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If we are what we eat, I only wanna eat the good stuff...

I don't remember the first time I ate boeuf bourguinon. My mom went through a "dinner party phase" when I was little, and she made it to impress her friends.

As for the next time I ate it, I don't remember the dish as much as I remember the experience. This was the summer I graduated, before I began my love affair with cooking. I was in France with a school group, my mom, my grandma and my brother. We started with a few days in Paris, but I didn't have the same culinary experience that Julia Child did. I found the city just as delectable as she did, but I didn't have the same gastronomic opportunities that she did.

Since I was there with a school group, we had certain places we had to go during our tour. One of these places was a Lebanese restaurant where we had to eat at least once a day. I have noting against Lebanese food. It's quite good. But when you're in Paris, you should be eating French food. Luckily, my grandma finds adventures in everyday situations, and she stumbled upon the most charming bistro on Le Champs d'Elysee (the name of which escapes me right now) where the staff wore sailor suits. I don't know what I ordered (probably a salade Niçoise - I like saying the word "Niçoise" - and an Orangina) but I remember it was good.

Anyway, the boeuf bourguinon. We were in the Loire Valley and there was a music festival going on. One night for dinner, before going out to hear the live music, our chaperons made us dress up and took us for food down in our hotel restaurant. And I ordered the boeuf bourguinon. As I mentioned earlier, I don't remember the food so much as the experience. If I close my eyes and concentrate really hard, I can almost see the browns, purples, oranges and whites of the dish, but that may be just a recollection of pictures I've seen on TV and in cookbooks. I don't remember the taste or the smell. But I remember that I liked it.

And after cooking it for the first time tonight, I have to say...Julia was right. It is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man...

Comments

  1. MalloryAugust 27, 2010 at 6:38 PM

    From Mom...I don't have any of the accounts needed to sign in! Remember the massive amounts of gelato we consumed in Italy? And the place in Rome that made the fettuccine Alfredo for Tommy because he just had to have it? That was a great trip:)

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