If sometimes I do not post, it is likely because I am digesting. Such is the case last night.
Last night for a family member's birthday at Hotel Eychenne, we feasted.
The menu was one of my favorite dishes at Hotel Eychenne, roasted pigeon, with a sauce of flavors so new that I cannot justly describe it. The chef has promised to teach me, and then I will be able to adequately explain it's flavors. But for now, I can only describe the feeling. It was a sauce of such caliber of flavor that upon entering my mouth, it blurred out all recognition of sounds and sights in the room, and focused my attention, with no will of my own, on this savory pleasure. It loosened and softened the taught taste of the pigeon, opening up also the meat's flavors with its saucy command.
The chef told me that the sauce was made with the carcasses of the birds. I was glad to hear this, because my role that evening was to clean and butcher the breasts and small bit of thigh from the bird, leaving a rather large, but nearly meatless carcass behind. Pigeons have a sizable breast because they are birds of flight, and the action of flying requires substantial breast muscle. Aside from this, there is little other meat. (Note: other birds, such as ducks, chickens or turkeys, have a good amount of meat on their thighs because they frequently walk or swim. Thanks, Dad, for the ornithology lesson!)
More to come on the sauce, once I have my lesson!
The pigeon was served with chanterelle mushrooms that had been freshly collected in the nearby hills that morning. The mushrooms were pan seared, giving them a crispy exterior, which nicely accompanied the lamb brains served along side. The brain was sliced through both lobes, giving it an appearance a bit like sliced cauliflower. To the taste it was wonderfully creamy and soft, and had no bitterness. It was quite delectable! It reminded me of sweet breads.
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