“I live almost like my grandmother did,” says Danièle, who once cooked for President Francois Mitterrand.
The house is indeed untouched by time, and she confirms that not much has changed, except for refrigeration and plumbing, and Danièle admits with a laugh that she likes to iron her dishtowels. But the pièce de resistance and our biggest curiosity is the enormous fireplace dominating the room. It is open on both sides, with a slew of cooking utensils at the ready. Danièle stokes the flames, and tells us she designed the fireplace herself with a purpose.
“Cooking is so much more than just eating,” she says. “It is talking and being social, and making people as happy as you can with the food you prepare.”
Danièle picks up a black cast iron pot called a royale and sets it down in the embers. She tells us it is over 100 years old.
When we ask her what she cooks in it, she says, “Everything--- A whole turkey. A lièvre (wild hare). A cake.”
With that she takes a paintbrush, dips it in goose fat and coats the inside of the royale. Within minutes the familiar aroma permeates the house.
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