How eating healthily, locally, cheaply, and without spending your life in the kitchen?
Over the years, I’ve organised a number of holidays with family and friends for up to 30 people at Château de Riveneuve, my home. Over the years, I’ve refined my organisation to the delight of both my guests and myself. Here, I’ll let you in on all my secrets: the names of my local suppliers, my recipes and my organisation. I’ve always tried to offer healthy, balanced meals, giving priority to organic produce from farms close to the château. My aim was also to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen so that I could spend as much time as possible with all my friends and family. And finally, to stay within a reasonable budget.
Even if my modesty suffered, my guests were delighted with the meals and their stay. Admittedly, I had to ask them to help me peel some vegetables or set the table a few times… but frankly, it was no hardship, either for them or for me! We had time to go hiking in the Pyrenees every day, to party in the evenings and, above all, to talk and laugh a lot! Which is the best recipe for happiness! Here are all my secrets.
For breakfast :
Bread and croissants are delivered to the château every morning at 7am by Maryline Doussat from the Doussat bakery in Pamiers. She leaves a box under the pergola every day.
To round off breakfast, we have dairy products from the neighbouring farm, GAEC de Birol (1 km from Château de Riveneuve): milk from their cows, fresh butter made on site in the farm laboratory, and incredible yoghurts! All my guests have never eaten such good yoghurt. My favourite: the sage yoghurt, which is delicious! What’s more, there’s zero waste: we buy the yoghurts in large glass pots, corresponding to 8 portions, and they are returnable. At the end of their stay, many of my friends made the diversions to the Birol farm to take home a stock of products. Breakfast jams are also bought from Birol farm. My favourite is the orange jam with large slices of candied orange. I have a sweet tooth, as you can imagine…
A few apple juices bought at the Pamiers market rounded off the breakfast. And that’s it for a copious and delicious breakfast.
For lunch or dinner :
I order one main course a day from my favourite caterer, Jean-Luc Bernat in Auterive, with whom I’ve worked for ten years. I know that he buys good local produce from Ariège and the Pyrenees. My favourite dish is cassoulet, a speciality of the South-West. Did you know that the Castelnaudary cassoulet, considered to be the most famous in France, is made from beans harvested in Pamiers around the Château de Riveneuve?
Other popular dishes include daube provençale, veal Marengo, duck parmentier with sweet potato and, a must in the South-West, duck confit ….
For dessert, there are good local cheeses (Bethmale, Moulis, etc.), yoghurts from the Birol farm, seasonal fruit and, from time to time, the delicious Pamiers speciality: apple croustade from the Doussat bakery, delivered on request.
Depending on the day’s programme, these meals are served at lunchtime or in the evening.
A meal centred on vegetables from the organic kitchen garden
The second meal (lunch or dinner) is all about vegetables: Marion from the Borderouge farm (500 metres as the crow flies from the Château de Riveneuve) delivers a big basket of her freshly-picked vegetables to us at the start of our stay. I get a team of friends together to help me with the ‘p’luche chore’, which is never actually a chore, but a good opportunity to talk and laugh… and together we cook simple salads, soups or baked dishes. Marion’s vegetables have so much flavour that there’s no need for complicated recipes. One of my secrets is to bake large vegetable dishes in the oven (grill mode and over high heat) and season them with a drizzle of olive oil. My little ‘extra’ is to sprinkle the vegetables with savoury picked from my kitchen garden at the château.
How much does it cost?
My background as a financial director has led me to calculate the total cost precisely: it’s 23 euros per day per person, including the three meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and drinks.
That’s how to cook simply, tastefully, healthily and with respect for the planet, and that’s how to ensure a successful holiday at Château de Riveneuve.