Message from France - Hachis Parmentier
5 min read
Message from France - Hachis Parmentier
Chez moi - The author of the blog is Leluka Lashkhi
„Chez moi avec moi” is one of the most popular culinary blogs. When you read its name, you realize that the author wants you to find yourself in France. The author of colorful, appetizing photos and recipes is Leluca Lashki. Lela is a writer, photographer and stage director.
“Culinary was my passion since childhood. I have been living in France for years and I was offered the position of assistant chef in a very good French restaurant for a probation period. Then I was hired on a long-term basis and transferred to a position of chef. I worked in two other restaurants as well and gained vast experience. In March 2018, I was hired as a chef in a chateau, here too for a probationary period of 4 months, but after a month and a half they offered me to conclude a permanent contract with them.”
Tell us about the Chateau menu.
Chateau is a private property and people live there permanently, accordingly the menu is determined in consideration of their taste focusing on French, traditional cuisine. Since the working hours are from Monday to Friday, the dishes are prepared every day and twice a day. Boeuf bourguignon, Quiche lorraine, Bouchée à la Reine, Cassoulet, Poulet Basquaise and even larger list including desserts and aperitifs.
Which region of France do you live in? Tell us about local traditional dishes.
I live in 95th Department, northwest of Paris.
In general, the traditional culinary concept of France is united in Paris, merged with individual touches of every chef. The mixture of international cultures also has a great impact, because I think nowhere else in the world do so many diverse people live as in Paris. You will find French, Asian, Oriental, African restaurants next to each other and all these, no matter how hard you try to separate them, still affect the taste of the customer.
Which is your favorite cuisine? What do you cook most often at home for your family members?
If you mean country of origin of my favorite cuisine, than it is always a mix of an Italian-Georgian-French dishes. I cannot tell you one dish that I cook most often at home. I rarely cook one and the same dish in the same manner. I constantly change something and feel free to improvise with tastes and flavors, because of my character.
Tell us about the blog.
I launched the blog last November and I do not have many subscribers yet. I don't really have enough time to post recipes more intensively. However I try to offer innovations to my readers and I receive feedback from them as they prepare based on my experience and express their satisfied. I do not like to artificially overload and “enrich” ingredients, which as other think make the dish more special and exquisite. On the contrary, in my opinion genius and taste peculiarity lie in simplicity.
„Chez moi avec moi” is one of the most popular culinary blogs. When you read its name, you realize that the author wants you to find yourself in France. The author of colorful, appetizing photos and recipes is Leluca Lashki. Lela is a writer, photographer and stage director.
“Culinary was my passion since childhood. I have been living in France for years and I was offered the position of assistant chef in a very good French restaurant for a probation period. Then I was hired on a long-term basis and transferred to a position of chef. I worked in two other restaurants as well and gained vast experience. In March 2018, I was hired as a chef in a chateau, here too for a probationary period of 4 months, but after a month and a half they offered me to conclude a permanent contract with them.”
Tell us about the Chateau menu.
Chateau is a private property and people live there permanently, accordingly the menu is determined in consideration of their taste focusing on French, traditional cuisine. Since the working hours are from Monday to Friday, the dishes are prepared every day and twice a day. Boeuf bourguignon, Quiche lorraine, Bouchée à la Reine, Cassoulet, Poulet Basquaise and even larger list including desserts and aperitifs.
Which region of France do you live in? Tell us about local traditional dishes.
I live in 95th Department, northwest of Paris.
In general, the traditional culinary concept of France is united in Paris, merged with individual touches of every chef. The mixture of international cultures also has a great impact, because I think nowhere else in the world do so many diverse people live as in Paris. You will find French, Asian, Oriental, African restaurants next to each other and all these, no matter how hard you try to separate them, still affect the taste of the customer.
Which is your favorite cuisine? What do you cook most often at home for your family members?
If you mean country of origin of my favorite cuisine, than it is always a mix of an Italian-Georgian-French dishes. I cannot tell you one dish that I cook most often at home. I rarely cook one and the same dish in the same manner. I constantly change something and feel free to improvise with tastes and flavors, because of my character.
Tell us about the blog.
I launched the blog last November and I do not have many subscribers yet. I don't really have enough time to post recipes more intensively. However I try to offer innovations to my readers and I receive feedback from them as they prepare based on my experience and express their satisfied. I do not like to artificially overload and “enrich” ingredients, which as other think make the dish more special and exquisite. On the contrary, in my opinion genius and taste peculiarity lie in simplicity.
The most unforgettable dish you have ever tasted.
When I first ate real pizza in Italy)) and mollusks in France while visiting the house of a Norman “peasant”.
Who or what is your source of culinary inspiration?
Inspirations are less characteristic for me, though I like Julia Child and Mark Veira, because of their different perspectives and very natural approaches. And, my mother of course, has no alternative as a culinary specialist.
Julia Child was an outstanding chef, with a non-standard and non-traditional vision, who tried to maintain the special tastes of a dish that everyone prepares at home, for family members.
Mark Veira uses only local vegetables, farm eggs, meat, and fish grown in a local aquarium, as ingredients at his restaurant Haute-Savoie. The dinner is immensely expensive there, but people from different countries reserve a table because they know exactly that only there they can eat a genuine, exquisite and “family” dishes.
As for the ingredients, I give preference to vegetables and seafood.
P.S. My source of inspiration is just my own imagination and my child’s taste preferences.
Hachis Parmentier
This dish is called “Born in Paris” and it was first prepared for Louis XVI, which later became one of his favorite dishes.
The dish has undergone many transformations over time and usually no chef cooks it the same way. However taking into account the base and ingredients, it is essential that the message and character of the dish be objectively expressed.
One kilogram of minced beef.
One kilogram of potatoes (preferably old and not new potatoes, which should be cooked in its own skin).
Two large onions.
50 ml red wine, bay leaf, butter, nutmeg, savory, black pepper, salt and cheese (Emmental, Gruyere, Gouda, or Comte)
Boil the potatoes in their own skin, peel them off and make a puree in a classical manner. Butter, salt and black pepper.
Fry the finely chopped onion and add the minced meat, grate the nutmeg, add the savory and bay leaf and wine in the end. Stir frequently and wait for the alcohol to evaporate. Then on an already covered pan, over low heat, it takes about 15 minutes to get the desired taste and texture.
Do not wait for it to cool, transfer it on a low, wide mold and flatten the surface, as the top should be covered symmetrically with a thick mass of mashed potatoes. Flatten the surface and place it in a preheated oven, the temperature of which should not be less than 180 degrees.
The baking time should be 25 minutes. 15-18 minutes after starting baking, take it out from the oven and top with the grated cheese, about 150 g. and return the mold into the oven. When the surface of the cheese is browned, it is baked.
author:
Nino Megrelidze