The next Christmas event: midday lunch was to be held upstairs above my apartment. I had been asked to join the landlords and their extended family.
I was deposited back at my apartment, midday on the dot. I needed to make some asparagus rolls as my contribution to the feast. I also wanted to make contact with my family back home. However, everybody converged on me and coaxed me to join the party straight away.
The asparagus rolls were frumpy to say the least. The bread here is not the same as NZ and they refused to roll in a tidy curve. The bread was far too thick and a different consistency. I was tempted not to bring them, but I decided that I needed to contribute.
As soon as I ascended the stairs to the upstairs living area, my senses were struck by a tidal wave of sensations. The formal,beautifully set table with oysters taking the main stage was a sight to behold. The glasses were gleaming and the white and gold colour palette gave a sense of royalty to the occasion.
The traditional crèche obviously had been given a lot of thought and care.
I have a deep love of everything to do with Christmas trees. This Christmas Tree did not fail to delight.
Everyone was told to sit down around the coffee table in the lounge. Fortunately there was no room for the frumpy asparagus rolls on the coffee table. It was already heavily laden with exquisite hors d'oeuvres delicacies.
The ambience was casual, relaxed, chatty and lots of joking around. We sipped on exquisite french Champagne. The bubbles were very small and light and it tasted the perfect mixture of fruit and oak. The hors d'oeuvres were delectable, but I restrained myself as I had a pretty clued up guess that there was plenty more food to come.
The present giving ceremony was happy mayhem to the max.
An hour later, we seated ourselves at the table. I LOVED the personal touch of the names on the napkins. It meant that not only was thought and care given to social interactions, but also I learnt the names of all the people sitting at the table. There were 15 of us.
First course was the most exquisite, fresh oysters that I have ever tasted. As much as I hate to say it, they tasted better than ones back home. They literally melted in my mouth. After tasting one, I thought that my job had been done. I was reluctant to encourage stomach problems later. However, many, many more oysters were thrown onto my plate along with half a lemon that had been carved into an ornate piece of art.
I didn't put up too much of a fight. The oysters were calorie free and very, very light.
My unfinished champagne was whisked away. The next thing I knew, a wonderful white wine was poured into one of the many glasses in front of me. It was the perfect accompaniment to the seafood.
At the same time, fresh, smoked salmon was being served as well. T
here were two very large platters of thinly sliced salmon. I shamefully confess, in my head, I tallied up how much the platters would have cost! I know just 2 slices costs an arm and a leg.
Over at the other end of the table, I could see that a huge platter of giant prawns had just arrived. I LOVE seafood!!!!! My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. I am known to have eyes bigger than my stomach. So it was with great will power that I did NOT lunge across the table and grab as many prawns as possible. My eyes kept darting over to them longingly. A kind person must have read my mind. Next thing I knew, I was being handed a personally peeled giant fresh prawn. It truly was the most fresh, tasty scrumptious prawn I have tasted. Even now, as I write this, the taste buds in my nose recall the gastronomic pleasure. I was doubly pleased when another one came my way!
The galumpy asparagus rolls had been placed at the end of the table where the men were sitting. I had made toothpicks that had the silver fern and kiwis on them.
The men were extremely polite in tasting them; despite me saying that they were just for show and not to be eaten. (I dreaded them being disliked because they were so 'heavy'.) Good on them for giving them a 'go'.
Here is a picture of one of the men appreciating the tiny silver fern flag attached to a toothpick.
Next in the procession of regal dishes was fresh crab. These crabs were enormous. They had been broken open. I LOVE crab. So it was with glee that the platter was down my end of the table. I chose a suitably large specimen. Special little forks were distributed and I savoured the beautiful, fresh flavour of this delectable seafood. Again, I found more crab meat had been deposited on my plate. I did not put up a fight. I was instructed which parts not to eat and which parts were the most delicious. YUM!!!!!
Now came the pièce de résistance!
Snails
Escargots!
I began to pray that they wouldn't play havoc with my digestive system afterwards. (Fortunately, they didn't!)
The uncles showed me the ritual on how to eat them.(You hold the shell with a contraption that looks like eyelash curlers. You scoop the grey slimy snail out of its shell with a tiny fork. Eat as desired. Then you tip the parsley butter onto bread and guzzle that down afterwards.)
The moment of joy as my first mouthful of escargot hit my mouth was recorded for all to see.
Whew!
The next course was a magnificent foie gras. It was force-fed goose liver. It was on top of sweet pureed apple and toast. Absolutely brilliant! I ate it all up with relish.
In the background, on the TV, karaoke songs were playing. By some stroke of serendipity the chicken dance was playing. We starting making hand gestures to the catchy well-known tune. Within a minute or two, we stood up and started snapping our fingers, clucking our arms like chickens and wiggling our bums to the beat of the music.
Well, before you can say, "Jack Robinson" a big box of goodies appeared from nowhere.
It was loaded with colourful neck adornments, tiaras, christmas party hats, hooters, streamers, football clangers and soft colourful pom poms.
And then the merriment unleashed its full force.
Fooling around meant that we hooted with laughter at the silliness of it all.
After, jiggling around and dancing, we sat down to the next course. It was a wonderful chicken dish. The chicken had been milk fed and castrated which made it more tender. The sauce was exquisite. Full of rich flavours. It had bacon, wine and cream in it.
It was served with soft, white pureed potatoes. The crisp, dried sweet 'something' on top added artistic flair to the occasion.
The little blue kiwi was placed atop the potato for this shot. I must say; this part of the meal really tasted delicious!!!!
YUM!!!!
The champagne was brought out again. It was difficult to resist. It was sooooooo easy to drink.
I began to realise that history was in the making with this mammoth meal. So I took a shot of the apparatus that informed of the current conditions in Gap. It was 23.5 degrees Celcius inside. (Very cosy!) At the time of taking the photo, it was 26 minutes past 4 in the afternoon. (Proceedings had begun at 1 o'clock!) Outside it was raining.
…… Next came these two beautiful cheeses. I tasted them. They were delicious, of course. ………… They had to be eaten with bread. The accompanying red sauce ……… was delicious of course! By now, you are realising that I am running out of superlatives!
With a glint in his eye, the patriarch shuffled over to the kitchen. He placed a spoonful of creamy white ice cream in a small shot glass. With care he poured some white alcohol liquid into the class. It was ceremoniously brought to the table and placed in front of me, with an air of challenge. Everybody informed me that it had to be drunk in one 'go'. The chanting grew in force from everybody's delight. So with stoic bravery I downed the shot. It was great. It set my nose, throat and chest on fire. The ice cream followed and it quelled the fire. I felt as though I hadn't let New Zealand down. I did it for my country!
The next thing I knew, the music had been turned up again, and the kids started blowing the hooters and clanging the clangers, making conversation quite impossible! The only solution was to get up and join 'em. The next half hour was the most noisy, chaotic Christmas party. It was a real throwback to youth!!! It was great that all the generations joined in the frivolity and silliness. Crazy man!
Once we had all calmed down and resumed our seats, I produced my i pad and gave a five minute presentation on Christmas in NZ. This was received with incredulity, amazement and delight.
I was then instructed to do it all over again with the adolescent girls in the lounge. It was very cool to share NZ with the French. They were genuinely interested and fascinated.
Ok. So now came the desert.
The chocolate log was light, creamy and just the right mix of soft and sweet.
Next thing I knew, chocolates were produced and thrust under my nose. The milk chocolate praline was AHMAYZING!!!!!
After desert, as the adults were chatting away, the girls started dancing around the table, trailing streamers as they went.
It was very cool. It created a uniting web.
But one uncle was truly targeted.
The meal had begun at 1 o'clock. It finished at 6 o'clock. The families dispersed and I retreated downstairs to get my head back together again. The french, music and food really had me buzzing.
