Memories of Gascony

Pierre Koffmann has been at the heart of fine cuisine in Britain for over 40 years. After working as a young chef in Strasbourg and Toulon, Koffmann arrived in London in 1970 to work under Michel and Albert Roux at Le Gavroche. In 1972 he was made the first head chef of the Roux brothers' new venture, the Waterside Inn at Bray. When Pierre opened La Tante Claire in 1977, it was the start of a residency at the top of the London culinary world that would span four decades. Within six years of opening, La Tante Claire had its third Michelin star, setting new standards for cooking and creating extraordinary dishes from classically simple ingredients, while also serving as an academy for many of today's culinary superstars. Between them his various protégés, from Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay to Tom Kitchin and Jason Atherton, now boast over 20 Michelin stars in their own right. He retired in 2003, but following a sell-out of his critically hailed pop-up at Selfridges in 2009, he returned to the kitchen once more. His acclaimed, informal restaurant, Koffmann's at The Berkeley, serves classic provincial French cooking - the food of his grandparents' farmhouse kitchen. Find out more about Pierre Koffmann at www.pierrekoffmann.co.uk.

Prologue | Introduction | Foreword SPRING: Walnut leaf aperitif, Vegetable soup with preserved goose, Camille's special garbure, Gascon boiled meats with vegetables, Dandelion salad with bacon and poached eggs, Preserved duck legs in featherlight pastry, Acacia or pumpkin flower fritters, Armagnac-flavoured pancakes, 'Rat's tail' fritters, 'Fantasy' fritters, Braised tench with tomato puree and mustard, Gudgeon omelette, Eels in red wine, Trout cooked with bacon, Trout with watercress, Carp with potatoes and herbs, Adour salmon poached with vegetables, Adour salmon cooked in goose fat, Fritters, Spring cabbage soup, Broad bean soup, Garlic and breadcrumb patty, Pea soup, Asparagus omelette, Spring vegetables with foie gras, Pickled gherkins, Rabbit with baby onions, Rabbit stuffed with herbs, Grilled spring chicken with shallots and vinaigrette, Spring onion omelette, Gratin of leeks with Roquefort, Gascon leg of lamb, Lamb stew in a white sauce, Paschal lamb in pastry, Traditional Easter waffles, Gascon creme brulee, Veal tripe, Calves' testicles with armagnac, Snails grilled with coarse salt, Stuffed snails in red wine, Wild mushrooms with parsley, Wild mushroom omelette, Young pigeon with thyme and garlic, Pigeon in traditional Gascon pastry, Suckling pig cooked on a spit, Greengages in armagnac SUMMER: Dried French beans, Green walnut jam, Sweetbreads with mushrooms, Hake with capers, saffron and tomatoes, Poached egg white with vanilla custard, Ballotine of foie gras with sweet jurancon wine, Leg of lamb cooked for 4 hours, Bayonne ham tart with garlic, Savoury flan pastry, Moulded rice pudding with apricot coulis, Cooked chicken blood, Chicken liver pate with capers, Lamb cured like ham, Quails cooked over the embers, Orange aperitif, Stuffed chicken in the pot with stuffed cabbage and poached brioche, All-purpose stuffing, Dumpling with kidneys and morel sauce, Gascon bread, 'Corkscrew' loaf, Oil bread, French bread sticks, Fricassee of guinea fowl with garlic, Terrine of duck, Roast duck with olives, Roast duck with peaches, Duck with blood sauce, Melon flan, Sweet flan pastry, Strawberries in sparkling wine with pepper, Summer fruits in red wine, Shoulder of lamb with potatoes, A flaky croustade of caramelized apples, Pike steaks with wine vinegar and crushed peppercorns, Crayfish in white wine, Fricassee of rabbit with artichokes, Frogs' legs with oyster mushrooms AUTUMN: Vineyard peach flan with sweet wine, Quince jelly, Plum jam, Blackberry jelly, Green tomato jam, White bean soup, Toulouse sausage with white beans and tomatoes, Salt cod cassoulet a la Tante Claire, Roast hare with mustard and beetroot, Stuffed hare with white wine, French beans in cream, Goose giblets with root vegetables, Gratin of courgettes, Creamy apple tart, Casserole of wild boar, Walnut flan, 'Headless larks': stuffed veal escalopes, Cockerel in Madiran wine, Agen prunes in rum, Cornmeal cakes, Cornmeal biscuits, Young partridge with cabbage, Pheasant with fresh walnuts, Pheasant with floc and celeriac, Flambed blackberry omelette, Pumpkin jam, Gratin of pumpkin, Ceps in red wine, Cep flan, Haunch of venison with peppercorns, Wild pigeon with armagnac, Maize semolina soup, Roast turkey with ceps, Potato pie in puff pastry, Apple flan, Quail wrapped in vine leaves, Frogs' legs soup with watercress, Mousseline of chicken with carrots and lemon sauce, Braised lobster in red wine, Steamed fillet of lamb in leek parcels, Potato cakes with foie gras and shallots, Pistachio souffle WINTER: Wild duck with orange juice, Salamis of woodcock, Baked stuffed cabbage, Tomato sauce, Mutton soup with chestnuts, Creamed salt cod, Hare in red wine, Prune flan, Light sponge cake, Onion and garlic soup, Chicken necks, wings, and giblets stewed in white wine with macaroni, Guinea fowl with Agen prunes and pousse rapiere, Duck breasts grilled over vine branches, Haricot beans in red wine, Duck foie gras with sweetcorn and apples, Fried eggs with foie