Being of adventurous spirit, I feel one of
the best lessons you can teach your children is to not be
afraid to venture out and explore. This was a journey that
I had always dreamed of sharing with my children, Alicia,
12 and Josh, 10 - a journey through France.
With my participation on Survivor II: The
Australian Outback, almost two years ago behind me now and
my new series on Food Network well into a marathon production
phase, I finally had the opportunity to bring Josh and Alicia
with me to produce 2 shows for my Food Network series. We
traveled to Paris for the filming of a half hour show and
then headed south to the Rhone-Alps region to produce a one
hour special. This wasn’t the first time that Alicia
and Josh have traveled with me..
When filming two shows in the Tahitian Islands,
they joined the journey with our team to the South Pacific.
But France I knew would be so much more brilliant, rich in
culture and gastronomical heritage-it has the ability to excite
all the senses. My vision was to have Josh and Alicia taste
freshly made cheese and learn a bit about chocolate making,
sip some wine, live and feel the passion from the French.
Our first week was spent in Paris on the
Left Bank. Our typical production schedule starts at 6:30
am with breakfast and on the road by 7:30. The pace they had
to maintain was challenging, but both of them embraced it
well. Alicia was immediately given the job of keeping production
notes for Vanessa, one of our associate producers, and Josh
worked alongside Joe, our still photographer. Josh really
enjoyed taking digital photos and Alicia’s notes became
an invaluable asset to the trip.
One of our first shoot locations was Poilane,
one of France’s most well-known and respected bread
bakers. I could tell by the way they both got the opportunity
to tour the old world bread shop that they were benefiting
greatly from the experience. Poilane was a gracious host.
He welcomed the entire crew into the shop and walked us through
the entire process of historical family craft.
Paris offered a wide range of experiences
for me to share with Alicia and Josh. From walks along the
Seine River (long walks) to the simple request of “ou
est la toilette” which both became very good at. Paris
is a place they will always remember. The tour of the Louvre
was one of my son’s highlights. The featured exhibit
was on Egypt and for as long as I can remember, he has always
been fascinated with Egypt - it all started with the movie
“The Mummy”.
One of the simplest adventures was walking
through the street markets and trying to identify the foreign
foods. My knowledge as a chef enables me to explain ingredients
and guide them as they experience textures of raw items up
close. Some they’ll remember, some they’ll forget
– the octopus they’ll always remember!
It seems that Paris has more restaurants,
brasseries, bistros and cafes per square block than any other
city in the world. Over the years I’ve sampled a variety
of types from 3 star restaurants to charming little bistros,
but there is one restaurant that always intrigued me –
L’Escargot. This nineteenth century restaurant is located
in the old world area Les Halles, and as you would guess,
they are know for the best snails. Now I’ve been introducing
unusual foods to Josh and Alicia as far back as I can remember
– sushi rolls they eat regularly. But a garden crawling,
slimy critter with a name like snail, as a meal, I figured
would be one of my biggest challenges. After the kids watched
me down 8 or 9 while filming the segment, I figured I might
have a shot at it. The fact that they were famished didn’t
hurt.
The whole team sat down to eat and the waiter
brought over trays of assorted cooked escargot in their natural
shells that have been filled with 3 specific types of flavors:
Roquefort cheese, garlic parsley and curry. As usual, it took
Josh’s courage to try one first, after realizing that
only bread for dinner wasn’t going to cut it. But once
he did and really liked it, his sister jumped in. Both ate
as many as the rest of the adults and voila, I now have snail
eaters.
Once we completed filming in Paris, it was
on to Lyon and the Rhone Alps region. When it comes to food,
it is one of the most important regions in all of France,
with majestic mountain country-sides dotted with cheese makers,
vineyards, and sunflowers.
The Carthusian monks have made an emerald
liqueur called Chartreuse for hundreds of years. It is here,
behind the walls of a century old monastery that the monks,
who are sworn to silence and solitude, produce this special
liqueur. Chartreuse is a rich green liqueur made up of 130
herbs and spices. The fact that only 3 monks know the recipe,
adds to the mystique of this emerald liqueur.
Of course, the flavor is something that you
have to become accustomed to. I’ll never forget the
look on their faces when they tried a sip; and I don’t
think they will either. More important than the flavor was
the opportunity they had to tour a special museum dedicated
to the monks. Then we took a trip to the hilltop countryside
where you can actually look over and into the walls of the
monastery.
Our trip into the city of Lyon, the second
largest city in France, proved to be one of the most enjoyable
for the kids as well as the kids in all of us. This was mainly
because of our day trip to Bernachon chocolate shop, arguably
the best chocolatier in all of the world. Once I stepped in
the glass engraved fantasy world of hand made chocolates,
I knew it would be a grand experience for the palate. The
look on Josh and Alicia’s face as we hit the door at
9:30 am, said it all. The first words out of their mouths
were “Dad, can we have some” my first words were
“after lunch”.
But this was more than a retail shop that
sold chocolates. Behind the walls of the front shop was the
actual processing area where they hand dipped chocolates filled
with wonderful ingredients. Then they showed us how the chocolate
is made from scratch by hand selecting the best cocoa beans
and carefully blending them using a secret recipe. It’s
undoubtedly the best chocolate I have ever tasted. I explained
to Josh and Alicia that the chocolate they were tasking was
the truest form of chocolate they’ve ever had. Monsieur
Bernachon was so gracious to open his shop up to us and Josh
and Alicia have a new appreciation for the one item that has
been their favorite since they were babies.
Cheese making is an art in France and St.
Marcellin cheese is one of France’s most prized treasures.
It’s a cow’s milk cheese that is not pasteurized
and is formed into a flat, solid disk.
Now Josh and Alicia’s whole idea of
great cheese was a yellow slice, wrapped in a plastic cover,
that is served on every fast food hamburger in the United
States. Up until we went to the cheese production facility
in the Rhone-Alps region, they would always make comments
about the cheese – comments such as “Dad, don’t
they have American?” I heard that comment time and time
again.
So, as the tour got underway at the cheese
production facility of St. Marcellin, which is where they
produce some of the most requested cheeses in France, I saw
this as a great opportunity to let Alicia and Josh taste and
experience the whole cheese making process. Later in the week,
while eating in another restaurant where St. Marcellin cheese
was served, they seemed far more open to sampling the creamy,
historical cheese, knowing what they learned about it. Josh
still said, “Dad, I like American cheese better”.
For a chef, being in the presence of two powerhouse 3 star
chefs such as Paul Bocuse and George Blanc was a great feeling.
It is even more special to share the experience with my children
even if they didn’t quite grasp the importance of the
“dude in the tall white hat”. As time goes on,
I am confident that the rich experiences they had with the
French culture will have lasting effects on them and possibly
they will go back on their own to retrace the footsteps we
made on our journey. Hopefully they’ll even take
me with them.
As a single parent, I have had a great opportunity
and responsibility to enrich my children’s lives in
anyway possible. One of the best ways is to share my own personal
passions. France is mine and now it is theirs too.
Keith Famie
