The Eraserhead Chicken (and too much food!)

Last night we dined in the hotel restaurant which claims to do french cuisine. Certainly all the waiters spoke with french accents which caused Camille to wonder if that was part of their training. We were given a good amuse bouche which was a fishy soup thing laced with saffron. Camille ordered fresh bread with oils for a starter while I had a very unfrench salmon sashimi. My sashimi was good but not as good as Matterhorns. Unsurprising, however the other items on the menu sounded far more substantial whereas I wanted something light. The substantiality was confirmed when Camille's bread arrived. There was enough on the plate for four of us.

My main was a mushroom risotto with truffle oil and a crisp green salad and Camille ordered a Roasted whole baby poussin with vegetables. My risotto was exactly what I wanted. Very flavoursome and not too heavy.

Camille's meal was also good but had unfortunately brought to mind the Eraserhead chicken. In fact, the poussin looked exactly like the Eraserhead chicken as it was about the same size and served on a plate by itself.

If you haven't seen Eraserhead, I recommend you do. It's like watching a nightmare. Black and white, very industrial, loud industrial sounds, stilted dialogue, awkward, bizarre and sometimes revolting scenes. The film makes many people very uncomfortable and many cannot finish watching it.

One awful scene has the tragic lead carving a chicken. However the chicken is tiny and as soon as he touches it the bird begins to move and its legs pump up and down causing a thick, nasty looking substance to ooze and bubble from the bird's opening. This is accompanied by a revolting squelching as the camera zooms in for a closeup. To the right is the Eraserhead chicken just after it starts its oozing - or you could watch the youtube clip

Do watch the film if you can find it.

We couldn't finish the meal though that wasn't because of the Eraserhead images. Once again there was simply far too much food. I could only do half of my risotto and salad and Camille did a similar amount of her poussin. She barely touched her vegetables which included enough potatoes to feed our entire family when at home.