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Left the Bordeaux region in France today after 3 wonderful days, learning about wine, meat, cheese and most of all TRADITION.
I had a cheese tour of France at the wonderful fromagiere of Pierre Rollet Gerrard, tasting over 15 cheeses in a couple of hours. And there was a story behind all of them -
In Bages in the Medoc region, just north of Bordeaux, I met a wonderfully enthusiastic butcher, Yves Bruno, who sells meat to many areas of southern France. He specialises in the lambs from Pauillac and beef of Bazas. This beef comes from steers that maybe 3 to 4yo, with the ribeye section up to 25kg alone. One 5cm wide steak weighs 4kg – so why do they have such big carcasses and pieces of steak – TRADITION!
And Bordeaux is obviously famous for its red wine. It produces vast quantities, and amazing quality (in the right years). And the marketing of these wines is done by Merchants -
But it doesn’t end there. In a lovely typically French restaurant in St Emillion, they serve as one of five options for the main course a sausage that is a local speciality, made of pork intestines. Why? From personal experience it is definitely not the taste -
But it is the respect they have for their produce and the traditions behind it, that I admire in the people. They care deeply for their food and where and how it is produced and prepared. They are not being pretentious when they look at the colour and smell the wine before drinking – that is just part of appreciating a fine product. And this respect is passed onto younger generations – last night at a restaurant I observed 3 young families dining, where the children were given the chance to smell the wine to appreciate the aroma.
It is this appreciation and understanding that Gippsland Food Adventures wants to foster and encourage for all the wonderful produce Gippsland has to offer.
For the time being, au revoir.
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