Gourmet

12.03.2010 0

Gourmet: The antiseptic properties of ‘stinking roses’ are good for flu

Detox the Provencal way

Garlic at a market

Apparently sales of garlic worldwide have shot up in the past year, alongside the Swine Flu scare, and the price of what Alexander Dumas called "this mystically refined bulb" has risen commensurately. The "stinking rose" may not be able to fight off Grippe A on its own, yet garlic has certainly been known for centuries to have antiseptic properties. Indeed, it was grown extensively for this reason during both World Wars, encouraged by government grants.Read more …

08.01.2010 0

Gourmet: Discover the secrets of the “black gold” at wholesale prices

Truffles galore at two markets this weekend

Black truffles on a checkered napkin

Everything you’ve always wanted to know about truffles but were afraid to ask can be found at the 14th "Marché de la Truffe" (truffle market) which is on this weekend in the Alpes-Maritimes at the Bastide Saint Antoine near Grasse on Saturday, and the village of Le Rouret on Sunday. Read more …

09.12.2009 0

Gourmet: Imaginative trilogy pays tribute to luxury and exclusivity for winter at the Fairmont Monte Carlo

Top chef salutes Dior’s secret passion

Maryon Gandon, Head Chef at the Fairmont Monte Carlo

A partnership between the Fairmont Monte Carlo hotel and Dior has captured the imagination of one of the Principality’s most creative - dare one say theatrical - chefs. Taking inspiration from Christian Dior’s epicurean passion for haute cuisine, Maryan Gandon and his team have taken a fresh approach to festive traditions. Read more …

01.12.2009 0

Gourmet: Make onions the star of your dish of the day

Know your onions

Autumn is the time we start to see the new season's onions arriving in our markets and shops - in different shapes, sheens and colours, and all beautifully sweet, crisp and easy to peel. So, away with those tasteless Spanish onions strung into orange netting, and start experimenting with our more locally grown purple shallots, pretty, aromatic reds (rouge-de-florence or rosé-de-roscoff, for example) or, best of all, the sweet yellow doux-de-Cevennes.Read more …

10.09.2009 0

Gourmet: A local taste of springtime

Farcis - one of this season’s most edible delights, and how to make it!

Farcis in bowl

Maydays and sunshine days. This month heralds the start of long summer lunches in the shade, relaxing and gossiping with friends. The last thing you want is to be busying to-and-fro kitchen-to-terrace, so the ideal meal is one you can prepare in advance. Which, presumably, is why Petits Farcis Niçois were invented. The perfect ‘pick and mix’ summer buffet dish.Read more …

27.07.2009 0

Gourmet: Moules, moules, moules!

A paradise for mussel lovers

waiters with dishes

Twenty two years ago, Sylvie Chantraine decided that her restaurant should become something very special. At that time, she offered Belgian specialities. One of those was a mussel dish, which her guests loved. Read more …

27.07.2009 0

Gourmet: Mamma’s real Italian does still exist

Home-made pasta

signora daniela serving pasta

Nowadays, with the modernisation of so many restaurants, one wonders where to find the authentic Italian ambiance and homemade dishes. Read more …

27.07.2009 0

Gourmet: From the net directly to the table

Feel the fresh fish

owners presenting fresh fish

The menu of the Ristorante Bugamatta, in Finale, Ligure, remains a mystery until the morning arrival of the fishermen: "It depends on what kind of fish they caught in their nets", says Titti Manno, who has run this fine little restaurant on the sea front, together with her husband, Piero Daccà, for five years. He is a trained chef and the menu is his creation. Read more …

19.11.2007 0

Dinner and wine evening at Sophia Antipolis

Wine tasting at the BCC Riviera

The British Chamber of Commerce will host an evening of wine tasting on November 22nd with honorary guest Rod Smith of Vins Sans Frontières.Read more …

12.11.2007 0

Gourmet: Escoffier foundation holds conferences at C.U.M

Two-day gastronomy and politics events

Le Centre Universitaire Méditerranéen (CUM) will hold the two-day conferences organised by the Auguste Escoffier foundation today and tomorrow. The yearly conference is this time centred on the question of whether there is such a thing as ‘a political meal’ and ‘what is the etiquette’ at such events.Read more …

Local Top Stories

TGV arriving at Paris station

Nice-Paris TGV fast train accident ($)

This morning’s TGV n°6172 and the TGV n°2902, which left Nice is currently stopped between Aix-en-Provence and Avignon due to a person being hit at 9.20am. Read more …

photomontage of the Odeon skyscraper

Foundations of Monaco skyscraper are laid ($)

After long months of tortuous negotiations and discord, the 370 million euro contract with Vinci Construction has finally left the ground. Opponents of the project – including some residents of neighbouring Beausoleil who will be overshadowed by it – brought their protest all the way to the President Nicolas Sarkozy but to no avail.Read more …

Hauschildt at a dinner function with Romana Labunski on the right and Pamela Schutzmann on the left

To catch a swindler and a swine ($)

The Riviera Times have joined the hunt for a dangerous criminal, convicted of fraud in the UK and wanted under a European arrest warrant. Since 2008, Mogens Hauschildt, 68, has been on the run with one million pounds belonging to 87-year-old widow, Pamela Schutzmann. Read more …

Event News

A beautiful relationship

One of the joys of living in Monaco is the easy access to cultural events. And if there was a prize for the most interactive among them, it would justly go to the International Cinema and Literature Forum, which opens this weekend.Read more …

Diary of a Monte Carlo rally driver

Once a year classic cars roll into Monaco for the Monte-Carlo Historic rally but what’s it like to take part? No one can answer that question better than Anna-Louise Felstead. Having come painfully close to crossing the finishing line in 2009, the artist from Cornwall, England, was revved up and raring to get going this year. Read more …

Festival fun in Nice starts today

While most of our northern neighbours experience snow blizzards at this time of year while the Riviera is bursting with life and colour under an azure blue sky. However, this February's weather is colder and harsher than usual, with heavy snowfalls yesterday across the Riviera turning the ambiance of the pre-spring festivals upside down. Festival organisers are hoping for a let up in the weather so parades can go ahead. Read more …