Lyon, France 2 - Bouchon Tupin & more
In Lyon, we adored the city's Bouchon culture very much. "A bouchon is a type of restaurant found in Lyon, France, that serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, such as sausages, "salade lyonnaise" duck pâté or roast pork," according to wiki. Bouchon was a perfect place to explore the 'world capital of gastronomy. The first bouchon we tried was Bouchon Tupin, where J had Chef's crushed Pate with apple cider vinegar gelee, along with onion confit with cassis (backcurrant) as a starter.
Apéritif (not drink but a small snack in this case) was a kind of saucisson lyonnais. Baguette was also served.
My starter was onion soup with truffled ham and comte cheese. It was the meatiest onion soup that I have ever had. Very tasty but a bit too salty. By the way, there was a old French man sitting near our table. He started talking to J in mix of English and French. When J's Pate was served, the old man noticed J had a glass of white wine. He kindly shared his red wine with J, recommending him the red wine would be good to the Pate. He told us he comes the restaurant at least once a week. Clearly he loves the restaurant and knows a perfect matching of their food and wine.
For main course, we both had Quenelle Lyonnaise - pike (a kind of freshwater fish traditionally plentiful in the lakes in the north of Lyon) soufflé with sauce Nantua (crayfish sauce). The dish was like a giant fluffy pillow. The soufflé was light with a delicate fish flavor, which reminded me a kind of Japanese fishcake, Hanpen. The sauce was very strong and rich. They complemented each other. The dish was served with steamed rice according to tradition.
We were so full with the delicious but rich Lyonnesse food but naturally expected that the restaurant's desserts must be wonderful and couldn't help but try one. J ordered chocolate mousse, which the old man ordered. Following the regular guest was a wise idea. It looked fancy and I believed J liked it. I had caramelized apple sauce with crunchy nutty crumbles. It was very refreshing.
Bouchon Tupin was pretty much enjoyable. Before the lunch, we climbed up via a steep long staircase to the top of Fourvière, a hill immediately west of Lyon's Old Town and visited La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière.
After the lunch, we climbed up via a long wide staircase to La Croix-Rousse, a district known as the "hill that works" since the 19th century, where many silk weavers would live and work.
A view of the Basilique from La Croix-Rousse!
At the center of La Croix-Rousse, there were some bakeries and pastry shops, including a Lyon-based renowned chocolatier-pastry chef, Sébastien Bouillet's pastry shop! Two of his shops were located side by side; one was formal and the other was casual.
I bought a madeleine and a financier at his "casual" shop, Boutique [Goûter] pour retomber en enfance. I remembered that I had a dessert along with rich dishes for lunch. However, the madeleine looked so good and I thought I, as a long-time-home-baker, should learn the real taste and texture of French madeleine in France.
To be continued...
