Poule au Pot

This evening was hosted by the music school of Castandet. The invite said that it started "from 7pm". Being used to the vagueness of this and not wanting to be first to arrive we left it until 7.45 to arrive. Surprise, surprise hardly anyone there so we did a quick drive by and came back home for half an hour. When we returned there were plenty of people there and we were able to make a relatively unobtrusive entrance. People were crowded round the bar and we were hailed by Sophie who was talking to Christine and said that she had reserved a table for all of us from "quartier Perron". Also there were Alain, Dominique and another man who was introduced to us as Bernard. Once we had taken off our coats we were given an aperitif and started chatting with our neighbours. Bernard, who we had not met before, was very vocal to say the least. Alain was on his own, I asked him where his wife was and he said she didn't like eating or going out. Strange, he seemed quite sad. I have met her a couple of times and have to say she seemed very sociable. It appeared that there was no hope of food in the near future so I poured more water into my pastis and managed to grab a couple of the nibbles that were on the bar. I declined the offer of a second pastis but it went ignored and another one was pressed into my hand. Luckily it seems that ladies don't have more than 2 aperos so I managed to escape the third round but Nigel had a third one pressed into his hand. Finally, about 9.30, people started drifting to the tables. I was extremely pleased to be able to sit down due to discomfort of new shoes!
Let me describe "poule au pot" as it is quite something. The chickens are cooked, presumably in a big pot, along with beef and veal. Potatoes, carrots, leeks and cabbage are added at some point. The first course is soup which is basically the broth that the meat has been cooked in with some vermicelli added. It is extremely flavoursome. It is served in a huge tureen which is placed in the middle of the table. Then it is the turn of the chicken, vegetables and stuffing to arrive, served on a huge serving dish. This is placed in the middle of the table and everyone helps themselves. A large bowl of rice also arrives along with a dish of fresh tomato sauce. Alain told me that they allowed one chicken for 8 people. This doesn't seem a lot but the chickens must have been the sumo wrestlers of the chicken world going by the size of their thighs. Jean-Marc had provided 9 of the chickens and he and Alan had killed and prepared them the day before. No supermarket chickens in Castandet!! It seems that it is quite acceptable for ladies to place a hand over ones glass and refuse a top up whereas the men just top up each others glasses without asking! A great relief for me, it meant that I was able to drink plenty of water as well as wine.
Before the cheese and dessert we had live music from the music school. Bernard gave me a potted biography of the guitarist and leader of the ensemble. Apparently he (don't know his name) arrive in Castandet about 30 years ago. He was "a hippy" (according to Bernard) and was thought to be very strange at that time when this part of the world was not used to such people! It was a long time before he was accepted and he had a lot of problems initially. Now he seems to be very well integrated despite his long grey hair and pointed beard. I would say he is in his early sixties. I must find out more about him when I next see Bernard.
The ensemble consisted of the guitarist, Jean-Marc on clarinet, a trumpet, Pascale on a wind instrument, keyboard and percussion. The music varied from "My Way" to "Rock around the Clock" !! No vocals just the instruments it was vcry, very good!!!!!!
Then onto cheese and salad, followed by chocolate fondant (Nigel managed to get 2 of those!) and coffee. The guitarist then took to the stage again,accompanied only by the percussion this time, and played and sang several more items mainly in Spanish. A wonderful end to a wonderful evening which ended, for us, about 1.15.