Cooking class #3- Southern cooking

This class focused on the south of France, which automatically calls for seafood. Above are the tentacles of a squid (Encornet). They were cut off of the "body" of the squid pictured below. Luc was the only one in our family who recognized what it was. The kids were very hesitant to try the finished dish, Encornet farci aux légumes et graines--squid stuffed with graines and vegtables (tomato, zucchini, onion, garlic and red pepper) and the chopped tentacles.

Squid is tricky to cook because too short and it is rubbery; too long and it is very rubbery as well. So I partially cooked it during the class and finished it off at home. The bottom part ended up rubbery (and not very pleasant!) and the top part was just right. Even so, the kids were not at all interested in eating it. The tentacles mixed with with the veggies and grains were quite tasty.

I then moved on to making a Pissaladière--a Provençal (southern) pizza with caramelized onions, anchovies, tomatoes and olives. I really liked this dish, but the kids less so.


We ended the session with crèmes catalanes--North-East Spain/Southern France--a mixture of eggs, sugar, and milk infused with cinnamon and lemon zest. They are a lot like crèmes brulées--a custard with a crunchy sugar topping that gets caramelized by a torch or the grill in your oven. Everyone, except Anna, loved these, so this is something I will make again.