LA BONNE ANNEE

Annie and M, who were our kind hosts for New Year when we visited Tharon Plage, came over yesterday evening. For dinner, yes, but principally to watch the Claude Lelouch film La Bonne Année, which dates from 1973 and is one of my favourite films.  (Poor Lelouch, he always gets panned by the critics but I think his films are inventive, memorable and fun - sheer entertainment, which is what I go to the cinema for).  Anyway at Tharon - over New Year - (the title of the film - La Bonne Année means - literally - The Happy New Year) we sat down to watch the film but the DVD player expired after the first five minutes.  Hence, my offer to show the film on our DVD player at a suitable time when we got home again.   Which occasion was last night.

And very good it was to see the old film (which hasn't much dated) with its blend of comedy, romance and philosophy. Question: 'what is a woman?' she asks. 'A man that cries a little,' he replies.  Later she asks him what a man is and he replies that a man is someone who goes right to the end. Which may or may not advance the price of eggs but is interesting and makes you think.  The film is about a jewel robbery, incidentally, in the south of France and it stars Lino Ventura and Francoise Fabian. 

Having written last week about the chocolate mousse that Mireille Guiliano recommends I thought I would try making it.  And so I did. But something went wrong with my beating of the egg white, which refused to stiffen, I suspect because I got cream on the beaters so the mousse ended up rather solid but none the less very tasty and silky smooth and pretty enough in a little ramekin with a half strawberry on top. The recipe (or rather the ingredients) are on the blog below this and should anyone be interested I can also send you the 'method.'  

To start with I had made what has become my current signature dish 'Gambas a l'aillo' or prawns in garlic with spice. This is really very simple to make and most tasty.  You really need fresh prawns (shrimps are even better) though.  Frozen ones will do but frozen prawns always seem to contain loads of water and this rubbery (just right if you are Chinese says M) instead of being crisp and firm.

Just heat a pan of olive oil - enough to cover the shrimps - and add to it cayenne pepper or tabasco or finely chopped chilis, or a mixture.  You need quite a bit.  Don't worry, the dish won't end up tasting like a Vindaloo!  To the hot oil you add several large cloves of garlic finely chopped and let the garlic infuse into the hot oil until it starts to brown.  Now add the prawns (peeled if they are prawns - entire if they are shrimps).  Bring the oil back to its former temperature and then they are done.  Scoop out the prawns and serve on a warm plate.  Delicious.  Hot and spicy and garlicky but all rather a gentle and rounded flavour. 

So we made a good meal which was washed down with a 20 year old bottle of red Saumur from the cellar at Tharon.  Twenty years is really pushing it for a Saumur and the wine was suffering a bit but still drinkable and robust enough to take the flavour of the spicy prawns and some excellent mature Brie that we ate afterwards (before the chocolate mousse).  Not an enormous quantity of washing up either.