Meat & Potatoes Day 2 goes continental! Lamb Champvallon.

According to the Larousse Gastronomique, this classic French dish dates from the reign of Louis XIV. It was supposedly invented by one of his mistresses. But which one? There are 14 (quatorze) officially recognized mistresses. That’s a lot of ladies to give credit for this dish to.

The French seem to have a lot of these stories attached to their most traditional foods. It’s hard to say how much truth there is in any one of them.

Take this recipe known to the French as Cotes D’agneau Champvallon. If it was indeed a lamb dish brought to the King’s attention by a mistress, it seems to make sense that her name may have been Champvallon. But most mistresses get short shrift in the history books. I can find no references to any of Louis’ lovers with that name.

So I decided it was time for me to take hold of this lore and redefine the history behind this dish to suit my own needs and my own cooking style. While I am rewriting history I think I’ll do a bit of tweeking to the recipe too. Something more suited to the modern palate.

So here we are on day 4 of mint.

We did a mint tea that highlights the simplest essence of the herb. Then we used it as part of a medley of bright notes in a fruity tomato salad. We continued coaxing its distinctive flavor out by infusing mint into a classically French Cherry soup.

But I never really discussed why it is I chose mint in the first place. There certainly are more glamorous herbs in this world. What about shiso? Everybody is talking about that exotic little leaf.

It seems I have had a French flair going on here lately. So why not feature the most classic of the Provençal herbs, rosemary?

But I chose mint.

Partly because I wanted to prove it’s not just for Tic-Tacs and toothpaste, but also because I have a deep and abiding respect for mint. It took me a lot of years to get there though.