White truffles, lievre a la royale and six Chateauneuf-du-Pape at the TGJP

[pab]

Hello,
Last friday, we made a very nice dinner with Le Bon Tyran himself (Cole K.), white truffles direct from Bergamo, two hares and six Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2003 & 2004 (Charvin, Ferrand, Clos des Papes & Pierre André). See
www.tgjp.com and click on the Cole's picture.
Ask any questions on the forum and I will try to answer.
Best regards
pierre-alain benoit

 

[Cole Kendall]

I'm not sure my Italian friends will ever agree to try truffles with CNdP but good CNdP is more versatile than it might appear at first glance.

Due to the difficulties of truffle transport (they should remain cool and I had to schlep from my hotel in Milan to CDG and the VIP room of the TGJP) I arrived early in the afternoon and I must say the preparation of lievre was absolutely amazing. Marie-S could have her own show on a cooking channel. Evidently the hares were not especially large (and we were nine) so she sewed two hares together stuffed with all sorts of delectable items (including, of course, foie gras) and wrapped them in some sort of pork intestine mesh...before braising for several hours and doing much else (though pab appears to have sole authorship of the risotto).

Luca/Zul, who had helped me source the truffles (prices are low this year for the first lot), was insistent on the moderate temperature of the risotto which pab respected (white truffles evidently do not do well exposed to high heat, unlike their darker cousins).

And of course in his write-up pab omits the lengthy wine, literary and political discussions, covering everything from Ferguson to Cousine Bette and the importance of working the vineyards.

---LBT