Today marked Spiritus' first full day in Dijon. It started off with two different types of tours and topped off with a concert at Eglise Sacré Coeur.
Getting to know Dijon - The History Tour
Much of the choir went on a walking tour of Dijon. More details will follow once I find one of the walking tour participants to tell me what happened.
Getting to know Dijon - The Food Edition
I didn't go on the walking tour - at least not the scheduled walking tour with the rest of the choir. Instead, I joined a smaller group that took a more private tour of the city, and culminating in a master cooking class.
Our guide was Alex Mills. Originally from New York, Alex is a chef who specializes in French cuisine, having worked in a number of five-star restaurants during the course of his career. He picked us up from the hotel and took us on his own walking tour of Dijon, where we discovered a very interesting philosophy: whereas North Americans tend to flaunt as much as they have (i.e., the yard, the car, etc.), the French tend to allow you to uncover. That was particularly evident from the various courtyards we passed.
Along the tour we stopped by Dijon's own Notre Dame cathedral. Along one of the sides of the cathedral was the famed owl stone. According to local legend, you're supposed to say a wish at this stone. Alex told us that we should repeat our wish three times to coincide with the three underground springs that supply water to allow your wish to come true.
Our next stop was perhaps one of the most fantastic markets I'd ever visited. And this was where we truly saw our chef masterfully weave his way through looking for ingredients. Alex is a firm believer in the locovore movement, that we should try to gather our food locally. Alex met with vendors at the market that specialized in local foods. It was interesting watching him converse with them because it shows they certainly know him well, and would provide the best ingredients for the food we were about to prepare.
I have to say, though, that the market had some pretty amazing foods. I was particularly blown away by the fruit. One of the vendors we met had some rather exotic fruits: juicy nectarines from South Africa and sumptuous mango from Ivory Coast. OK, so I broke the locovore pact to indulge but it was definitely worth it!
It turns out that Alex had rented a kitchen from a family that lives in downtown Dijon for the cooking class. It certainly gave the experience a rather homey feel. It really felt like it was more than just cooking, it was more like creating art. And believe me, what Alex created for us was indeed art. I won't bore you with all the details of what we did, but rather jump ahead to the finished products. Sufficed to say, it was a gastronomically adventurous afternoon that left all of us feeling rather contented and full.
Concert at Eglise Sacré Coeur
We finished the day with a concert at Eglise Sacré Coeur. Again, the acoustics were wonderfully live in that our voices kept bouncing around the sancutary. The French crowd seemed genuinely pleased with our performance: our encore number Alouette certainly put a smile on many people's faces. We also performed George Fenwick's Cold Spell for the final time on this tour.
The evening ended with an impromptu celebration back at the hotel. Tomorrow, the choir heads to Beaune, about 30 minutes away from Dijon, which our courier Marianne tells us is in the heart of the Bourgogne wine country. The choir will visit a wine vendor, and pretty much have the day open.
A la prochaine!
Getting to know Dijon - The History Tour
Much of the choir went on a walking tour of Dijon. More details will follow once I find one of the walking tour participants to tell me what happened.
Getting to know Dijon - The Food Edition
I didn't go on the walking tour - at least not the scheduled walking tour with the rest of the choir. Instead, I joined a smaller group that took a more private tour of the city, and culminating in a master cooking class.
Our guide was Alex Mills. Originally from New York, Alex is a chef who specializes in French cuisine, having worked in a number of five-star restaurants during the course of his career. He picked us up from the hotel and took us on his own walking tour of Dijon, where we discovered a very interesting philosophy: whereas North Americans tend to flaunt as much as they have (i.e., the yard, the car, etc.), the French tend to allow you to uncover. That was particularly evident from the various courtyards we passed.
Along the tour we stopped by Dijon's own Notre Dame cathedral. Along one of the sides of the cathedral was the famed owl stone. According to local legend, you're supposed to say a wish at this stone. Alex told us that we should repeat our wish three times to coincide with the three underground springs that supply water to allow your wish to come true.
 |
| La Chouette de Dijon You place your left palm on the owl and make a wish three times |
I have to say, though, that the market had some pretty amazing foods. I was particularly blown away by the fruit. One of the vendors we met had some rather exotic fruits: juicy nectarines from South Africa and sumptuous mango from Ivory Coast. OK, so I broke the locovore pact to indulge but it was definitely worth it!
 |
| Just a piece of some of the best mango I've had... ever! |
It turns out that Alex had rented a kitchen from a family that lives in downtown Dijon for the cooking class. It certainly gave the experience a rather homey feel. It really felt like it was more than just cooking, it was more like creating art. And believe me, what Alex created for us was indeed art. I won't bore you with all the details of what we did, but rather jump ahead to the finished products. Sufficed to say, it was a gastronomically adventurous afternoon that left all of us feeling rather contented and full.
 |
| The starter: Green beans and asparagus in butter sauce. Wild asparagus on top with pastry in the middle. |
 |
| Rabbit and pork in white wine and mustard sauce with potatoes and chantrelles. |
 |
| Various cheeses, including a Roquefort that doesn't get exported from France, and is made from ewe's milk. |
 |
| A flour-less cake with creme patissiere in the middle |
 |
| Our cooking class Anne, Mark, Oliver, Anna Marie, Alex, Bob, Katy and Katherine |
We finished the day with a concert at Eglise Sacré Coeur. Again, the acoustics were wonderfully live in that our voices kept bouncing around the sancutary. The French crowd seemed genuinely pleased with our performance: our encore number Alouette certainly put a smile on many people's faces. We also performed George Fenwick's Cold Spell for the final time on this tour.
The evening ended with an impromptu celebration back at the hotel. Tomorrow, the choir heads to Beaune, about 30 minutes away from Dijon, which our courier Marianne tells us is in the heart of the Bourgogne wine country. The choir will visit a wine vendor, and pretty much have the day open.
A la prochaine!
No comments:
Post a Comment