Table in the Tarn

Another of those books that leaves you yearning for the gentle pleasures of southern France, this one combines the story of setting up a classy B&B in the Tarn département and 100 recipes based on the food of the area. This is the land of Gaillac wines, Albi and the Tarn Valley on the border between the Languedoc and the SouthWest.

While walking in South-west France, cook and journalist Orlando Murrin dreamed up the adventure of a lifetime: why not wave goodbye to the rat race and come to live in this rural paradise, where the only traffic is the boulangerie van delivering baguettes? His book tells the story of how he set up a boutique b&b and includes 100 amazing recipes. …. they set about transforming the dignified old manor house into a phenomenally successful boutique b&b with its own magnificent kitchen garden. A Table in the Tarn charts the discovery, acquisition and renovation of the property. Along the way, we learn about the local food scene, with its astonishingly rich heritage of ingredients and dishes, about working in France and coping with the famous French bureaucracy, and about the unforeseen delight of working with the locals.Four years on, with countless plaudits and a coveted entry in the classy Mr and Mrs Smith directory, the business attracts visitors from around the world and continues to be a gastronomic destination for anyone seeking peace, tranquillity and above all fantastic food.

As former editor of the BBC Good Food Magazine and Olive Magazine, the owners know something about food and the recipes sound very enticing - Roast Pigeon breasts in Armagnac!
So now you can read the book, try the recipes and stay in the Manoir! The Manoir des Raynaudes is near Carmaux (81 Tarn, Midi-Pyrenees) - see our map of the Tarn and its attractions
A Table in the Tarn: Living, Eating and Cooking in South-west France

Le Manoir de Raynaudes, 81640 Monestiès T: 0033 563 36 91 90 F:0033 563 36 92 09
www.raynaudes.com

In the vicinity you’ll find the delights of the cathedral city of Albi (home of the Albigensian crusades against the Cathar “heretics”, a Toulouse-Lautrec museum - and you could pop in and taste the wines of one of the best Gaillac AC wine producers (red, white, sparkling and rosé) at Domaine de Labarthe at Castanet.