We eat at Pura Brasa restaurant in Empuria tonight. It’s an attractive looking place with spectacular interiors. Select your meat and they will cook it to your preference. It arrives on a hot plate, cooked to perfection. Delicious. One of their specialities is Wagyu beef which is produced from a Japanese breed of cattle. It is the fine marbling of fat throughout the meat that gives it such a delicious and tender flavour. These cattle are now bred in several countries, including Great Britain, where there are herds in Yorkshire and Scotland.

We start with a glass of Rosé – all the wines are available by glass or bottle, which enables us to select different wines with each course.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After dinner we walk along to the marina where the moon illuminates all the boats.

We walk on to the seafront and can see the lights of Rosas in the distance. A friend of ours took us along the coastline in his boat and pointed out all the sights of this beautiful place.

• 

• 

We continue along the seafront end up at El Capitan for a night cap. Ed orders a whiskey and an espresso and I have my usual cortado (a short coffee with milk).

In France they serve an espresso with three small puddings – Cafe Gourmand. It is an easy dessert to produce at home. I make a dark chocolate mousse (see recipe) and put it in a ramekin or small glass bowl. Add a scoop of good ice cream or sorbet in another dish and thirdly a couple of large strawberries (dipped in white chocolate) in another dish. Place these three small dishes on a plate, sprinkle with icing sugar and present it to your guests. It looks stunning and makes a good wow factor on the dining table at the end of a meal.

RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Serves two as a dessert or four in smaller dishes for Cafe Gourmand

120gm dark chocolate (use a good quality high percentage 70-80% cocoa if possible)

2 eggs separated

Break up the chocolate into small squares and place in a bowl over simmering water (NOT boiling or the chocolate will go dull and don’t let the bowl touch the water) just gently stir the chocolate until it has melted and remove from the heat.

Beat the egg yolks and add them to the chocolate, whisking thoroughly all the time until the mixture is smooth.

Whisk the egg whites until they reach a soft peak and fold them into the chocolate mixture.

Pour the mixture into serving dishes and chill for a couple of hours in the fridge. You can add a teaspoon of cream and a sprinkle of grated chocolate on top if required.

If you’re making Cafe Gourmand, place a chocolate pot on the plate, and add any other two dishes with it. I have made it with a sliced fig, clementine segments, tiny apple pastry, macaron, profiterole, mini muffin, scoop of sorbet or ice cream and any other combination that looks good together. Serve it with a small cup of strong coffee and you have your very own CAFE GOURMAND – Bon Appetit!

Tomorrow we are driving up to Carcassonne to meet with some family and friends and will stay at the wonderful Chateau du Cavanac who have the most wonderful hotel with an incredible menu – a demain!

• 

•