A Well-Done Introduction

This blog is the product of two self-proclaimed bon vivants who realized there was downtime between the next farmers market or beer festival when they could share their passions with you, kind reader. They go under the name bien cuites or well done because they are each hopeless Francophiles, though they do not place borders on their appreciation for globe-trotting cuisine and libations.
This blog is the produce of two wannabee professional foodies. Lili, who hails from Lima, Peru, was born into a food-obsessed family in food-loving culture. Later her family opened their own restaurant in Miami, Florida, which gives her a unique viewpoint into cooking and the business of food. Eric, who was raised on Wisconsin hot dish and cheese-impregnated hot dogs, has traveled the world from Cuenca, Ecuador, to the Sierra Norte mountains of Oaxaca to "la France profonde" in Lot. While a teetotaler and vegetarian for ten years, France has made him into a machine for the consumption of all kinds of living creatures and fermentables. Eric is now writing an ever-expanding doctoral dissertation on the history of truffle production in Lot, France. When in France, Lili and Eric continue to try every Cahors wine and local duck recipe possible in search of the perfect pairing.
As a way of "funding" his studies, Eric found WWOOF-ing (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms) in Lot as a way of eating amazing food, meeting kind people, working outside all while saving money for exploring Europe on budget airlines. After a whirlwind romance and the least ceremonious wedding imaginable, Lili and Eric returned to France together, while taking their legal break from the Schengen Visa area to spend three months WWOOF-ing and meeting amazing people in post-Brexit UK. They arrived in the UK interested in farming and left fascinated by it, not only with the farmers they met, the actual practices of farming, but also the politics of farming as well.
In their travels they sampled every local beer, cheese and sourdough bread within their grasp. Contrary to stereotypes of warm beer and bad food in the UK, they found a well-established craft beer and cheese 'culture' that they will explore in this blog. There is no fermented or distilled product which they have refused to try in their travels which have thus far included France, the UK, the United States, Spain, Guatemala and the Czech Republic.
They believe wholeheartedly in what French culinary philosopher Brillat-Savarin said, "tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are," or in other words "you are what we eat". Good cheese, wine and beer is inspirational. Consuming them inspires us to reflect and pontificate to become philosophers, at the least for a moment at the table. A good meal shared with the hard-working farmers who produce it is the greatest antidote to the kind of nihilism that American politics now inspires. Tasting something that a farmer has worked hard to produced with love and care, is something that once experienced, is worth repeating. Food for us is a sensual and intellectual experience. It is one that builds community, even with people who at the beginning of the meal were strangers.
Lili and Eric hope that through a shared interest of food, farming, fermentation, philosophy and Francophilia that a community can be built here on this blog, Bien Cuits.