If you ever thought you might be even a little French, a visit with Claude and Jacques de Ste. Croix at Chateau Sannat will make you want to tear up your passport. The Ste. Croixs hospitality is so generous you’re ready to become their long-lost cousin. Chateau de Sannat has the distinction of being a registered historic landmark and a four star Table d’hote in the Limousin, an under-appreciated region in the heart of France. It’s a treasure hiding in plain view, and over the past 15 years, I have brought numerous culinary tours here in summer, fall, even the winter months to discover chateau living in the French countryside.
The Limousin region closely guards its traditional character, which is why on the two hour train ride from Paris, I always have an uncanny sense that I am traveling back in time. I watch the scale of the landscape gradually contract as broad wheat fields in the north get smaller and smaller until we enter the Limousin where the terrain is an intractable rolling tapestry of fenced pastures, aging orchards, little ponds and virgin woodlands.
Chateau de Sannat is perched on one of these hills. It overlooks an idyllic world. The rhythm of country life is slow and uncomplicated, but it’s hardly rustic. The Chateau has a formal 18th century park, an elegant kitchen garden and a modern swimming pool. Nevertheless, even when I’m just a guest, you’ll usually find me near the chateau’s spacious kitchen. 
On the first day of our recent visit, my friend Claude returned from the Bellac farmers’ market with several little Dover sole for lunch. (She likes to surprise me with unusual foods.) We decided to saute them whole, in butter, and eat their delicate meat off the bone. She steamed potatoes and wilted fresh spinach in butter to accompany the sole. My assignment; prepare a beet salad. This was easier than it may sound, because beets are already cooked when they come to market in France. After peeling and dicing them, I toss them in a simple vinaigrette with a few chopped capers and minced parsley. We soon were seated at a shaded table on the terrace near the garden enjoying our fresh-from-the-market lunch.
The Ste. Croixs had arranged for a buffet dinner with neighbors and friends we have made over the years. Jacques roasted a pork loin that was served thinly sliced at room temperature. Claude purchased meat terrines and sliced prosciutto to accompany the roast. Alongside a salad of freshly picked greens was a macedoine of cooked vegetables, which is equal amounts of diced carrots, potatoes, green beans, turnips and peas and bound with mayonnaise
The cheese platter was one we’ll never find in the States: goat cheeses at various stages of ripening, all from a nearby producer. They varied from the youngest which was creamy and mild, to one that was smooth and flavorful, and the oldest which was dry and pungent. There were also cheese balls coated with raisins or cracked black pepper. For a sweet finish, Claude prepared fresh rhubarb and apple tarts in crusty puff pastry. By the end of the meal the guests who had wandered off to the terrace with their plates to watch a glorious country sunset returned and everyone sat around the dining room and talked until late in the evening.
