French Countryside Cooking

Book excerpt: Daniel Galmiche, a Michelin-starred chef and author of the French Brasserie Cookbook shows how to make authentic French dishes, using the ingredients found in the rural parts of the country, from orchard to meadow, river to seashore, in sustainable and stunningly inventive ways. Multiple-Michelin-starred Daniel Galmiche presents a fresh approach to French cooking. Taking inspiration and ingredients from meadow and orchard, from field to forest, and from river to sea, each recipe takes authentic French rural classics and elevates them to sophisticated dishes, full of flavour and easy to create at home. French cooking centres around one maxim: start with quality ingredients, and the resulting flavour and freshness of the dish will shine. Daniel shows how to showcase the humblest of ingredients, with tips on how to source them sustainably and seasonally. Starters, mains, sides and desserts are organised by the origin of their key ingredient. From the orchard, spice a peach to make a mouth-watering accompaniment to duck. From the farmyard, make use of a chicken carcass to create a beautifully clear and nourishing broth. Or from the sea, home-smoke cod fillets with fennel-infused smoke and serve with a warm bean salad. With short ingredients lists and straightforward guidance on how to perfect chef-level techniques such as dehydrating and sous-vide without the fancy equipment, this book will allow you to master innovative French cuisine – and reduce food waste – with simplicity.