A great pig adventure

So, it's 6.30 in the morning and I am at Waterloo Station waiting for the Eurostar. I am off to Paris to visit Stephane Reynaud, a chef and author of a new book entitled Pork & Sons which is essentially a homage to the pig. First stop is his restaurant Villa9trois for lunch, followed by a cooking lesson.

Butchery is something that I know little about. At Petersham our meat comes in unbutchered. If we want pork we'll order either a whole pig or half a pig which arrives sliced down the middle from nose to tail. The same applies to lamb, rabbit and all birds. It's then given to one of our chefs - Gino Fraitas or Marlon Trindage - who cut it. When you buy meat in this way, you have to learn to do everything with it. Shoulders, legs and belly are all slow-cooked, the loin we poach and the trotters we freeze and add to braises in winter.

In France, Reynaud is known as the "King of Pork", so I was sure I had a lot to learn. What expect, though - a small, family-run Parisian restaurant perhaps? Soon, I was driving out into the eastern suburb of Montreuil, among the infamous Parisian high-rise housing estates. There was not a shop or restaurant in sight, only the odd stray dog or child on a bike and washing hanging out everywhere.

Convinced I was in the wrong place, at first, I didn't want the taxi driver to drop me off. There were no signs. The first gate I tried was locked, the second hanging from its hinge. But walking on, to the building behind, I came across a gorgeous courtyard full of tables sitting under white canvas umbrellas and decorated with fairy lights. Reynaud greeted me with a warm smile and sat me down for lunch of morelles and snails, followed by lobster salad, tuna with well-cooked chard and raspberry sorbet.

Pork & Sons is a beautiful book, warmhearted and full of character. It's already a bestseller in France and last year won the coveted French Cookbook of the Year award. The pages are full of dishes that you want to cook - food for family and friends - as opposed to inaccessible restaurant dishes. Every recipe is accompanied by a photograph (unusual because it is very expensive). Reynaud is a delightful writer and a true character. As a teenager, he was torn between being a cook or a vet. He chose the former but, he tells me, he doesn't want pictures of dead animals in his book as slaughter distresses him. So alongside the photos are hundreds of gorgeous illustrations of pigs - jumping, eating and rolling.

Reynaud grew up in the French town of Saint-Argreve in the Ardeche region, 560km south-east of Paris, where he was born into a family with a long tradition of working in the meat business. His grandfather was the village butcher at a time when meat was slaughtered at the back of the shop. On his death the shop passed to his uncle and now no longer exists. Saint-Argreve, Reynaud says, is a beautiful place where little happens. He chooses to divide his time between there, where he raises his children and where the air is clean, and his city restaurant.

Full and quite sleepy I could have happily taken the train home at that point, but it was time to cook and so into the kitchen we went. Reynaud was a joy to work with - an old pro and a true inspiration. The following recipes are what he taught me to make. And very good they were too.

'Pork & Sons', published by Phaidon, priced [pound]24.95. Skye Gyngell is head chef at Petersham Nurseries, Church Lane, Richmond, Surrey, telephone: 020 8605 3627

Further browsing For more on Reynaud's idyllic home town visit www.ardecheguide.com

Black pudding, apple, potato and fennel tart

Serves 6

3 shallots, thinly sliced

4tbs creme frache

3tbs olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

4 Charlotte or other waxy potatoes

2 eating apples

100g/3oz smoked lardons, rindless

400g/14oz black pudding

350g/12oz puff pastry dough

Plain flour, for dusting

4 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced

1 bunch of rocket, torn into pieces

Salt and pepper

Mix together the shallots and creme frache in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes, until tender. Drain well, then cut into thin rounds. Preheat the grill.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan, add the apple slices and cook until they are just beginning to colour.

Spread out the lardons on a baking sheet and cook under the grill for 5-8 minutes, until tender, turning once.

Meanwhile, remove the skin from the black pudding and slice thinly.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4.

Roll out the puff-pastry dough on a lightly floured surface to a 25cm (10in) round and place on a baking sheet. Spread 2 tablespoons of the shallot cream evenly over the dough round. Sprinkle with the fennel and lardons, then arrange alternate layers of black pudding, potato and apple slices on top. Cover with the remaining shallot cream. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.