Dutch Cuisine

Like I have mentioned before, I came to France to get a little different flavor of life than the Benelux lifestyle as well getting some nice training in the Alps. But it seems like I can't escape it. Not that is a terribly bad thing, b/c the Dutch are super nice people, but the diet is a thing of question. Basically to make anything Dutch, you add cream or butter, and if you are a Dutch gourmet, you make both butter and cream work the same dish. Never before have I longed for just steamed vegetables and some fruit. The cycling hotel that I am staying at is owned by Dutch couple and their primary clientel are Dutch except for the scarce Brit and your token American(me). Breakfast consists of muesli(i like, similar to oatmeal but often has fruit and/or nuts in it), cheese, bread, some weird meat, bread, baguettes, french cake bread, some form of eggs and white bread. This morning, I was just tired of the food and could hardly eat anything which for you who know me must leave you in deep puzzlement(word?). I made two cheese baguette sandwiches for lunch during my ride today which I shared with Diana after our ride when we got our cafe creme(cofffee with milk, or cappuccino like) at the cafe in Bourg d'Oisons. It was pretty tasty again but I am craving some dijon which I wasn't able to swing.

Our ride this morning was pretty chill...good before the gauntlet of tomorrow's 174km and 3800m of vert. We rolled on some back roads and followed a river before rolling into Allemont then up to the reservoir then turning around at the base of Vaujany which is 5k short of the finish tomorrow, just a little recon run. On the way back we found our way onto some gravel road, which would have been a little better with cyclocross bikes or mtn bikes but my Belgian skills of riding in absolute crap served me well. Good 45km ride.
There was a street market in Bourg d'Oisons today. Lots of cheesemakers present. It all looked incredibly tasty.

After a nice cafe stop and conversation of bike riding, schools, travel, we split the cafe. I rolled to the Casino b/c I was still really hungry after my unsatisfying breakfast and quick bite for lunch. I bought a 250g baguette and a bottle of Cote de Rhone red wine. Diana said that the cheap bottle from Cote de Rhone are good but the cheap bottles from Bordeaux are no dice. We shall see...saving it for tomorrow after my ride to celebrate my trip and all my training. I have been longing for a nice bottle of wine after a hard week of training. Probably will have one glass and be totally hammered but whatever....save some for Monday's TGV ride to Belgium.

Okay, now back to the topic de jour, which is the topic of the day in franglish =)
I was able to get some pasta at the pasta bar which was nice because the had spinach stuff tortellini which was pretty tasty. And I had some plain pasta with a vegetable tomato sauce. Quite good. Rolling into dinner 2 hours later, I spotted the soup bowls laid out which was great news b/c I love soup. Last night was tomato soup which hit the spot. Tonight's soup de jour was celery soup. You could just feel the cream in the soup blocking the fuel lines for my engine. After you have been eating hotel food for a week, you get to trying new techniques of eating, a little experimentation if you will. Last night I discovered that if you tear pieces of baguette then put it in the soup it tastes pretty good. It took me two bowls last night to make this revolutionary discovery and was quick to employ it over the overly salted celery soup tonight. My brit counterparts at the table noticed my technique and one followed suit. She seemed to enjoy the experience. I highly recommend it if you have the means. After the soup, the owner made the weather report announcement for tomorrow which is one of the most anticipated events of the entire day. All the dutch quickly shut up and look start gazed at Monique as she announces the weather, nice in the morning, then chance of storms in the evening. If you are talking, you get the "shhh...they are announcing the weather!" I found it quite pure comedy b/c after the report is given from the highest steps in the dining room everyone claps. Why? If Monique said, "tomorrow there will be lots of wind, hail and snow on all the passes" then everyone would clap...WHY?

Finally, the main course arrives....amazingly overcooked steak with mushrooms and a butter-cream sauce all over it, steamed broccoli with a butter sauce, then frites(french fries) with mayonaise. I am not a steak person and the thought of broccoli sounded great until I see it covered with butter which brings the nutritional benefit to negative territory. I opted out of the frites and had a 4 bite portion of the steak and just a little bit of broccoli with a failed attempt at scraping off as much butter as possible so I could atleast think I was eating something good for me. It was gourmet because of the multi-use of butter and cream, so the dutch were much pleased. When I booked the hotel, they said the served food adapted for cyclists. Which is true with the pasta buffet and the muesli in the morning. But cyclists is a loose term. The brits and I are the only racers in the hotel. all the rest are cyclotourists which is great too but the diets of racers is not the diet of tourists. So that is my little bit of advice should you choose to visit a cycling hotel. Otherwise, its a great place. Fortunately, I saved some dried apricots in my room. Tomorrow morning they are making a special breakfast for those doing the Vaujany. Apparently, pancakes are on the menu. More will be reported on tomorrow.

The ride tomorrow is much more a cyclotourist event after further investigation. Right now there are over 2000 entrants. You can start anytime between the 6:15-7:15 window with your timing chip. After the hard week of training and the weeks of racing, I am more considering just making it a fun-hard ride for myself tomorrow. I will still shoot for the gold diploma in the race but I am going to ride for the fun too and make sure I don't ride myself into the ground so I will make a few stops at the food stations along the way. I have a big stage race, The Cascade Classic, in Bend, OR in two weeks so thats a little more important too me than some french cyclosportiv. Its good to do rides like these too b/c it gives you great fitness and lets you see the other sort of riding, the non-racing side which is very enjoyable too. So tomorrow will be a hard training ride. Then relaxing with the foodstuffs afterward and a little vino in the evening....

Ciao,
Matthew