226. Step Forward 2016

7th January. I see that black pudding is now being touted in the UK media as a "superfood".. I've long been a black pudding fan but all this "flavour of the month" hype leaves me cold. The equivalent here is boudin noir - aka a dark-hued blood sausage. I can't speak for the rest of France but I find the boudin noir in the Pays Basque to be less appetising than its Lancashire (UK) counterpart. There's something about the consistency of the Basque variety that makes me suspect that it has a higher blood content than its Lancashire equivalent that, according to Wiki, "is generally made from pork fat or beef suet, pork blood and a relatively high proportion of oatmeal, in some recipes mixed with grits (oat groats) and sometimes even barley groats." We've had boudin noir several times but there's something about its high "wobble factor" (a technical term, m'lud) that I find off-putting. By contrast, your correspondent finds the firmer Lancashire variety infinitely preferable.

All this talk of the boudin noir leads us neatly on to the boudin blanc - a completely different animal entirely. France being France, I'm sure each region will have its own variation on the theme.
The best exponent of the boudin blanc (IMHO) locally is undoubtedly Maison Montauzer.. to be found at Bayonne and the indoor market at Biarritz (right). Here's former president Nicolas Sarkozy enjoying himself (left) at the small shop in Bayonne with MAM. For reasons that are unclear to me, the boudin blanc is only available at Montauzer around Christmas time. We had some on Christmas Eve served with sautéed apple.. (recipe here) A simple dish but one that's incredibly tasty.. maybe because Monsieur Montauzer adds some black truffle to his boudins. Yes, you can find 'industrial' boudin blanc in the supermarkets all through the year, but those of Maison Montauzer are worth waiting for.

4th January 2016. First of all, a Happy New Year / Bonne année / Urte berri on to all my reader(s).. I'm about to commit my New Year's resolutions to print. To be honest, my list has a familiar look about it! 1. Improve my French.. 2. Practice my banjo.. 3. Use my bike more. 4. Keep my desk tidy (or failing that - tidier)
5. Improve my French..
(file these under 'Fiction')