Thinking of purchasing your own French Château? Feeling a need to have your own moat and turret? This is the second in a series, of what to do with an old château.
The elegant and dashing agent d'immoblier who sold our house for us also deals in châteaux sales. I chatted with him about them, curious as to who buys them. "No one really wants to live like that anymore," he confided. "Who needs a ballroom for 100? And they are enormously expensive to maintain. Americans buy them, as trophy houses. The French who are into history sometimes buy them as family homes."
Some châteaux, of course, become hotels and restaurants, an ideal use for a house with a gazillion bedrooms. We visited one, pre-lockdown, in Meursault, and ate at the Bistro de Potager at the Château de Cîteaux.
At a château there is space to spread out. Which is why, next to the pretty terrace dining at the Bistro, there was a potager, beside a tall pigeonnier (which were historically used for making compost from the pigeon droppings, for the potager). We were eating veggies right out of the garden. They also have a vineyard, and a fancy restaurant, and of course the hotel. And then there was le brasero.
The potager is to the left of the tower.
Fresh veggies from the potager
Newly trendy for outdoor French summer dining are les braseros. These are large, round, firepits used as outdoor grills. One of the chefs presides over it, cooking huge steaks and sometimes lobsters or prawns, over the wood fire. A nice treat for us since we have no room for a grill on our Beaune balcone. So what did my carnivore order? Barbequed ribs! Who knew the French had heard of this southern specialty. The chef came over to our table and explained that he first marinated them and cooked them slowly, overnight, then glazed them with southern barbecue sauce and finished them off on the grill. Ron was in paradis! We explained to him that barbeque sauce recipes in the South vary by state, even by city. His was a delicious red sauce.
The brasero chef at work
French cuisine takes a southern turn!
The vineyards of the châreau
If you want to follow the Burgundy château trail and see châteaux that are open to the public, there are two official "routes", nord and sud. We've seen most of the southern ones, called Les Routes des Châteaux en Bourgone du Sud, so we're now attacking the northern route, which is called Route des Ducs de Bourgogne. Both have handy fold-out brochures that you can find at local tourist offices. There is a bit of overlap between the two. TripSavy has a good chateau route as well.
And if you happen to be in the market for one, here's a nice one in the Poitou-Charentes region for a mere 3 million. Don't forget to budget a million or so a year for maintenance.
Now, what to serve for dinner, when we are in a grand château mood? My vote is our British friend Linda's Company Salmon, which has a crunchy herb topping. I've made this several times, using salmon sometimes and other times a firm white fish. It's fantastic and quick. You could vary the herbs, too, if you wish.
RECIPE: Linda's Company Salmon, Elegant and Easy
Serves 4.
4 salmon fillets, or other firm white fish fillets
A little olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
2/3 cup (75g) fresh white breadcrumbs
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley
1 fat garlic clove, very finely chopped
2 tablespoons (25g) melted butter
Preheat oven to 425f, 230C/fan 210C, gas 8.
Season fish with salt and pepper and lay skin side down in an oiled oven proof dish. Put the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, thyme, parsley and garlic, a pinch of salt and some black pepper in a bowl and stir in the melted butter with a fork until everything is well mixed (Linda whirs it all in a small food processor).
Divide the crust mixture between each piece of salmon and carefully press it over the top in a thick even layer. Drizzle over a little olive oil and bake for 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish, until the crust is lightly golden and fish cooked through. Et voilà!
In the COMMENTS: As Martin says, I've opened up not one but two cans of worms, in taking on a discussion of English tea! And I learned a lot from our readers. Gwyneth, Natalia, Debbie, Libby, and Martin all offer tea and/or proper tea-making recommendations. There is much discussion about the proper pronunciation of scones! Jane says, pinkies in, please! And Suzanne shares a very handy recipe for making savory pancakes from any veggie.
Favorite READS: Anne Marie recommends An Officer and A Spy, a thriller about the Dreyfus affair. And on TV, Colleen is watching the Queen's Gambit on Netflix. Several friends recommended this too, so we tuned in and are loving it.
