As part of our Normandy River Cruise this October, Kosher River Cruise will be giving cooking lessons on traditional French cuisine.
Along with the lessons, we will be pairing meals with French wines. With the help of our ship sommelier and local vintners, the wines have been carefully chosen to ensure that they are all meshuval and therefore fit for consumption according to halakha. ALL drinks in the cruise will be included in the cabin cost, except for premium brands.
If you are not able to join us on our river cruise on the Seine, we are happy to provide you with these two recipes that our executive chef will be using for our French cuisine lessons.
(But it is unfortunate that you will not have the chance to try exquisite French wines with our meals.)
Bouillabaisse
According to tradition, there should be at least five different kinds of fish in a proper bouillabaisse. In Marseilles, which is considered the mecca of bouillabaisse, they use at least seven. This does not include shellfish, which we will completely ignore, of course. The fish should be extremely fresh-caught and cooked the same day. If you cannot get extremely fresh fish, then the next best alternative is quick frozen–meaning fish that was frozen the same day it was caught. Use as many different types of fish as you can in any combination, such as fillets of flounder, haddock, cod, white fish, and bass. To serve at least six people, use at least three kinds.
Fish Stock Ingredients:
- 450 gm Fish trimmings
- ½ litre stock
- 100ml dry white wine
- 1 quartered onion
- 2 chopped celery tops
- A few parsley sprigs
- 1 Bay leaf
- ¼ Teaspoon Thyme
Instructions:
- Simmer all ingredients and then strain
Main Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Kg Cubed white fish
- 400gm Tin diced tomatoes
- 4 Medium diced potatoes
- 4 Tablespoons chopped parsley.
- 4 stalk celery
- 1 crushed garlic
- ½ teaspoon basil
- 1 slice of fennel or 1 teaspoon of fennel seed
- 1 sweet red pepper chopped
- ½ tsp powdered saffron
- Lemon juice
- Little olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Gently sauté vegetables
- Add fish and fish stock
- Bring to boil.
- Simmer then add tomatoes.
- Simmer till vegetables are soft.
Coq Au Vin
Coq au vin allegedly goes back to the time of Julius Caesar and Gaul. However, it was not until the early 20th century when the recipe was first documented . But it has long been considered as one of France’s rustic dishes. A similar recipe, poulet au vin blanc, appeared in a cookbook from the 1860s.
Most classic recipes do not include mushrooms and onions. However, we are bowing to current practice. We also believe it tastes great.
Ingredients:
- 2 Chickens
- 200 grams Margarine
- Sauce Ingredients:
- 2 diced Tomatoes
- ½ Bottle Red Wine
- 4 Bay leaves
- 4 diced onions
- 4 carrots
- 2 liters Chicken stock
- 500 grams Mushrooms
Instructions:
- Season chicken with margarine and seal the chicken for at least 2 hours
- Simmer sauce ingredients – except mushrooms- for 1 ½ hours
- Add mushrooms & simmer for further ½ hour
- Once the sauce is cooked, add the chicken and continue to simmer until it is tender.
With these recipes, we hope that you can enjoy Kosher River Cruise versions of classic French cuisine even if you are unable to join us on our Normandy cruise.
For more information on this cruise and our other kosher tours for 2018 and 2019, please go to www.kosherrivercruises.com.