Short Holiday In Nice

Nice

We have just had a few days in Nice, on the French Riviera. It was fairly warm, with just one short downpour, but it is certainly disconcerting to have Christmas trees with artificial snow in the sunshine. Here are just a few glimpses of our trip ...

Christmas in Nice

Market square

Massena city garden

Sadly without fountains on

Superb views over coastline

Mr Whizz Kid's favourite view

My local baker

Stunning coastline

Winter view

Christmas ferris wheel

The perfect meal

Classy Alphonse Karr

The Port of Nice

Christmas trees in the sun!

Huge perfume shop In Alphonse Karr

Sunset on the Riviera

We had a really busy time seeing our friends and doing business and meeting some interesting people and doing some Christmas shopping. We also had lots and lots of delicious food. One memorabe meal was a luch of ravioli of ceps and fois gras in a truffle cream sauce. The photo did not do it justice! ...

Good food, bad pic!

Bagna Cauda

Vegetable farci with meclun

We also discovered Bagna Cauda! This is a Meditteranean starter, which is so delicious. I took a pic, but by then we had eaten the good bits! Basically it is a dip of anchovies, garlic, butter and olive oil ... this is eaten crushed and warm with crisp vegetable strips and french bread. They also serve it with hard boiled eggs and tiny tomatoes. The following recipe is the one they used ...



Bagna Cauda


16 garlic cloves, peeled
milk to cover
300g anchovy fillets (salted and rinsed, or 30 anchovy fillets in oil, drained)
300g butter, cut into pieces
200ml extra-virgin olive oil
100ml double cream
selection of raw vegetables, trimmed and cut into small pieces - choose from celery, Jerusalem artichokes, small globe artichokes, peppers, cucumber, fennel, radicchio and aspargus
a little beaten egg (optional)
Put the garlic cloves into a small pan, cover with milk and cook extremely slowly over a very low heat until the garlic is soft. Remove from the heat and crush the garlic into the milk until the mixture becomes creamy. Add the anchovies and let them dissolve, stirring over a very low heat. When everything is amalgamated, add the butter and the olive oil and stir gently to combine. Finally, add the cream.
Pour the bagna cauda into small individual fondue dishes, or into one large one, and keep warm over a lighted candle. Now, one by one, dip the tips of the vegetable pieces into it, and eat with bread. Repeat this until you have finished everything. At the end, you can stir a spoonful of beaten egg into the last of the sauce and let it coagulate - the last wonderful morsel.

This was so yummy!!