Quel réveillon!

Bonne année! It is noon in France as I write, and my family is still asleep, recovering from going to bed at 4:30 am after our New Year's Eve celebration, which you can read about on my other blog, La France Profonde. Today in Cuisine Quotidienne, I'll give you the details of this not-so-quotidian meal which we shared with four other families.

This year our réveillon had nine courses:

The apéritif: sparkling Vouvray and a host of savory "cakes", mini-blinis with smoked salmons, roquefort cream on walnut bread, and raw vegetables with an herb dip. This course was my contribution and the crudités with dip were something of a conversation piece, definitely more American than French.

The first starter: a green salad served with a thick slice of foie gras.

The second starter: baked oysters with roquefort or shallot sauce.

The third starter: a fish terrine.

The next course: a trou normand! This small serving of sorbet and Calvados is meant to cleanse the palate and is still a feature of big, traditional meals. I have rarely tasted one but I can attest after last night that it works! Because after eating it we were able to go on to:

The main course: a venison roast served with green beans and puff potatoes.

The cheese course, of course...

The main desserts: a homemade bûche de Noël, or yule log cake, and une omelette norvégienne, or baked Alaska.

Coffee and homemade chocolate truffles

Fruit

I usually find it difficult to stay up after 1 or 2am, but not yesterday: time flies when you're eating nine courses!

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