Lille Gastronomique

One thing that has not been lacking here in Lille is adventurous and delicious meals. We have been eating well to say the least. This is not only a result of the experienced chefs of Lille, but we have done our fair share of experimentation chez nous. We have put together some amazing French meals with a twist of Americana as an accompaniment. In our aforementioned blogs you have already been updated about our outings to the middle-eastern restaurant where we have met the entire staff as well as assisted the owner’s daughter with her English homework. Well this is now our favorite overall restaurant in the entire city. Its name is ELRIYADH, and besides the fact that it is one of the most inexpensive restaurants in the city, we have yet to get as much bang for our buck anywhere else. From our initial trip where I had a great kebab and Kathryn had a delicious crêpe au chocolate, we have since progressed to la viande. Our next visit was on Thursday when I was completely exhausted, and starving because I had been working from 8am until 5pm. I also did not have the opportunity to grab lunch because of some confusion with my schedule.

I met Kathryn in the courtyard of my school after she had finished with her initial observation class. We were so hungry and had no food left at the house so we decided to venture back. Before even arriving we had decided we would be getting an order of the Mouton, each, which is just a roasted leg of lamb shank on a plate full of fries and a petite salad. However, upon arrival we happened to turn one page further in the menu and stumbled onto the couscous portion. Here we found what was named the CousCous Royal, and it was a meal fit for a king. Of course we were obliged to order. Now this was not your ordinary plate of meats. This was a large bowl of couscous, a large bowl of sauce/soup to be poured over the couscous, and a platter of one of every meat they had on the menu. There was the leg of lamb, two Moroccan sausages, two shish-kebabs of chicken, onions and green peppers, two spicy meatballs, a leg/thigh of roasted chicken, and two of the hottest green peppers I have ever tasted in my entire life. This was all for only 17euros. We also ordered 1.5 liters of Fanta to wash it all down. There was so much food they had to pull over the table next to us just to get it all to fit. Needless to say we finished everything.

As part of our own culinary explorations, another night we put together our take on le steak-frites, sans frites. As you would expect, steak at a restaurant will run anywhere from 15-40+ euros, but at the Carrefour we got them for 5euros a pop. This was the centerpiece for our meal. I was in charge of the meat, and Kathryn made a delicious French version of haricots-verts. After boiling the green beans she quickly dunked them in a bowl of cold water, then sautéed them with bacon, diced onions and mushrooms and covered them in butter. They were the perfect side to our steaks which we quickly fried in a skillet and covered with sautéed onions and mushrooms. We washed it down with some wine. Unfortunately not all wine you buy in France is good, so next time we are going to have to shell out more than 2euros for a bottle. As good as the meal was, the real treat was the fresh apple pie Kathryn made (I helped peel and cut the apples). It was a real taste of home, and got us both longing for autumn in the States.

Today was a very long day for Kathryn, and it is for that reason that she has chosen to add her portion of the blog another time. I can tell you right now that you will be very entertained. Also we went out for a very nice French meal at a little brasserie just off the Place Rihour. We both had le Magret de Canard en bleu (‘nuff said).

À Demain,

-Jor and Kathryn