France: November 6 -- "Would you like champagne or sauternes with that?"

The next morning was cold. The fire had died down and the place was freezing. When we got out to the car there was actually ice on the windshield, and of course the rental company had not included an ice-scraper. But in any case, we got ready and headed off to Gourdon to visit Valette.

Valette is the largest company that I deal with as a supplier. They make a large range of foie gras, patés, confit, sauces, and related items. I had had little personal contact with them before, so it would be good to meet the export manager and talk face to face.

We were taken on a tour of both their warehouse and packaging operations, as well as their factory in St Claire, a sleepy little village a few kilometers away. It was, at least for us, a huge plant: white, clean and smelling of bleach. We signed a form stating that we didn't have any stomach bugs at the moment and donned disposable white gowns, hats and shoe covers.

Despite the clinical nature of the plant, surprisingly much was done by hand, and was not too far from how you would make similar products at home or in a professional kitchen. Livers and meat were delivered fresh from the meat-processing/butcher operation in Bergerac. Salt, pepper and other ingredients like Armagnac (that was stored in huge white containers) was added to the duck in big drums that slowly rotated till the spices had marinated the meat. Livers were then sent off to a room where little old ladies in white hats cleaned them, then stuck them in glass jars, weighing them carefully, before the jars were cooked and it was done. That's really all there is to it. The meat, like the duck legs, were cooked in big vats of duck fat at about 90 degrees, just like a large version of cooking confit in ones own oven. The result was then canned along a line where fat was added to the jar or can, and again much of this was done by hand.

After this we got some taste samples back at the main office, when the person we were meeting opened the fridge and asked "would you like champagne or sauternes with that?" That is definitely the first time someone asked me that question at a business meeting. It's a good reminder that I'm in the right business... (we took the sauternes, of course)

We had a nice light lunch (as light as it gets down here) of braised quail at a little restaurant in Gourdon. We tend to have the restaurants to ourselves these days as the tourist season is over. The weather had turned so warm that we sat outside in the bright sunlight and ate al fresco.

The rest of the day we did some shopping. I practiced my french by making some smalltalk with the butcher at the local "Shopi", which I am proud to say I pulled off. We bought too much, as usual: rillettes, cheeses, salad, wine, bread... all the good basic stuff. When we came home I made a simple dinner. I started with a pumpkin soup, flavored with curry, shallots and crème fraiche. Then we tried a sample we got from Valette, a ready-made dish of foie gras with apples, caramel sauce and a biscuit which was reheated in the glass it came in. It was nice, but as a purist I still prefer my foie gras without too many embellishments. Then we cooked a big juicy slice of côte de veau, a french cut of veal which puts other meat to shame. It was cooked quite rare, yet it was tender, flavorful and juicy. Ice cream for dessert.

I pulled out some of my better wines from the cellar, including Clos Fontindoule, a sweet Monbazillac which isn't made anymore. This was from 1990, and has been getting better every year, and this was no exception. Life is sometimes pretty good.