilege, and I hope I wasn’t too much of a burden for ya mate.

Nope we didn’t win, but we didn’t win because everybody actually cooked really great food, and that was a good thing, as I found out when I tucked in….

and then the desserts….

All in all, it was a tiring day, but it was really fun. I felt strangely ‘fulfilled’ after it was done, and honestly, I didnt expect to win anything, but I was glad it was a wonderful experience.

And this shot, I love the most, everybody tucking in to the food. We live to eat folks, well at least I do.

And the winners are…

Tom Aikens was among the judges, and I regret not taking a picture with him, or indeed, making him sign my chest. Hm.

Thanks to all the wonderful people behind The Cookery School, whom without their help, I would just be double dipping with the same spoon, over and over again. (isn’t that multi dipping?)

Ok now on to the winners! And the runners-up….

…..The Ginger Gourmand and Chris ‘More Tea Vicar‘ Dreyfus.

Drumroll please, and the winners of Nom Nom Nom 2009….

They are The French Connection; with a team name like that, they gotta be winners.

Alright, so I hope you enjoyed the behind the scenes with Team Cowfish+Eater, clearly we lost because I spent too much time eating, rather than cooking, but hey did you expect any less?

The full set of photographs are on my flickr account here, so do check that one. That’s all folks.

Like this blog? Why not subscribe to the email newsletter ; alternatively you can subcribe to the RSS feed.