Cooking lesson with a great chef

Working in the kitchen

My husband got a cooking lesson as a gift for Christmas. With Jean Coussau, the legendary chef at Relais de la Poste in Magescq. The restaurant has a solid reputation and two Michelin stars for its traditional southwest cuisine. Since two of his best friends got the same gift, they shared a gourmet moment - and the wives stayed at home with the children...

The entrance to Relais de la Poste

When they got back we tried to get some information about their experience. Happy smiles told us part of the story, but we wanted details!

M. Coussau had given them some clues to great food... the most important being to have excellent quality on the ingredients - not a big surprise, but when they saw that he only used Beurre d'Echire, one of the most expensive and well known butters in France, you start to get the point. He, and his chef in charge, also taught them some small secrets... like to put cooked vegetables in a pot with cold water and ice cubes, to stop the cooking process and keep their colour, to use both salt, sugar and butter when cooking all vegetables but the green ones, or how to cut a live lobster and open live scallops.... or how much butter you really need to make a sauce. We compared with the official version in his cook book and you just have to multiply by four to get more or less the right amount...

Scallops and truffles with celery mash for starter

They made a starter with scallops and truffles, a main course with lobster and the cake part - called Russe - of the pistascho dessert. The lesson ended with them enjoying the fruit of their labour with some local wine. 

Bretagne lobster

Triple pistaschio dessert, cake, ice cream and soufflé.

Jean Coussau to the very right. His main chef next to him. The others are happy students.