Travel Corner: Lyon, France
Given the food feature below, I couldn’t resist digging into Lyon.
It’s the food and wine capital of France, which is itself arguably the food and wine capital of the world. It’s within an hour or so of three famous wine regions: Burgundy (Bourgogne), the Rhone Valley, and Beaujolais.
It also boasts one of the largest intact medieval districts in Europe. It suffered no lasting damage from WWII.
There’s a free zoo, and rivers split the city in a charming, old France sort of way. The restaurant scene is incredible, and you’re sure to find plenty of snails baked in garlic herb butter in addition to the steak frites, coq au vin and moules marinières.
Good Mood Food: Escargots
Every New Year’s Eve, Katie and I get together with another couple who loves good cooking and good wine. We make a many-course meal, each paired with a fancier wine than we’d ordinarily drink.
Tonight for my course, I’m making escargots. And it’ll be the easiest dish served.
I don’t have a special snail baking dish, nor do I have shells to bake them in.
I’m just throwing them in a glass baking dish with butter, garlic, and herbs de Provence, baking them for 10 minutes, and pouring a handful into serving bowls (with the butter of course). I’ll slice some sourdough bread and Voila! C’est fini.
I’ll serve it with a white Burgundy (a Pouilly-Fuisse), which only seems right. But you do you.
Oh, and lest you think I’m spending a fortune on snails, think again. I bought a can of them for $12. This isn’t the exact same can, but here’s two dozen escargots on Amazon for $15. Bon appetit!