Guadeloupe brought up to date on Canal +

How to fish lobster using an octopus? Make cassava flour? Harvest and dry vanilla? Here are some of the lessons from the new episode of Alexia cuisine la France, dedicated to Guadeloupe. Chubby face, blond square, cap screwed on the head, Alexia Duchêne, 27, made herself known to the general public during the 10th season of “Top Chef”. She reached the semi-finals of the M6 ​​competition. Since then, while showering her social networks with recipes (she has nearly 100,000 subscribers on Instagram), she opened a Parisian table (Datsha) before leaving it and cooking in residence. Her latest project is across the Atlantic: in the spring, she will open the Margot restaurant in Brooklyn.

Grand Final Banquet

After Provence, Normandy, Savoy and the Basque Country, the documentary series by Mathieu Despiau and Jean-Laurent Bodinier propels her to discover Guadeloupe, from Moule to Basse-Terre via Sainte-Rose. “I don’t know much about the food culture of this region“, she admits, honestly, as she arrives one evening from Carnival. This does not prevent him from immersing himself in it with enthusiasm, with the aim of cooking a grand final banquet.

In the meantime, she goes to meet chefs,

Lobster with maracuja

producers, distillers, fishermen and market gardeners, all more sympathetic and committed (organic, permaculture, small boat) one than the other. And does not hesitate to get involved in the harvest (resulting in a few funny scenes, such as when she struggles to pull out a cassava root). Their products inspire him with a lobster carpaccio with maracuja, avocado, vegetarian pepper, coriander and lime; cassava pancakes garnished with fish and bechamel sauce with herbs, inspired by a specialty of Les Saintes and, for dessert, an upside-down cake with pineapple, rum and vanilla.

Simple and contemporary recipes

Taking advantage of the richness of local ingredients, while offering simple recipes with a contemporary twist: this is the aim of Alexia Duchêne. The gimmick of the selfie taken at each meeting, or the “Very good!” And “Go on!regularly launched by the young woman suggest that this new “explorer” is there to seduce a young audience that culinary programs are always whetting their appetites. The chef knows her stuff, the landscapes are a change of scenery, the dishes make you hungry, the historical anecdotes teach… But you can’t help but regret the ease, the good nature of a Fred Chesneau, when the new host appears, again too much restraint. ■

» Follow all the news from TVMagazine on Facebook And Twitter .