A Special Meal

A Special Meal

I’m just back from a rather special meal, special in several ways. It is called a “repas gourmand”, organised by the Old Fogies club here, and is of very high quality. So why not a “repas gourmet”, the distinction in French being between quality and quantity: “gourmet” says quality and “gourmand” says quantity? The only answer I could get from French friends there was that the quantity was guaranteed and the quality was for the eaters to judge. In the event, this year as last in my view, both were evident.

The deal is this. Participants pay 10 euros for a multi-course meal with wine (as much as you want – and bread of course, this is France) included. Suppliers of the meal, the same delicatessen as last year (so presumably the deal works both ways) provides the meal and has the opportunity to sell its wares. The meal started with eight starter courses, one after the other, of different pâtés, terrines, dried sausages and hams, to be sampled with bread and wine. These were what the delicatessen was hoping primarily to sell. The main course was sausages and lentils, also on sale in jars, followed by cheeses, also on sale, and a small dessert. Participants are provided with a list of what they have sampled and more and their prices and invited to buy any of the offerings, although there is no obligation to do so.

The result? I had a very good and great value for money meal and bought jars of the sausages and lentils, which I thought were exceptionally good, pulled pork cooked in it’s own fat and duck à l’orange (this last for friends).

What struck me, ruminating at the end of the meal, is that since this is a formula that works it could be replicated potentially anywhere. Potentially any town or village could do the same and give all Old Fogies like me, or anybody else with a few euros to spend on good food before Christmas for that matter, a good value for money meal. So wake up somebody somewhere and do it if you haven’t already done so.