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Orlando,
who is Editorial Director of the BBC Good Food and Olive magazines,
is head chef and also takes care of the wonderful garden which
provides most of the fruit and vegetables used for the meals
as well as flowers for the house. Virtually everything
we ate was hand made by Orlando - from the bread at breakfast
to the after dinner chocolates. Peter is "front of
house" and also takes care of wine and cheese.
Each evening meal commences with an aperitif - somewhere!!
I say somewhere because Peter varies the venue - in
the Orangery, the lounge, on the terrace or even on occasion
in the woods! All the wines offered are local Gaillac
wines, 80% of which are red or rosé and rarely if ever
available in this country - so another plus!
Our
first evening we had a terrace supper starting with Kir Royal
in the Orangery, accompanied by spiced nuts, where we met
our fellow guests. We were also introduced to the wine
we would be drinking with our meal, which on this occasion
was a white, Château de Saurs made with the Mauzac grape,
with a medium clean taste and a fruity red which was delicious
- Cave de Tècou Confidences 2001, the cépage
for which was Braucol, also known as Fer Servadou.
Orlando then joined us to introduce us to our menu for the
evening.
We
moved to a long table set out in the open sided barn and laid
for just eight guests - the maximum catered for each evening,
thereby creating the impression of a private dinner party
which in fact is exactly what it was! Homemade savoury
brioche, light as a feather, was passed round which accompanied
salad of chicory, apple, walnuts and Roquefort cheese dressed
with walnut oil. The main course was a "pistolet"
of veal - rump of veal simply roasted with no herbs or dressing,
but accompanied by an intense sauce of girolle mushrooms and
Dauphinoise potatoes made this time with whole baby Belle
de Fontenay potatoes. The wine continued to flow...............!
Dessert was a galette of apple and blackberry served
with crème frache - apparently tarts cooked in a tin
are out this year folks and we should be making these delicious
and loosely formed gallettes with puff pastry - I've tried
since I returned, and must confess I need a little more practice!
We had a light dessert wine, again Cave de Tècou,
this time called Evocation. Peter offered us the last
of his homemade Limoncello liqueur to taste which we had to
share out very carefully - there was very little left and
as it tasted so delicious there was a danger that it wouldn't
circulate fully round the table! At one point grappa
was also circulating..........as the reader can imagine it
was an evening to remember and a splendid introduction to
our holiday - the balmy weather, our great fellow guests,
the wonderful food and drink and not least our lovely hosts
who joined in and were such excellent company. Could life
get any better than this we wondered...........well actually,
yes it could!
Dinner
the following evening followed a similar pattern, but this
time we started with a tasting of white wines followed by
a vote on the one we preferred to have with our dinner.
We tasted the Château de Saurs, a Domaine de Labarthe
plus a white wine from Michel Issaly which had been decanted
because due to a "technical hitch" was very slightly fizzy.
The majority chose the Chtâteau de Saurs, which
left Anne with the Domaine de Labarthe to herself as that
was her wine of choice - same grape, Mauzac, as the Château
de Saurs but with a drier citrus flavour. With the
courgette harvest at its peak whilst we were there, to accompany
our tasting we had some bruchetta spread with a mixture of
courgette, cheese and chives.
Supper
commenced with a ratatouille containing three different types
of courgette - green, yellow and striped; three different
types of aubergine, white, striped and purple; red and yellow
peppers, tomato, onion and a little basil - all from the garden.
Following the vegetarian theme we moved on to a galette
layered with tomato, cantal cheese, onion and basil served
with a green salad. The red wine also served with dinner
was the Confidences we had drunk the previous evening.
To round off the meal we had a homemade melon gelato served
with almond biscotti.
I
think it was around this time we thought we might have died
and gone to heaven!!
On
our final evening at Le Manoir we had a gourmet meal on the
terrace, which was very special. Kir Royal was served,
but Anne opted for straight bubbly - as God made it according
to Peter, which is a nice way of putting the fact that she
thinks Cassis is an unnecessary addition!
Our
starter was a salad of roasted pêches de vigne, L'Ecir
en Aubrac cheese and hazelnuts. The peaches are a speciality
of the area and have deep red flesh. The main course
was a perfect roast fillet of Charolais beef with a sauce
Bèarnaise, accompanied by a gratin of potatoes and
sage. The wine we chose to accompany this was Domaine
de la Ramaye - Le Grand Tertre, which was decanted and served
at a perfect temperature; 50% Braucol and 50% Prunelard grapes.
This was followed by a salad and then cheese - three
types, cow, goat and sheep! Dessert was Earl Grey pot
à la crème and walnut biscotti - in honour of
two of the guests who hailed from Newcastle upon Tyne, the
home of Earl Grey of tea fame! Dessert wine Evocation
was served. Finally, for those with the strength left,
there was coffee and homemade mendiants (slim discs of chocolate
topped with dried fruits, nuts and crystallised violets).
Do
you want to hear about breakfast served each morning?
Trust me it was equally wonderful - fresh fruit salad of figs,
raspberries, banana, strawberries, nectarines and orange,
homemade brioche, banana bread, croissants, yogurt and jams.
By
now you probably have an idea of the welcome, the company
and the standard of food we enjoyed, and for ambience and
gastronomic experience it would take some beating.
We hope you have enjoyed hearing about Le Manoir.
Anne
& Mark Templeman
September 2005
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