BREAKFAST IN BURGUNDY

Laced with compelling writing about French food and its ways, BREAKFAST IN BURGUNDY is part travel memoir, part foodie detective story, and part love song to Raymond’s adopted home. It’s the story of the Blakes’ decision to buy a house in Burgundy — the moments of utter despair (the water leak that cost a fortune), as well as the fantastic times too. And the food, always the food.

Blake has admitted to being “fascinated by flavor and how it is created.” BREAKFAST IN BURGUNDY contains tales from the kitchen, and the answer to the question that begins each day, “What’s for dinner?” is given ample coverage. The hunt for the best jambon persillé is related in detail. Diligence is applied to the search for the best comté cheese, for there’s comté and there’s comté—once nibbled, never forgotten. Yet to be perfected by Blake is Chicken Gaston Gérard, said to have been first cooked in Dijon in 1930 for the celebrated gourmet Curnonsky by the mayor’s wife. A neighboring winemaker’s wife prepared it for Blake, as he watched over her shoulder. BREAKFAST IN BURGUNDY documents these results and more. Included are tips on how best to prepare, cook, and serve the various goodies mentioned throughout, as well as the story behind the wines—some of the most sought after in the world—that complement all of the foods; Blake tells of people and place -- who made the wine and where it is from -- without resorting to tedious technical " tasting notes." Raymond Blake is a writer and the wine editor of Food & Wine magazine in Ireland. He is the author of In Black and White: A History of Rowing at Trinity College Dublin. This is his first book that taps into his abiding love of France.