Filling up in northern France.

France at last! A place where butter out weights humans, duck fat is an almost guarantee and bread is a cultural icon. The air is filled with the scent of fresh cheeses and the romantic aromas of rotisserie birds. Meat is always cut to order by men and women who handle knife as if where an appendage since birth. One of the major culinary capitals of the world, France is a place that casts a romantic spell and transforms all into lustful beasts with large appetites.

History has stomped across the grounds of Normandy many times, and never in a soft way. With miles of battle scarred land, thought provoking beaches of the d-day invasion and a sacred sight where Joan of Arch met her fiery demise, Normandy has gone through a lot. By always pushing through and finding ways to make life work, the people of Normandy have created wonderful traditions and all can be tasted within their cuisine. A place where napkins are few and wine is plentiful, food has a strong place within all that has been and will be.

A meal created from the market using local cow's milk Neufchatel cheese, spicy turnips, the quintessential baguette and a fresh slice of rabbit pate. By using less but relying on the many flavors of each item, this is a style of lunching that can rarely be beaten. The cheese in this area of France is some of the most enjoyed and lovely of all. With thick milk and wonderfully rich cream, cheese is essential for all who pass through.

Another selection from the market, half a wheel of unpasturized camembert, pork rillets and another crusty baguette. Finally enjoying these cheeses in their natural environment is like consuming the feeling of a warm embrace. Creamy, dramatic and slightly earthy with a thick texture that massages the tongue while comforting the mind with the realization that none of it had to be shared.
While cheese production is known in Normandy, the cultivation of apples is nearly as large. Enormous amounts of land is used for the strict purpose of growing apple trees. With a climate making it seem almost easy for this fruit to prosper, the apples has found its way into much of the basic food culture within Normandy.
With such a number of apples there are obviously too many to eat at one time, thus came many drinks utilizing the abundance. Cider can be found in many forms, from easy drinking types suitable for all ages to much more adult versions with added alcohol.

A typical salad with shavings of foie gras and slices of smoked duck breast. The dressing was heavy on the dijon mustard, just the needed sting to offset the rich foie and the wild tasting duck. Accompanying this was a fizzy cider having calming levels of alcohol and sweetness.

Going further with the booze and creating Calvados, a very strong and slowly sipped drink. This beef tartar was in the style of the area containing apples, and the intense calvados. Apples seemed to be slipped into anything they could. One dish being so great, it nearly called for medical assistance.

This was a braised pork shank with mushrooms and apples, served with duck-fat potatoes and it went by the name of Kako. Big chunks of apple were used in the braise, giving many of their tart and sweet flavors to the thick pork fat gravy. The serving size was absolutely colossal. Eating thought this was a test of will. The mouth wanted more and more but the stomach was screaming at not having the needed room. The meat was soft and delicious but there was enough of it to feed a series of battling vikings and being just me, I must say it was a very long evening. Getting up afterwards felt as if a hiking sack was within my belly. The walk home was done in a series of long breaks and sleep that night was full of slow breathing and extremely strange dreams.
Normandy hasn't had the luxury of some of the other regions of France, and because of this level of poverty many dishes were created using the only things that were available. But that doesn't always mean it is tasty.

(The descriptions of this next dish are not some to read before eating.)
I usually really like tripe. The Vietnamese Pho noodle bowls sometimes offer it and it is quite a common panino filling within the streets of Florence. For the city of Caen in Normandy, it is a thick stew of flavored by apples and contrasted by the use of potatoes. And it is utterly disgusting. This was a version of tripe that really felt just like what one would think a cow's stomach lining would taste like. Smelling of bile and horrid organs, the stench could not me masked. Gooey and slimy with a thick phlegm like texture that didn't really chew all that well. Eating this was like eating pond scum with salt. The 'rhino cage at the zoo' aromas never diluted and after a few bites everything I touched seemed to contain the miasma of decay. I could slightly understand why this would have been created out of struggling times, but to serve this now is just simply ridiculous. A bowl of smelly guts hardly sounds like a nice meal worth savoring.
It was a shame to end my stay in Normandy with such a night of gagging and frowning but that moment didn't detract from all the other wonders that were found and tried. A nice part the country where culinary history runs thicker than the ooze of a open camembert, and (mostly) as delicious.