Marmite Dieppoise

Say what you like about the French, they've got the right idea about food.  I spent a couple of years living over there and had some of the most amazing meals, out in restaurants and as a guest at friends' houses.

Forget any ideas you may have about French food being fancy, or complicated, or rich, or about the French having ideas above their station when it comes to good food.

These things may well have a kernel of truth, but they come from the most important thing of all about the French and their relationship with food: they absolutely insist on a certain standard of quality, all the time.

No matter where you are, if you have a meal in France it will be good. I reference Heston Blumenthal's series In Search Of Perfection, in which the great Heston is wowed by a meal of roast poulet de Bresse - top quality chicken - in a motorway service station.

I want to live in a country where a Michelin starred chef is impressed by the food in motorway services.

Anyway, the Manicure Maniac and I popped over to Calais for a booze cruise at the weekend. Before compressing my poor Citroen's rear springs with massive quantities of cheap wine, we were able to squeeze a meal in at one of our favourite restaurants, La Mer. It's a standard high street place, nothing special by French standards, but we've had some good meals there, notably their lunchtime special of moules marinieres with chips and a beer for around €10.

We were a bit late arriving this time and missed the lunch special, so we had to order off the dinner menu.

In a rare moment of allowing the moths to escape from my wallet, I ordered one of the priciest items on the menu: Marmite Dieppoise at €23.

This blog is all about value, so why am I banging on about a £20 main course? Because value is not about cheapness, it's about getting your money's worth.

I was driving so on the water and I had no intention of having dessert, so I felt I could splash out on a main - and just look at it!

There's monkfish, salmon, potatoes, two king prawns, two scallops and a healthy amount of mussels in there, all in a rich creamy sauce. It was absolutely delicious and I'm not even sure I could have bought the ingredients in England for the asking price. Did I mention also that it was bloody delicious?

Not a cheap lunch but very definitely a value one - and a level of quality that is rare in England but completely normal in France.