SANGLIER

Huh I hear you say, Sanglier is a Wild Boar.  We were invited to a friends place in Megeve for dinner where I ate my first Sanglier.  It was shot by Oswaldo in Auvergne and they cooked the leg for dinner which took 7 hours on a slow roast.

They are very dangerous creatures actually and if they have young and you get to close they will charge.  We have a few living here in Praz but I have never seen one thank goodness.  The majority live in the centre of France in Auvergne and infact are so prevelant they have to be culled annually hence Oswaldo being able to shoot one.  Despite its size these creatures run at a hell of speed.

So off we went, well it was delicious, not as rich as I thought but a delicious flavour.  We met new people which is always a good thing and it was great company.  We ate the pig with topinambour which is French for Jerusalem Artichoke, another new one for me.  Very grainy like a potato mashed but a very earthy flavour.  Delicious but a warning; it gives you GAS.

I was so impressed all this was put together by men, and served with baked apples stuffed with Blackberries.  Yum

Seb in the background who invited us.  The pig is cooked in a sealed oven dish, sealed with pastry and the leg stuffed with fat.

Kind of purple looking.

Oswaldo carving his cull. 

So from me in a clockwise position; Seb, Manu, Antoine, Oswaldo, Amelie with baby Hanna (3 weeks old), Laurence, and Benjamin.  Both Amelie and Laurence went to school in Notre Dame de Bellecombe which is a few minutes drive from here and a tiny ski village so they are both local or Savoiards as we call them.

And this is dessert.  I have had this before it's an old recipe from Seb's grandmother who is no longer alive, but Seb has definitely done her justice in the execution of this recipe.  A Rice pudding using a tiny glass of rice, 4 liters of milk and 6 hours in the oven.  Have you ever.  Well it's worth the fuss, because it is FABULOUS.  Aunty Margaret eat your heart out!!!!!!!!!!!!!