Christmas Dinner in Paris

I usually make a special dinner for friends on Christmas dinner in Paris. This year we were only three, so I decided to make it relatively simple but elegant, starting with foie gras that I had made earlier (with Chinese 5-spice powder and white port), moving to poule au pot (see preceding post for the story of this course), then a perfectly aged vacherin du Haut-Doubs (Mont d'Or), and relying on our guest for dessert, a delightful orange tart.

Poule au pot with accompaniments

Vacherin du Haut-Doubs (Mont d'Or)

Yoshimi's orange tart

You can only do this dinner in France, where it's easy to find great raw duck liver for foie gras (while expensive, it costs only half the price that it does in New York) and the truly spectacular vacherin. It's hard to believe anything can taste that good, with pungent, woody notes and a creamy unctuous texture that requires that you eat it with a spoon.

How lucky to be able to be in Paris at this time of year!

Bobby Jay