Philippe Renard's magic Xmas

For your eyes only, a few pictures taken from our favourite cook's Xmas special. For more info about Philippe Renard look here : Phil's interview

It all started with a steam cooked foie gras with fig & red wine marmelade, dried tomatoes pesto & toasted baguette. Phil's tip : for those who can't bear the thought of foie gras, Gaia has made "Faux Gras" which is a totally plant based product.

First starter : Smoked halibut in a creamy leek soup with hering "caviar". Phil's tip : hering is much cheaper than the real stuff and tastes similar.

Second starter : Calf's sweetbread topped with red mullet in a butternut squash sauce. It's actually topped with fried leek. I had never tried sweetbread before and it is very good. If you like veal, you'll probably like it.

Now, the main course... Crusty dried nuts coated deer filet, spicy apple & pear skewer. What you can't see on the picture is the additional brocoli mousse and wild mushroom side veg.

At this stage, everyone is stuffed ! But you got to have a cheese dish, right ? So, here you are with this local cheese 'P'tit rossê'* in a cassolette, with bacon and caramelised radiccio. Mama mia !

*This raw milk soft cheese received an award. It is a type of wheese similar to Brie and Camembert. Raw milk is absolutely not mandatory, you can chose pasteurised. But it's in our culture and traditions to live a risky life ;)