IF ONLY WALLS COULD SPEAK - Blancpain

focus of their first half hour together was
not how the foreign subsidiaries were
managing their order flow, but which
Condrieu would marry best with the several
truffle dishes they had planned!
The meal started off with a glass of particularly
fine, yeasty champagne
(Philippe Rochat selection) and an elongated,
almost tray-like plate, carrying the
amuse-bouches. Arrayed in a line were a sea
urchin shell holding a veloute of oursins
from Ireland; a small scallop shell with a
vinaigrette de pétoncles noirs and finally
crissed crossed shells of “couteaux” (knife) or
sometimes called “ciseaux” (scissors) in
French. Oursins is one fish amateur cooks
never tangle with. Rochat produced a velvety,
slightly sweet thick velouté served just
warm, a simply lovely first bite on the road
to an elaborate menu. The pétoncles were
particularly small in diameter served as slices
Gros spaghetti aux truffes blanches d’Alba
in the shell, barely translucent and accented
by a herb vinaigrette. Could I have 3, no
make that 10, of these? Finally the couteaux
were taken out of the shell coated in a dark
stock, offset by a balsamic vinaigrette, placed
as chunks back on the shell and decorated
with finely piped crème fraîche.
The next course showed the separation
between Rochat and ordinary excellent
cooks. It was a gelée de caviar d’osciètre
acidulée aux pommes vertes. This was an
incredibly generous mound of osciètre
caviar which arrived perched on top of a
pale white gelée flecked with tiny chards
of green apple. Of course the pairing of
caviar with citrus, is rather normal. That is
the stuff of ordinary chefs. The green apple
is far finer. Less acid than citrus it provides
a barely perceived background polish to
allow the full flavor of the caviar to shine
through. The texture of the gelée was just
firm enough to carry the tiny caviar balls.
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Both senses of taste and texture were fulfilled.
This was a brilliant dish.
The white wine to accompany was a 2000
Puligny Montrachet from Sauzet. Sauzet is
of course an icon in Puligny. Sauzet’s villages
level Puligny performs far above its
appellation. It was an elegant, richly satisfying
Puligny with a hint of spiciness that
struck a nice compromise for the dishes
with which it was paired.
What followed was familiar, a dish I had had
here a year ago. Indeed, if I could imagine
coming to Rochat and having just one
thing, it would be this: gros spaghetti aux
truffes blanches d’Alba. Spaghetti were rolled
into the shape of a hemisphere (imagine a
ball the size of a small mandarin cut in half)
placed into the center of the plate. It was
surrounded by the lightest foamy truffle
sauce and generous slices of white truffle.
The waiter counseled to cut the ball in half
immediately, which released a poached egg