In this new column, Equinox meets the bon vivants of Barcelona, these French people who love small taste pleasures. Here, they share their ideal menu, French with Catalan notes. This week, it’s Champenoise Xaviere who invites us with a recipe inspired by her roots. With, the icing on the cake, the advice of Romain Fornell, starred chef in Barcelona.
If Barcelona’s bon vivants had one quality in common, it would be that they don’t arrive empty-handed. “It’s natural for me,” smiles Xaviere, 44 years old. So on the doorstep, the French expatriate arrived, basket in hand, with Comté gougères, fresh from the oven in the morning. “I had thought about making chouquettes, but with my mother, we said to ourselves that these little salty chouquettes would be more typical.” That they would be the flavors of its origins, whose roots are located in Langres in Haute-Marne (Champagne-Ardenne), near Dijon. But also like a love for cooking inherited from mother to daughter, from generation to generation.
“I never left the pots” jokes Xaviere. She remembers her mother in the kitchen, her father at the table ready to taste, and her grandmother in the kitchen of her restaurant. “She made sauces to die for!” His favorite dish was tarragon chicken.” Since then, Xaviere has followed in the footsteps of the women in her family. In her busy days, in Vilanova i la Geltrú where she has lived for a year, she does not fail to prepare delicious meals every day. Meals awaited by her husband. But also, all his guests. And the children? “They don’t always realize it yet,” she laughs with humility. Even if, his second also ended up putting on the gloves and taking out the whisk to make his specialty: chocolate fondant. Perfect to end the meal in beauty and indulgence, after a main course worthy of grandma’s menu.
What dish do you like to prepare when entertaining your loved ones?
It’s a traditional dish in Langres, in the Grand-Est: chicken with vin jaune and morels. It’s with a Jura wine, a little strong to drink, but in cooking, it’s great! I really like its smell. Morel, I love it. These are very fragrant mushrooms, reminiscent of woods and humus. And then chicken, an all-purpose meat. Somehow it reminds me of my grandmother’s slow-cooked tarragon chicken.
What is the recipe?
We take the chicken cut beforehand by the butcher. We heat it in a casserole with butter, to brown them well. My tip, so that the butter doesn’t burn, is to add a little oil. So, we brown them well and then we throw half a bottle of vin jaune into the casserole dish. It makes ” pshhht » ! There, I know that I have the right temperature (laughter). Then, let it simmer for 40 to 50 minutes over low heat or close the casserole dish and put it in the oven so that it heats up everywhere. The best is to prepare this first part the day before the meal, this way you can remove the fat that rises to the surface once the sauce has cooled. It’s more digestible and better for the figure!
Then, to finish the sauce, we brown the morels in butter and then put them directly in the sauce. And then we add cream. The whole pot! And if we want to thicken the sauce a little, we take a little cornstarch or flour which we dilute in cold water and then add it to the cream. It’s ready !
What side dishes do you offer?
Potatoes, mashed or not. Or rice! So that it can absorb the sauce.
Where do you find the ingredients?
I find chicken at the Vilanova market. The morels must be brought from France. And for cream and butter, supermarket. The first, I take the Pastoret brand. It’s the best I’ve found so far. Sometimes, if not, I use mascarpone instead. And for butter, I choose Cadí.
Who are you making this dish for?
When I cook for Spaniards, I tend to prepare French dishes. We put the dish in the middle and everyone helps themselves, a bit like at Grandma’s!
With what drink?
White wine. A chardonnay! I would even say the one that comes from my area, the Muid Montsaugeonnais. And that’s great!
Where do you buy it?
There is a wine merchant in Sant Pere de Ribes, near my children’s school. The wine merchant is called Casa Marc. They make French and Spanish wines.
Bonus: the ideal menu by Romain Fornell, starred chef
Since 2002, Romain Fornell has continued to seduce the taste buds of Barcelonans. Recognized for his creativity, the French chef trained at the Toulouse Hotel School was also the youngest chef in France to obtain a Michelin star. For Equinox, it offers two little extras to perfect or accompany the favorite dish of the Bons vivants of Barcelona, this week therefore the chicken in yellow wine from Xaviere.
- As a starter: porcini velouté
It’s peak porcini season. To prepare the velouté, sweat a few shallots with olive oil and butter. Then, we put the porcini mushroom tails inside, brown them well, then add some chicken stock. A little bit of crème fraîche, and we cook it gently. We mix. Once that’s done, we cut the caps of the porcini mushrooms into small strips. We sauté them very hard so that they crisp up a little and we serve them on the porcini cream.
- For dessert: roasted figs with Banyuls
For dessert, it’s fig time. I would roast them in Banyuls. For this, we add figs, simply split into quarters. We add Banyuls and then put them in the oven. Once hot and well roasted, they are served with vanilla or caramel ice cream.
