The first course was something called "paté de lapin", which, the menu revealed, included rabbit, truffle, foie gras, and sweetbreads. Sweetbreads, according to the Food Network's website, are "the thymus glands of veal, young beef, lamb and pork." So it's readily apparent why they're called sweetbreads; I can't imagine the waitress coming around offering, "More thymus glands, Hon?" But the paté was delicious. I ate my share, and when one of our companions offered me her portion, I snarfed that, too. Accompanying the paté de lapin was a lovely Reisling, which is a crisp, slightly sweet white wine, not a cute fraulein in lederhosen.
The second course, "quenelles de brochet", consisted of a half-dozen small dumplings made of walleye and lobster, in a light cognac sauce. Delicate, delicious, and surprisingly filling, the dish was nicely complemented by a '99 Savigny-les-Beaune. I think that was the wine. There was a lot of wine.
Course number three was identified as "choucroute garnie", which, roughly translated, means "big plate of many meats that you should not mention to your physician." The choucroute garnie consisted of a hunk of smoked pork loin, a big, fatty cube of bacon, four inches of garlic sausage, and something called "boudin blanc," which, I suspect, is French for, "another kind of sausage." The accompanying wine, also something French, apparently, and a 2000 vintage, contained alcohol, and might have inspired me to enter the limbo contest had there been a limbo contest.
At this point in the dinner I realized that the single roasted carrot on my plate was the only vegetable I'd seen all night, with the exception of a spoonful of pickled something — onion? cabbage? — that garnished the bunny and thymus paté two courses earlier. But the dearth of veggies wasn't a high-priority issue, as evidenced by the fact that when the very pleasant waitress removed my plate there wasn't much left for the dishwasher to do. Could it be that French bistros subscribe to a belief system that allows the harvesting of paté ingredients from the local petting zoo, but draws the line at making vegetables uncomfortable? But who am I to question this, especially when the result is tasty enough to convert even the most fervent vegan?
Article comments