Ooh la la! Rillettes à la Bourdain with Poilâne bread

We love Paris, with its wide boulevards, stunning art, and remarkable cuisine, and our hearts beat a little faster every time we reminisce about La Rambla, Gaudi, and the glories of Barcelona.  Yet more than any other place, our hearts belong to Italy.  From our first glimpse of the Colosseum, to our first bite of our first meal in Rome, we've been in love with Italy and its food.  Rob went so far as to learn the language -- taking great delight in shocking his Italian teacher by asking her the meaning of particularly titillating words with feigned, wide-eyed innocence -- and we flirted with the idea of moving there.  We gaze at the belpaese every day, or at least the map on our wall.  We even honeymooned there. 

So why the heck do we have so much French food on our blog lately?

Looking over recent posts, I notice a definite trend: coq au vin, creme brulee, galettes and crepes, croque monsieur.  It's all so much we've decided to add a new category for French food on Hungry In Hogtown.  And to think our first three posts were all Italian!  (Visit our Dec. 2005 archives for proof.  Granted, preserved lemons are really Mediterranean, but we did use an Italian recipe). 

I guess there were signs, like our growing insistence on the perfect baguette, baked that morning, and, if we're lucky, still warm from the oven.  We're addicted to Ace Bakery's baguette, and once made three separate trips to different stores to procure one for the perfect sandwich, much to the amusement of my visiting parents. 

The trend continues today with a rustic French preparation, rillettes. Think of rillettes as a kind of a French version of pulled pork, or a lazy version of pâté: pork belly and shoulder, specially ordered from Rowe Farm Meats in the North St. Lawrence Market, simmered lovingly for hours, then shredded.  We used Anthony Bourdain's recipe from his Les Halles Cookbook, and it was easy to make (a real pièce de gâteau, if you will).  The biggest challenge was the pork fat.  Like a confit, the tender meat is sealed with a layer of fat.  Bourdain says to use thin slices, but we decided to be really thorough and to render some fat from the belly.  Hours later, what little fat we had sizzled away in the pan.  In an act of midnight desperation, we turned to the microwave, which produced beautifully melted fat in minutes. 

What is a worthy pairing for your very first bowl of soft, flavourful rillettes?  Cornichons with a tarragon bite to them, absolutely.  Good wine, of course.  But good bread, more than anything else, is a must for rillettes (actually, good bread is a must, period, but that's a whole other post).  How about Poilâne bread, flown in directly from Paris and available in Toronto every Wednesday at Holt Renfrew? No less an authority than Jeffrey Steingarten describes Poilâne as "the most famous bakery in the world."  Of their signature bread, he writes: "Poilâne's bread defines the good loaf: a thick, crackling crust; a chewy, moist, aerated interior; the ancient earthy flavors of toasted whole wheat and tang fermentation; and a range of more elusive tastes -- roasted nuts, butterscotch, dried pears, grassy fields."  Yes, it's chi-chi, and, at $10 for a quarter of a loaf, expensive, but who wouldn't want to try that bread?  Dense, dark, with the tang of sourdough and a snap to its crust, this is bread to be reckoned with (each loaf weighs almost 2 kg, or 4 pounds), and marries quite well with the mild buttery pork.      

So really, I guess it's pretty clear why we've been cooking so much French food lately.  Maybe we'll take out the pasta machine this weekend, but in the meantime, we have another bowl of rillettes demanding to be eaten.  You know what that means: emergency baguette run.  Allons-y!

Comments

[Bron]

Jeepers, that's a lotta dough for a 1/4 loaf!
Living out of town and far from any decent bakery, I generally have to make do with my own mediocre bread. I am getting better though and at least we know all what went in to make it. Hoping to build our own large outdoor woodfired oven someday.

[Ivonne]

You know, while I was doing my series on Piemonte for the Olympics, one of the themes that kept coming up was how linked French and Italian cooking are. So I don't think it's at all strange that you have such a deep love for Italian food and are also drawn to French food.

The rillettes looks mouth-watering. I finally caved and bought Les Halles earlier this week. The deciding factor was Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" which I am zipping through. It's fascinating.

Have you read On Rue Tatin by Susan Hermann Loomis? If not you may want to give it a try. And you may also want to pick up a copy of her French Farmhouse Cookbook. It makes you want to sell everything and move to a little barn in Provence!

[GastroChick]

I concur with Steingarten, it is surely the most delectable of all breads. I live in London and they bake it fresh at Borough market.

[Bea at La Tartine Gourmande]

Rillettes are one of my mum's favorite food and weakness! If you pair it with Poilâne bread, c'est le paradis! Looking forward to getting to the bakery soon enough ehehehhe! Just love old fashioned HUGE loaves. The bigger the better! Beautiful that you made those rillettes yourself!

[Tania]

Magnifique! Oh, I completely understand your love of French food, starting with the need for that perfect baguette. I take it you have eaten at the charming Le Paradis (on Bedford, I think, near Avenue Rd.)? If not, you must dine there!! You will love it!

[rachel]

Bron: Oooh, your own wood-fired oven sounds great. I only hope you use it for pizza as well.

Ivonne: Thanks for the book recommendations -- I'll definitely check them out. And people who love food are my kind of people, no matter whether they're French or Italian!

Gastrochick, I can only imagine how good the Poilane would be fresh-baked. We have some pretty good artisanal bakers here in Toronto (Thuet, Harbord Bakery, Clafouti for croissants, Fred's Breads - esp. love their spelt loaf, lots of others), but I admire how a French host once got up early in the morning to fetch us bread for breakfast, because it was unthinkable we would eat yesterday's. He also went to 3 different bakeries to get their specialties. Swoon.

Bea: Huge loaves *are* good, but I also think the demi-baguettes are very cute, and perfect for a meal for one.

Tania: I have eaten at Le Paradis, & it was lovely. Rob wasn't there, but I've already had a friend see this and email me to tell me to bring her on my next visit. So it looks like I'll be visiting again very soon! Thanks for the reminder!

[Anita]

You're making me miss Paris and le pain Poilâne all over again! Great job on the rillettes, they look like a wonderful treat!

[TBTAM]

Tres magnifique!

I ate at Les Halles once and it was a really fun experience. Very casual atmosphere (there's a little meat market in the front of the restaurant). Great wine list, we ate with friends who know wine and ordered some amazing reds while we were there. Anthony wasn't there, unfortunately. Now it seems I must revisit and order rillettes. And I definitely have to get back into the kitchen....

[rob]

Anita, I'm sure you don't need us to miss Paris. Glad you enjoyed the rillettes.

TBTAM, I must say I envy the fact that you live in perhaps the finest restaurant city in the world. Perhaps it's a good thing I don't live in NYC, since I'd never cook.

[Brian]

great blog you have here!

I'm personally a big fan of Mr. Bourdain and his no bullshit approach to life through the eyes of a battle worn foodie... I've yet to make the Rillettes, but I'm inspired now.

[Robor]

Hello,
Super post, Need to mark it on Digg

Thank you
Robor