The Origami Chef

The Origami Chef

Food in France is very important. It's not just something you eat. The essentialness of eating and cooking is deeply embedded in the national psyche. So every culinary experience, wherever and whenever it takes place, has to be good. And the expectation here is that it will be. Therefore every time we 'entertain', it's always carefully planned. Sounds like a lot of work, but it isn't. We keep things simple and use quality produce from our local market. I do the regular catering, as tomorrow when we have a French friend for lunch. Although Marie-Michèle is bringing the ingredients for the dessert - Pain Perdu, which Mike adores and I don't know how to make. So she's making it here with me helping. Whenever we go to Cravant's L'Auberge for lunch, they no longer ask what Mike wants for dessert. He is known as 'Monsieur Pain Perdu'. 

Mike is a reluctant cook, although he's actually very good at it. The few times I have been really unwell he has come up with something simple but delicious. But he very clearly sees himself as the 'emergency' chef. He doesn't enjoy doing it. So I look after the daily stuff. 
However Mike has found his niche within the culinary world.

Most of our friends and children either side of the channel know that the taller Shearing is into origami. Fascinated by it in fact. Quite a few homes have a Shearing fold or two, perched on a book case. Fortunately this fascination with things small, which clearly includes me, has been extended to include food, in particular small more fiddly savouries, which are the format for un apéro or un apéro dinatoire - as we had here last night with some neighbours. 

We began with baby tomatoes, which he stuffed with egg, anchovy and olives with pimento. There were little tartelettes with various rillette fillings - fish and meat. Blinis with smoked salmon, crème fraîche and 'mock' caviar. Miniature courgette tartelettes - no pastry just courgette baked in a particular way - so it's a very light mixture. Quails eggs with celery salt. Manchego cheese with membrillo, which is a quince paste and finally my sole contribution, which were individual miniature pavlovas with fresh orange. Started off with fizzy, red wines during and a dessert wine, which as you'd expect were sourced locally. I have to say it was all quite delicious. He'd prepared everything, made all the tartelette cases etc. I was really proud of him.

So as The Origami Chef's newly appointed manager we have unexpectedly and half-seriously, hit on a brand name for our particular range of savoury bouchée. Perhaps we should do something with the idea.Would be rather exciting.