Favourite festive feasts
David Fransoret (Private chef of Château de Bagnolet)
“For the starter, I make a foie gras that is just slightly seared and serve it with sliced apples and grapes in a croustade. I also like to work with the capon. It’s something that you can find only during Christmas in France. [I use] truffle stuffing with a nice Hennessy cognac sauce on top and it’s fantastic. Then, for dessert, you have the traditional [bûche de Noël] with fresh seasonal fruits. I serve a frozen cognac with this dish. When you eat it, it has a sweet, syrupy taste and the warmth of the mouth further brings out the flavours.”
Maurice Richard Hennessy (Host of Château de Bagnolet)
“I would start with some great oysters then foie gras, which I usually buy as a terrine. I also like turkey, cooked the old fashioned way on the spit in front of the fire. The French turkey is four to five kilos and you must cook it in front of a wood fire. I stuff it with prunes and other dried fruits and apples which are soaked in cognac. This puts some moisture inside the flesh. And for vegetables, I have braised endives and chicory, because they’re very light, and also chestnuts and some poached or braised apples. And then, of course, there’s the wonderful bûche de Noël.”
Philippe Orrico (Executive chef of Hullett House)
“I don’t have a lot of nice memories of Christmas [meals] because for me, it’s always a busy period. My mother was a chef, so she was always busy. Then I became a chef, so I’m also always busy. So for me Christmas is work. But, for sure, if there’s one thing that symbolises Christmas for me it’s the lychee because in Réunion, where I come from, the season of the lychee is the end of December. I have childhood memories of Christmas with this fruit.”
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