January 2008 - Active Gourmet Holidays

Active Gourmet Holidays would like to thank all of our clients for their patronage this past year. We are so very pleased when you refer friends, family and colleagues to our site. This business is all word of mouth so we truly appreciate your faith in our products. In addition, many of you have become repeat customers who have taken several trips and for us, this is the best testimonial we can receive. It assures us that we are providing the finest quality specialty travel vacations. Active Gourmet Holidays wishes all of you the very best in the New Year!

2008 DATES AND PRICES are now posted. For questions on specific tours, please email info@activegourmetholidays.com or call 1.203.732.0771

As mentioned in last month's newsletter, we had the pleasure of visiting the wine mecca city of Bordeaux in November. What a memorable trip! This very special UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bordeaux was much more than expected. We were taken to see all of Bordeaux, the main square and hidden places the casual traveler may not know about and also to the surrounding villages for cooking lessons with Stephane and Phillippe, wine tastings and wine education and made sure we were immersed in all that is French. Four days of learning about the flavours, wines and people of this very special part of France. Below we are featuring this tour called "Cooking and Wine in Bordeaux" - read below about this unique program run by an American woman who has lived in France for over 35 years and is a most knowledgeable and gracious hostess.
*See Stephane's recipe below! Bon appetit!

Cooking and Wine - (Options: Garden Visits, Museum Visits) - Bordeaux, France - 6 nights

Discover the renowned Bordeaux region of France for a week of cooking instruction, wine tastings, biking and exploration. Stay in a lovely bed and breakfast situated on the edge of a small village. Learn to cook from a talented French cook who is also a doctor and nutritionist. And if you wish, bike amidst vineyards and scenic biking trails.
Available year round - Saturday to Friday

Join us for a 10 night Mediterranean Chef Cruise with Sandra Rosy Lotti, The Roman Empire on Holland America, August 15-25, 2008

We will be sailing from Rome to Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Malta and Sicily and will be taking cooking lessons with one of my favorite Tuscan chefs, Sandra Rosy Lotti whose Italian cooking program "The Flavours of Tuscany" I feature on our website. Chef Sandra Lotti will teach you tips and techniques for creating exciting Tuscan regional dishes. Who better since Chef Lotti is as Tuscan as you can get! She is known throughout Italy for her cookbooks on Tuscan regional cuisine and her wonderful personality and love of life. This will prove to be a memorable and exciting experience and space is limited. Please inquire for more details!

IN THE NEWS

Active Gourmet Holidays has just been featured in a newspaper article in India called "The Telegraph". The writer features an Active Gourmet Holidays' Tuscan cooking school as well as quotes owner Jo-Ann Gaidosz in saying that learning vacations have become very popular, especially culinary based escapes.

The Tampa Tribune has also mentioned Active Gourmet Holidays in a recent article regarding culinary trends. The trend of culinary travel continues to be very popular despite the drop in the dollar. People are realizing that life is short and weak or strong dollar, they want to experience a gourmet holiday in Europe and there is no time like the present!

*The annual Pilgrim's Pride National Winning Taste Recipe Contest has chosen ACTIVE GOURMET HOLIDAYS as their sponsor in providing the Grand Prize to the recipe contest winners. Two winners will receive a week long cooking vacation in Pprtugal, "Refugio da Vila Cooking School". You can go to www.winningtaste.pilgrimspride.com

for details on how to enter!

RECIPE OF THE MONTH - "Cooking and Wine in Bordeaux with Stephane "

Rillettes Aux Deux Saumons
(Salmon Spread with Two Salmons)

(Serves 6/8 persons)

150 to 200 gr fillets of fresh salmon without skin

150 to 200 gr smoked salmon

1 tablespoon olive oil

150 gr butter

2 tablespoons dry white wine

1/2 lemon

dill or chives

salt and pepper to taste

Let butter soften at room temperature. Cube the fresh salmon filet. Cook in olive oil for about one minute. Pour in the white wine and let cook 2-3 minutes. Cut the smoked salmon into pieces and warm it up quickly in the same pan.

Mix the two salmons in an electric mixing bowl with the lemon juice, salt and pepper (the smoked salmon may already be salted). You can also mash mixture with a fork.

Incorporate pieces of the softened butter into mixture along with some dill or chives if you prefer.

Put in a terrine in the refrigerator for a few hours. Serve with toasted farmhouse bread.

You can prepare it the day before and take out of the refrigerator one hour before serving.