{"id":35743,"date":"2012-11-26T12:47:50","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T01:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/?p=35743"},"modified":"2013-06-24T13:24:55","modified_gmt":"2013-06-24T03:24:55","slug":"secrets-to-creative-french-cuisine-at-la-petite-maison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/2012\/11\/26\/secrets-to-creative-french-cuisine-at-la-petite-maison\/","title":{"rendered":"Secrets to creative French cuisine at La Petite Maison"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"8162848779_8cbba12b6f_z\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Eric Sapet, the chef and owner of La Petite Maison<\/em>, is able to steal a few minutes of social time to enjoy a morning caf\u00e9<\/em> with friends. <\/strong><\/p>\n

His pause-caf\u00e9<\/em> is over quickly. It is Saturday morning in the Luberon village of Cucuron. Awaiting the master chef<\/strong> is a cooking class with 25 participants, eager to learn all about girolles<\/em> (chanterelle mushrooms). And the restaurant is fully booked at lunch.<\/p>\n

This was our second cooking course with M. Sapet. My husband had chosen a workshop on mushrooms. La Petite Maison<\/em> offers several classes a month, each focused on a specific theme or particular seasonal ingredient. The programs have been running for over five years and judging by the number of attendees, it is obvious that he has developed a loyal<\/strong> following.<\/p>\n

\"8144752905_5f8871cf53_z\"<\/a>Arriving in Cucuron, a small medieval town dating from the 11th<\/sup> century, was a combination of hard work and chance for M. Sapet. He was classically<\/strong> trained in his field in Paris at l\u2019Ecole H\u00f4teli\u00e8re<\/em>. Once the scholastic course load was finished, the long kitchen hours began in earnest.<\/p>\n

He spent 11 years working his way through the ranks in some of the Grands Restaurants Parisiens<\/em> including the Michelin 3-star la Tour d\u2019Argent<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The path of his cooking career wandered from famous Parisian kitchens to a Relais et Ch\u00e2teaux<\/em> in the Ard\u00e8che before he was attracted to the popular village of Lourmarin in the Luberon, in 2005.<\/p>\n


\n\"8144789924_7bea3ed226_b\"<\/a>La Petite Maison<\/em> was once just that – a private residence. The charming<\/strong> building dates from the 19th<\/sup> century. The restaurant is situated, in the heart of this working village, right next to an enormous rectangular etang<\/em> (pond) shaded by plane trees.<\/p>\n

In 2007, the house was converted into a restaurant. An old structure in a medieval village translates into a tiny kitchen and equally small prep area. Wood panelled walls and period photos surround the dining tables adorned with crisp, white table linens and china place settings, a classic backdrop for Eric Sapet\u2019s inventive<\/strong> cuisine.<\/p>\n

The morning\u2019s cooking class is followed by the opportunity to sample the creative menu over a long, lazy lunch \u2013 accompanied by excellent wine pairings. This is also a chance to talk with some of the other participants and share stories<\/strong> of fabulous food. I was able to borrow a few minutes of M. Sapet\u2019s precious time to ask a few questions.<\/p>\n

<\/em>
\n\"Carolyne<\/a>Provence is a rich canvas for local products \u2013 do you have a preferred season for ingredients and produce?<\/strong>
\nNo, every season is intriguing with powerful, rich flavours.<\/p>\n

<\/em>In your opinion what is the most versatile ingredient?<\/strong>
\nWithout a doubt, the black truffle.<\/p>\n

<\/em>What is the most important piece of equipment in your kitchen?<\/strong>
\nThe high quality oven.<\/p>\n

If you had the chance what would you change at La Petite Maison<\/em>?<\/strong>
\nIt would be fantastic to have more prep area and a larger kitchen. The existing space is remarkably tight for a total staff of 10 people; in the kitchen and waiting on tables.<\/p>\n

Aside from your own restaurant do you have any regional favourites that you would recommend?<\/strong>
\nYes, two particularly enjoyable places to eat are La Bamboo Thai<\/a> in Lourmarin and la Bastide de Moustier<\/a> in Moustier.<\/p>\n

A few more recipes under our belt followed by an exquisite<\/strong> lunch, the only thing missing was a hammock for an afternoon siesta.<\/p>\n

Would you take one of his classes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

References:
\n1. La Petite Maison<\/a><\/address>\n
Image Credits:<\/span>
\n1<\/span>. Eric Sapet, via<\/span> La Petite Maison<\/a>
\n2-4. Courtesy La Petite Maison<\/span><\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

La Petite Maison offers several classes a month, each focused on a specific theme or particular seasonal ingredient. The programs have been running for over five years and judging by the number of attendees, it is obvious that he has developed a loyal following.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":820,"featured_media":53100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[1101,1084],"tags":[213,258,281,312,384,397,436,147,148,163,172,210],"class_list":["post-35743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gastronomie-experience","category-gastronomie","tag-france","tag-french-cuisine","tag-in-english","tag-learning","tag-places-to-go","tag-provence","tag-things-to-do","tag-chef","tag-chef-de-cuisine","tag-cooking","tag-culture","tag-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/820"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}