During our stay in the mountains in La Belle France, we decamped for a few days to Lyon, the gourmet capital of France. Situated between the butter-loving regions of Alsace and Lorraine to the north , the cream, cheese and charcuterie region to the North East and the vegetable and olive oil-based cuisines of Provence and the Mediterranean, Lyon has blended them together to create its own rich heritage of French cookery.

Whilst in Lyon, we went to Las Halles…… the stomach of a city and here it was Les Halles de Paul Bocuse, a world famous chef ( 3 Michelin Stars) who had been based in Lyon.

However, I have to say that we were both marginally disappointed, a market it was not, but a very smart conglomeration of expensive food stalls, with almost no one there buying! But as no one was there, it gave us ( me ) ample time to roam and look! But we didn’t buy!

Having gorged our senses on all of this, lunch ! But why do we always forget that in France, LUNCH really does mean a full blown lunch! However we saved ourselves for the evening.

Up until now I had been totally unaware that Lyon had been once the centre of the European silk industry. In the 1400 and 1500’s it really was a boom town, with tunnels and passageways leading from the weaving district down to the river. The business was mostly destroyed during the revolution with those artisans who survived moving to Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the UK. It rebuilt itself with revolts along the way and of course modernisation and so Lyon still produces fine silk today. As with any industry, others piggyback alongside. With maybe 25,000 silk workers needing food, small restaurants sprang up and these were called BOUCHONS. These catered to the silk industry and were family run businesses and many are still in operation today, serving traditional Lyonnaise cuisine.

One of the culinary delights is something called “ cervelle de canut” or translated as “Silk Workers Brains”! And despite its gruesome name is a treat. Soft white cheese mixed with white wine, a dash of sour cream and some herbs. To be eaten by dunking in some crusty bread. At the time this was the original Take Away lunch for all of the silk workers!

Daniel and Denise is a typical Lyonnaise Bouchon and in fact there are three locations, one in the old town which is where we went.

Another typical aspect of cuisine Lyonnaise, and although introduced during the 16th century, it was the 19th century that saw the introduction of the pot Lyonnais that is still known today. Like the traditional bouchon restaurants, the history of the pot Lyonnais is wrapped up in Lyon’s history of fine silk production (which dates back to the Renaissance). The skilled silk weavers, called les canuts, of the La Croix-Rousse district of Lyon, would typically eat at bouchons after finishing work and, in a fittingly French fashion, they were equally entitled to 50 centilitres (17 ounces) of wine per week paid by their employer. However, the ever resourceful restauranteurs had a ruse! A glass pot was created with a thick bottom Therefore, the ‘pot’ started out as a 50-centilitre glass bottle that would be filled with wine from a barrel. However, in1843, the measure changed from 50 centilitres to 46 centilitres. Therefore the owners were able to make one litre of wine stretch to fill two pots and have a glass leftover for themselves. The pot’s typical glass bottom was consequently thickened to compensate for the missing 4 centilitres!!

We went to a DanieletDenise closest to where we were staying and we were not disappointed, though I have to say that Himself was marginally less adventurous than normal!

I had to start, Bones with Escargot (YUMMY) whilst he had the Pǎté en Croute, this was followed with Calves Liver saignant for Himself and Scallops with boudin noir for me! All in all it was a good meal in an interesting location and would go again.

Meanwhile I have been working on my Cheese Tart, which is fast becoming my signature or go to dinner.

Therefore I have been updating my Tarte Abondance. For those of you who have already made this Tarte, then here is the update. It is important to use a mixture of cheeses and the ones I use are perfect as they melt really well, whereas, cheese like cheddar, which is a great cheese, just doesn’t work.

Now I start with a layer of 3 onions chopped and lightly sautéd and on top of that the filling as for a quiche. I use a 500 grams melange of Comté, Abondance and Beaufort (plus 1-2 Oz of plain flour mixed into the cheese).These are local to me in France, in the Savoie, they are available in the UK but tend to be pricey, but worth it. I then also use 300 mls dpible cream and 4 beaten eggs. Use the above for a large Quiche type tart along with a green salad.