Guardien de Toro

With a nod to ‘A Meal I Ate’, this is my last local dish before we head back to the Charente-Maritime.
It is essentially a local beef ragout (the bulls here are raised for fighting and eating).  It was very rich with black olives. Served with a mix of wild rice. Delicious. It was washed down with a pichet of the local red. No idea what label, but equally delicious!  The beef was melt-in-the-mouth.  Unctuous and flavoursome.
It caps off the bull (toro) steak I had a couple of days ago (equally good), various duck confits, foie gras, plus a Sarsuela (French spelling).  Otherwise known as a Zarzuela in Spain. A rich fish tomato-flavoured stew of monkfish, shark steak, mussels, langoustines, prawns, small clams and Amandes (large fleshy clams). Accompanied by Picpoul de Pinet, a white dry wine from the region. Possibly our favourite meal. The sauce was AMAZING and quite sweet.
Time for a diet……..