Taste le Tour 2012: 21 Stages of Eating for the Tour de France

Imagine if there was a Tour de France for eating. Wait a minute. There. is. Last weekend I was invited along to Taste le Tour, a 21-course epic feast that mirrors the cuisine and wine of each stage of this annual professional cycling race.

This Taste le Tour is the brainchild of Alyssa and Mark, two food obsessives who are equally besotted with the Tour de France. Each year they invite their friends over for a night of inspired feasting during the final week of Tour de France racing. Each person or couple is tasked with bringing along a wine or spirit that comes from the region of their allocated stage. The most important instruction was to arrive at 5.45pm for a 6pm sharp start, because "21 courses can't wait for you"!



It's hard to fathom that anyone would undertake a dinner party like this, but even more incredulous to realise this is the sixth time Mark and Alyssa have hosted this event. It takes place in their small two bedroom unit, soon intimately cosy with thirty assorted friends perched on chairs and stools that run from the kitchen to the living room. Some guests are recent inductees, others have been to every event since its inception.

Mark and Alyssa have the whole event organised with superhuman efficiency. At the door is a pile of menus detailing every dish for the evening. Glasses and plates are labelled with guests' names to avoid confusion, and each glass is marked at around 30ml for equal pouring.

The kitchen is tiny, but everything is at an advanced stage of preparation so each course can be plated reasonably quickly. The aim is to have each course out in fifteen minute intervals. There's an army of cooking notes stuck to the wall in the kitchen, but mostly it's an impressive display of efficiency and teamwork as Mark and Alyssa keep everyone fed and happy.


Stage 1 – Liege, Belgium
Veal meatballs with a "Rabbit" Sirop de Liege and dark ale sauce
Aperitif: Filliers Graanjenever, Belgium

Twenty one courses is a lot of food, but tonight it's a series of small mouthfuls that take us from Liege in Belgium to the finale in Paris. We start with veal meatballs cooked in a pear and apple reduction. We'd been responsible for the accompanying alcohol for this one, eventually tracking down a Filliers Graanjenever, a Belgian version of gin also known as peket.


Stage 2 – Liege, Belgium
Liege salad of beans and potatoes with maple syrup Prosciutto crisps
Beer: Leffe Blond

Course number two delivers witlof cups of bean and potato salad garnished with maple syrup prosciutto crisps.


Maple prosciutto crisps

There's an excess of maple prosciutto crisps that gets passed around and quickly demolished. These have been made by Mark and taste like the most amazing bacon candy you can imagine.


Maple prosciutto crisp

Hear that sound? That's the chorus of angels singing.


Stage 3 – Visé, Belgium
Soup of Hoegaarden Witbier, thickened with celeriac
Wine: Chimay Pères Trappistes Grande Réserve

Beer soup? It's not as boozy as you'd expect, helped along by the nuttiness of celeriac. The assortment of Japanese tea cups is half the fun.


Ben preparing the mussels

There are a couple of courses cooked or provided by friends, the most ambitious of which is a recipe from Modernist Cuisine.


Homemade thermal immersion circulator 
- for instructions on how to make your own, check this post


Stage 4 – Nord
Spring Bay Tasmanian Mussels reverse spherified in their own juices
Wine: Pol Gessner, Brut, Champagne, N.V.

Reverse spherification is an ambitious undertaking, especially for such a large crowd, but we're rewarded with glimmering almost alien-looking orbs that burst in the mouth at first bite, releasing a intense rush of mussel flavour before we savour the tender cooked mussel at its core.


Stage 5 – Normandie
Brillat-Savarin triple cream brie from Normandy
Cider: Etienne Dupont, Normandy Cider

We segue to a Brillat-Savarin triple cream brie (my kind of happiness) before progressing to two types of terrine, a delicate duck terrine for the meat-eaters and a multi-layered fresh beetroot terrine for the vegetarians (both if you happen to be in the right place at the right time).


Stage 6 – Normandie
Rouen is the home of pressed duck, and what better way to appreciate duck than a terrine!
Thirlmere Duck terrine with Seville Oranges and smoked duck breast
Cider: Le Père Jules, Poiré Cider



Stage 7 – Champagne
Alsace potato cakes garnished with fresh curd and chives.
Wine: Bollinger, Special Cuvée, Champagne, N.V.

Stage 7 takes us the Champagne region which we celebrate with crisp little mounds of potato cake and swigs of Bollinger champagne.


Stage 8 – Alsace-Lorraine
A double-baked soufflé of Munster and Gruyere topped with cream and served with lightly pickled red cabbage.
Wine: Domaine Mader, Pinot Gris, Alsace, 2010

A double-baked Munster and Gruyere cheese souffle is light and fluffy, refreshed by a side of red cabbage pickles.


Stage 9 – Franche-Comté
Triple truffle treat! Tartlet with truffle perfumed quail egg, truffle mayonnaise and finished a slice of fresh Tasmanian truffle.
Wine: Domaine de Savagny, Côtes du Jura Savagnin, 2007

There's a collective sigh of appreciation when Stage 9 arrives, mini tartlets filled with truffled quail eggs, truffle mayonnaise and topped with shavings of fresh Tasmania truffle. The aroma is incredible, and the brittle delicacy of the fresh truffles is a reminder of how joyous Mother Nature can be.


Escargots or snails


Stage 10 – Franche-Comté
The French classic of snails swimming in garlic herb and Pernod butter sautéed with Douglas' home cured bacon
Wine: Domaine Jean-Claude Bessin, Chablis, 2008

Escargots, or snails, are the French classic served for Stage 10. These are meltingly tender, cooked at a low temperature for a long time before frying in garlic, herb and Pernod butter and cubes of bacon, home-cured by their friend Douglas.


Stage 11 – Bourgogne
In the style of the famous Bresse chickens, Holmbrae farm free range chickens have been braised in the sherry-like white wine of the Jura region and master stock
Wine: Domaine de Savagny, Côtes du Jura Savagnin, 2007

At the halfway point we're onto the first major proteins, a sherry-braised free range chicken that reminds me a little of Chinese drunken chicken.

The night is a casual affair with everyone volunteering to pass around and serve dishes to everyone. Before each course is served, there's a brief announcement of the dish and why it was chosen for that region. The wine provider also gets up to present their drink, and share any interesting facts they've uncovered.


Stage 12 – Savoie
A light mushroom consommé with chestnuts from Laura’s auntie’s farm and nameko mushrooms
Wine: Bernard Faurie, Saint-Joseph, 2005

Stage 12 is one of my favourite dishes, a simple-looking but complex-tasting mushroom consomme that is generously studded with slippery nameko mushrooms and chestnuts from Laura's auntie's farm in Batlow, another friend in attendance.


Stage 13 – Savoie
A simple Alps dish of a gratin of silverbeet
Wine: Domaine William Fevre, Petit Chablis, 2010

Melted and grilled cheese makes all vegetables taste better, especially in the silverbeet gratin which appears for Stage 13, a creamy dish that is warm and comforting.


Stage 14 – Provence
6 hour Saltbush lamb shoulder, slow pot roasted with port and served with ratatouille and tapenade
Wine: Le Blason du Prince, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2009

Saltbush lamb shoulder has been slow roasted for six hours until the connective tissues have softened into an unctuous kind of bliss. Sides of ratatouille and tapenade make this a mini main for Stage 14.


Stage 15 – Languedoc-Roussillon
Limoux-style Redgate Farm roasted duck, braised in an orange and saffron sauce with whole garlic cloves
Wine: Domaine la Sarabande,  Faugères, 2009

We seem to be eating every type of animal tonight as we progress to Stage 15. It's fat slices of orange and saffron roast duck, amped up with a puree of whole caramelised garlic cloves.

Stage 16 is a palate-cleansing salad of celeriac, celery, walnut and pears (and also the only course I manage to miss photographing!).

Stage 16 – Midi-Pyrénées
A refreshing salad of celeriac, celery, walnuts and pears.
Wine: Château de Lagarde, Grand Millésime, Bordeaux Supérieur, 2005


Stage 17 – Midi-Pyrénées
The famous blue ewe's milk cheese, matured in limestone caves.
Wine: Château Gravas, Sauternes, 2009

It's back to cheese for Stage 17, a generous wedge of Roquefort blue cheese served with crackers and slices of fruit bread.


Stage 18 – Midi-Pyrénées
A flaky filo and apple tart.
Cocktail: Spiced Armagnac Cocktail

At Stage 18, we're finally cresting the hill and heading into the land of desserts. Squares of flaky filo apple tart are the first sweet off the ranks, paired with an armagnac cocktail made with armagnac, mint, fresh grated nutmeg and an orange and lemon rind infused sugar syrup.


Stage 19 – Gascogne
A delightfully grown-up ice cream made from Cognac-soaked prunes.
Digestif: Château du Tariquet, Classique Bas Armagnac

It's boozy ice cream time for Stage 19, a cognac and prune ice cream that is wonderfully alcoholic. Prunes are way overdue for an image change, far too often relegated as food for old people. Here they're plump and swollen with cognac, offering a burst of sweetness against the rich and smooth ice cream.


Crepes ON FIRE


Stage 20 – Centre
Mark’s take on the 1970’s dinner party favourite – Crêpes flambéed in a Seville orange and rum sauce
Wine: Domaine des Baumard, Coteaux du Layon Carte d'Or, 2006

We've kept surprisingly to schedule up to this point, but the Crepes Suzette are a production process that warrants more than 15 minutes. The crepes have been prepared by Mark's sister, Jinny, but they need finishing in a warm orange and rum sauce and are then flambeed in a crowd-pleasing spectacle.


Stage 21 – Paris
Jinny's World Famous™ chocolate truffles
Digestif: Château du Breuil, Calvados, Pays d'Auge

It's midnight by the time the final course is served, homemade chocolate truffles and a shot of Calvados apple brandy that would put hair on anyone's chest.


Mark in the kitchen

Thanks and applause to the amazing hosts Mark and Alyssa. Twenty one stages through the hills of Belgium and France have never been so rewarding nor delicious!

Now who's up for an Eating Olympics?!


Alyssa plating the snails

Beejay's and Vesbar Espresso, Marrickville

Pork belly for breakfast? How could I refuse?

We had plans to explore the recent spate of new cafes to open in Marrickville, a growing army of caffeine warriors now jostling for space among the pho noodle houses and Asian grocery stores. It feels more like Surry Hills than Marrickville Mauler territory these days, and Beejay's is one of the newest kids on the block.


Beejay's counter

At nineteen years old, local lad BJ (Benjamin Terkalas) is also one of the youngest cafe owners, converting a former Thai restaurant into an eclectic space that marries old LP records with hessian coffee sacks and revamped chairs plastered with strips of old newspaper.


Cameras and coffee sacks 

It's worth looking up toward the ceiling to notice the quirkier details, like the row of old and new cameras lining one wall, and a trail of vintage toy cars on the other.


Cassette tapes

I'm enamoured by the procession of old cassette tapes that run along the brickwork, a mishmash of Greek artists mixed in with 1980s classics.


LP records

Out the back is a courtyard for soaking up the sun but we take the indoor table by the LP records.


Caramelised goats cheese, pickled beetroot, walnuts and roast peppers $12

The breakfast menu is short and sweet, but there's still plenty to muse over. Angie picks the caramelised goats cheese toast, torched under the grill until golden brown in patches. It provides a creamy foil against the bitter crunch of walnuts, sweet roasted red capsicum and earthiness of pickled fresh beetroot.

The bread comes from Sonoma, with most menu items offering a choice between sourdough, soy and linseed or Turkish bread. Alternative toppings include avocado and lemon salt ($6.50), ricotta with honey and banana ($7) or a classic bacon and egg roll ($7.90).


Flat white and cappuccino


Beejay's Breakfast $16
Two free range eggs on sourdough, crisp pork belly, avocado, hash brown and baby mushrooms

The promise of crispy pork belly is the sole reason why the Beejay's breakfast leaps off the page at me. It's a fancy fry-up, with your choice of eggs (the poached eggs had a slight vinegary tang), a huddle of panfried button mushrooms and a fan of perfectly ripe avocado. The hash brown is a cluster of golden fried potato shreds, and the planks of pork belly are soft and fatty.

There's a steady stream of customers through the door, and I'm curious to see how it will operate as a wine bar once the liquor licence comes through. We're not really tempted by the desserts in the display counter (even though the homemade mango muffins seem to be a hit with customers)  and instead head across the road to another newbie cafe Vesbar Espresso.


Vesbar Espresso



You'll find Vesbar Espresso on the former site of the old barbershop, on the street that used to lead to the Marrickville Council pool (spot the childhood local). Outside is a litter of milk crates, wooden chairs and stools, all perched higgledy piggledy on the sloping footpath.

The cafe is compact but cosy, with a row of stools covered in old hessian coffee sacks. We decide to sit outside, where a friendly but efficient staff member quickly takes our order.


Freddo espresso $6

For owner Aki Daikos, Vesbar is his third cafe after Bay Espresso in Brighton Le Sands and Eastern Grind in Bondi Junction. The menu has an emphasis on simple Italian fare, more noticeable in the lunch menu which includes arancini, antipasto, bruschetta, pasta, a daily soup and a range of salads like the Italian mix beans with pecorino and San Daniele prosciutto.

The breakfast menu lists tempting paninis, organic five grain porridge and the Vesbar Mediterranean breakfast, a rustic board of poached eggs, fresh tomatoes, Persian feta, olives and cucumber with organic olive bread. The bread is by Brasserie Bread and coffee is from Campos.


Ricotta zuccherati $4

The pastries come from A&P Sulfaro Pasticceria Italiana in Haberfield, and I'm mesmerised by the array of sugar crusted donuts lined up behind the glass cabinet. The Nutella donut is already sold out.

We end up sharing the ricotta zuccherati, the light airy donut piped with a filling of fluffy ricotta cream. It's a sweet counterpart to my freddo espresso - one of the house specialties - a strong cold coffee served on ice.




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Vesbar Espresso
1 Warburton Street, Marrickville, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9558 2642

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday 6am-5.30pm
Saturday 7am-5pm
Sunday 8am-5pm




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Beejay's
395 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9558 8860


Opening hours:
Monday to Friday 5am-5pm
Saturday and Sunday 6.30am-5pm


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Marrickville - Yen for Viet

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Chica Bonita, Manly

The Sydney CBD has its small bars, but so too it seems, does Manly. We walk right past Chica Bonita at first, eventually doubling back and taking a hunch by walking down an unposted arcade. Its hidden location may stump the blow-ins, but locals have already discovered this week-old Mexican joint, and at 6pm on a Friday we score the last table in this tiny 20-seater.

Mates Luke and Sean are behind Chica Bonita - two lads who have always wanted to run their own taco place. Chica Bonita means pretty lady in Spanish. Tonight we're here primarily to support friend and fellow food blogger Lex, running the kitchen in his first head chef gig (Hai Lex!).


Chips and guac $6

There's a hip and happening buzz to the place, fitted out in a stylised urban grunge that is de rigeur. Many of the furnishings have come straight from Tijuana, Mexico, like the star lights that hang from the ceiling, the rainbow blankets to keep customers warm at night and the striking ceramic sink in the bathroom. There are a few young families in the early evening but by nighttime it's hipster city, swelling to the point where customers stand three deep at the bar, or hover awkwardly with tacos over a chairless table in the arcade corridor.


Ginger margaritas $10.50

The drinks list is all about the margarita, served in handled jam jars that are crusted perhaps a little too enthusiastically with salt. The watermelon margarita is refreshing and the ginger margarita is warm without being overly spicy. There's not much kick to the jalapeno with orange margarita but it's the cheekily named rim job cocktail that ahem, proves to be the crowd favourite - and the source of limitless joking with waitstaff.


Alex's ceviche $6

We start with the guac and chips, the tortilla chips piled into a brown paper bag artfully folded down and served on a chopping board. Everything seems to be served on a chopping board, so much so that occasionally we have to relinquish boards on our table because they're running out in the kitchen.

The guacamole is vibrant with fresh avocado but a little heavy on the red onion. The ceviche of ling fish is a tasty combination with the tortilla chips, even if it is a little difficult to dig out of the pot. It's a generous portion too for only $6.


Corn truffle quesadilla $7

We have no illusions about the corn truffle quesadilla, well aware that the use of the word "truffle" is really a euphemism for the fungi that grows on corn creating the Mexican delicacy "huitlacoche". It lends a smoky richness to the corn, although it's not so discernible here with the addition of mushroom. It's also a little messy to eat, especially with the tomato salsa strewn artfully across the top.


Chimichanga $10

The chimichanga is a blackboard special for the day, not quite as crunchy as a spring roll but deep-fried to a gentle crisp. One contains pulled pork, the other holds a huddle of black beans with cheese. It's more delicate than you'd expect, punctuated with acidity from the tomato salsa.


Olivera street corn $4

The Olivera street corn arrives with promising scorch marks from the grill and a sprinkle of queso fresco fresh cheese and coriander. A tiny wedge of lime adds freshness but it's not quite enough to resurrect the slightly soggy kernels that taste more akin to frozen cobs of corn.


Cochinita pibil taco $5

We move onto the taco section of the menu, each served in its own little boat for easy handling. The cochinita pibil taco is a trail of saucy pulled pork topped with pickled onions, black beans and coriander. Lex brings over three sauce bottles - all made inhouse - which we use for extra flavour. The smoked chipotle and the salsa verde are my favourites, and we quickly learn to use the habanero sauce with caution.


Tama asada taco $5

The tama asada taco has plenty of texture, chopped pieces of grilled steak mixed with sweet corn kernels, coriander and slivers of crunchy cabbage. Our only gripe is we can't find any of the promised housemade queso fresco on the tama asada tacos.


Baja fish taco $5

The surprising hit of the night is the Baja fish taco, three battered fish balls that look more like pomme noisettes. It's all about the crunch of the batter against creamy crisp coleslaw, like a fish burger in taco form.


Carne asada fries $12

We weren't sure about the carne asada fries on the menu, but when they arrive we pounce on it like hungry vultures. It's the antithesis of fancy food - a mountain of shoestring fries jumbled with strips of steak, fresh salsa, gaucamole and lashings of melted cheese. It's the ultimate carb-laden, protein-spiked cheesy hangover meal - messy but recklessly satisfying.


Chicharron sopa $4.50

I've saved the best for the last. The chicharron sopa is so good we end up ordering another round. If you like pork crackling - and who doesn't - then this is the taco of your dreams. Lex uses his own dry rub on the pork skin before roasting it in the oven until the crackling blisters.

There's a heart-jolting crunch when you bite into this tiny taco, smithereens of pork rind hitting the back of your throat on a river of guacamole. It's an eye-closing moment. Trust me.


Tres leches cake $6

The tres leches cake is another blackboard special, a doorstop of sponge cake bathed in a pool of evaporated milk, condensed milk and cream. A quenelle of chilli chocolate ganache on top isn't really traditional, but I'm too busy drinking up the cinnamon-dusted cream.


Rosalina's rum and raisin cremita $4

Rosalina is Lex's sous chef, and her rum and raisin cremita is perfect for boozers. Plump rum-soaked raisins are like alcoholic grenades on top of the cooked cream pudding splashed with extra rum.


Head chef Lex Wong

We've barely stood up from our table when another group swoops in. There are few things that will get me on the ferry to Manly but that crackling taco might well be one of them.


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Chica Bonita
7 The Corso, Manly, Sydney
Tel: +61 (0)450 612 896

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday 10.30am-12midnight (kitchen closes 10pm)
Closed Mondays

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