The original settlement dates back to 1030. Dieppe has been prize fought over for in many wars, it’s name coming from the word diep (Dutch for deep). In the 16th Century it housed the French school of cartography with the town being destroyed bt an Anglo-Dutch naval bombardment in 1694 – Luckily that seems to have been forgotten.
In the second world war it was occupied by the German Naval and Army forces. On 19th August 1942 the allies using mainly Canadian forces attempted a very costly raid which cost the lives of 1400 men ( 907 of which were Canadian) and 1946 Canadian soldiers were captured. Dieppe was finally liberated on 1st September 1944 by soldiers of the Canadian 2nd infantry. The memory of the men lost is remembered with some wonderful memorials.
Nowadays with its Castle ( now a museum ), long beach and convenient ferry to Newhaven it is a popular tourist attraction, so we had 2 nights to enjoy even more French food and wine.
Cuisine Francais
Lesson 2
A “Brill” Brill
Next stop, Dieppe, where surprise surprise it is also good to eat fish. Here there was a temping array of flat fish,including sole, turbot & brill again all straight of the boat. Fortunately, this time, they were all dead or at least not moving.
Brill is a particular favourite, as it is almost as full in flavour & texture as turbot, but considerably less expensive, and there was a nice big fat one for a mere 15 euro, which fed 4 of us easily.
Many people are reluctant to cook fish on boats, being afraid of the lingering smell. I made the mistake once of knocking up some fish stock with the head and trimmings of a similar brill, and the boat ponged of fish for days, which did not go down well with the first mate…..
( she did enjoy the fish stock though ).
The secret is to wrap your fish in tinfoil with plenty of butter, a sprinkling of salt , lemon juice and a few chopped herbs ( if available ) and cook it in the oven. Cooking times vary, but start checking after about 15 mins on full gas ( in a boat oven ).
When it has released some juice, and feels soft when pierced with a knife, it will be done. Try not to overcook – slightly undercooked fish will be fine, but overcooked is mushy and tasteless.
A whole fish cooked this ways quite easy to serve, as the fillets just lift off the bone with a fish slice or similar ( in theory anyway )
A spoonful of the juices a shrinking of chopped herbs, some new potatoes and veg of your choice ( fennel is good ) and off you go. This deserves a bottle of chablis – and so do you.
14th June 2019
Dieppe to Le Havre
The plan was to sail straight to Le Havre, but with a pleasant SW breeze we all got a bit carried away tacking along the coast and after 35nm sailed only reached Fecamp.
We arrived around 15.30 hrs for you guessed it more French food, wine and luckily our first French market.
Cruising to Brittany 