As people who read this blog will know, I’m not a huge fan of overly fussy food. 9 times out of 10 I’d rather eat a really well cooked roast chicken say, than some complex Heston-esque creation swimming in a sea of foam. There’s a certain pomposity that comes with this kind of food and the people, or so called ‘foodies’, who wax lyrical about it. But every once in a while it does one a bit of good to see how the other half live, especially if someone else is paying. In this case, my parents.
About half an hour’s drive from the villa my folks rented there’s a small village called Cruis. It’s a pretty unassuming little place, in many ways a typical French village, but we’d been told that the restaurant at the hotel in town was very good. Like the village, the Auberge De L’Abbaye didn’t look that special, plastic chairs and vinyl checked table cloths out on the veranda, so we were kind of unprepared for how good the food was.
The menu was succinct, but not limiting. Bursting with local meat, veg and seafood from slightly further afield, I could have happily eaten all of the dishes on the menu. I started with some local asparagus which was served with a qualis egg and kind of morel mushroom velouté sauce. The asparagus was firm, tender and delicious, the quails egg a nice touch, but the crowning glory was the sauce. Totally packed with the morel flavour, and with a few mushrooms scattered around the plate, it was deliciously rich. Many a mushroom soup could learn a lesson or two from that sauce.
To follow the asparagus I had ‘rabbit four ways’, which as you can see from the photo I got a bit excited about and ate half of before I remembered to take a photo. The four ways were a ‘lasagne’ of loin sandwiched between pieces of tomato , a beautifully succulent ballotine, rabbit confit served on a crispy disc of polenta, and a herb custed saddle. The dish was served with a super tasty Madeira sauce, some mange tout and pureed pumpkin. Each element of the dish was delicious, and perfectly cooked, even the saddle which could have easily dried out. I could eat it all again now.
To end with I had the cheese plate, which featured some of the regions best cheeses, including the famous Banon goat’s cheese. It was good, but to be honest I wish I’d gone for what my parents had for dessert which was ‘La frambois dans tous ses etets’. Basically the raspberry equivalent of my rabbit dish, it comprised of lots of different mini raspberry based sweets including a crumble, ice cream and a tart. I tried a couple of the bits and they were amazing.
The food at the Auberge was definitely not simple, but neither was it fine dining. I guess it was more along the lines of classic French haute cuisine, and there wasn’t a trace of pomposity in sight. It was all very relaxed, the service was charming, and I wish I was there sitting on that terrace right now. If you’re in the area, I can highly recommend you pay Auberge De L’Abbaye a visit.
Tags: Asparagus, Auberge, ballotine, Ceps, Cruis, France, L'Abbaye, lasagne, polenta, Provence, Qualis Egg, Rabbit, Rasberries, Restaurant
