The 'Moulin de Chabaudias at la Ferme de LARC' has been in Mareuil for centuries, but only since 2008 with the vision of Alain and Carine, has it been transformed to a natural, fresh water trout farm producing for market and selected restaurants.
We are pleased to announce that L'Escalier is one of those selected restaurants.
So let's talk about Trout. This is a very small, very high quality production, with as little as 15-20kg of trout prepared each week - to put that into context, that's only between 15 and 30 fish!
From this small producer, 3 products are made available to market; fresh, smoked and pate'd trout. On the fresh side, they are either prepared fillets or gutted whole; the smoked trout are cold smoked over beech for anything between 12 and 24 hours (weather depending) using their own onsite cold smoker; The amazing pate, an even smaller production, is made using the stronger tasting parts of the trout, the slightly darker flesh taken from around the spine and removed when filleting. Every part of the fish is used and nothing is wasted.
Central to the ethos of 'La Ferme de LARC' is the welfare of the fish throughout their lives; Alain genuinely cares deeply about his school, how they are raised, the conditions they enjoy (no overcrowding), and the food they are given (no antibiotics or toxins of any sort). This includes the conditions when they are moved to a 'fasting' area before being harvested. This movement allows for a natural process to occur in the fish called Autophagy which is in effect the cleansing of the cells in the living body and they are harvested using an old Japanese method called 'Ikejime' - a centuries old Japanese technique that is the most humane way of killing a fish.
Similarly, the care and attention in preparing the trout, often results in getting up in the middle of the night to move the fillets in the smoker to ensure consistent flavouring.
Although Alain can be found each Saturday at the market in Verteillac and on Tuesday in Mareuil, we've got their trout on the as a permanent offering on our menu. The possibilities for it's presentation are almost boundless, be that running trout through a scrambled egg for brunch, a fresh trout salad during the summer season, the addition of smoked trout on the platters or with our own cure of a little coriander, lime, or vodka, dill, tabasco.
We're thrilled about the prospect of paying homage to Alain and Carine's care and love for their product. We can't wait to bring it to your table.
Alain and Carine can be found here or alternatively, at carine.reijasse@orange.fr
It's definitely worth a visit if you appreciate quality, local, natural produce.
If you want to book a table, you can do so here.
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