• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Storied Recipe logo
  • Episodes
  • Recipes
  • Prints Shop
  • About
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Episodes
  • Recipes
  • Prints Shop
  • About
  • Contact
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Episodes
  • Recipes
  • Prints Shop
  • About
  • Contact
×
Home » Podcast Episodes

187 A Meal by the Fire: French Soup and Stories in Selina's Country Castle

Last Modified: Jan 17, 2025 · This post may contain affiliate links

About 100 episodes ago, I interviewed Selina Göldi - and I Introduced her episode by saying, “Selina has this special gift - the ability to transport others to a different time and place. After a career in economics, Selina took this genius and turned it into a life. Beside a river in a very old building in France, she invites those wearied with the pace of the outside world to culinary retreats. During these retreats, Selina teaches her guests to reconnect to not only the food they eat, but also the pleasure of cooking for themselves.”

Fast forward to last spring, I received an email from Selina. 

Since our last conversation, she had traded one old place for another - this time a castle, complete with a tower, still on an old river, and with a “fairy tale kitchen” featuring an open fireplace. She was still hosting culinary retreats, along with researching the complete history of the castle she stewards, as she worked to restore the chateau to its former glory. 

In her email, she invited me to come stay at the castle, to enjoy her cooking and excellent choices of wine, to relax, create, connect, and learn, all in what she was calling a Creative Retreat with 3 other women. The only stipulation was that we all share whatever we created with each other. And today, I’m sharing a bit of our experience with you as well, by inviting you into a portion of our final dinner conversation.

Imagine us sitting in a large kitchen with stone floors, a vaulted ceiling, surrounded by terra cotta colored walls and ochre cabinets, dim in the firelight. We are gathered around a large wooden table, made intimate with candlelight, enjoying a spectacular meal of Selina’s French Fish Soup with Garlic Aioli. As my friend Ale says in the first few seconds - “It tastes like a poem.”

Pull up a chair and enter in to our conversation about cooking the French way, the memories the soup evokes in all of us, and the ways this enchanting castle affected all of us when we first saw it. 

Stay at Selina's Castle

If you find yourself falling under the spell of the castle, here’s an invitation that Selina has written for you: 

Culinary immersion programmes that are time capsule journeys into 19th century life at a French country castle that were run as farming estates.

Experiencing French country life with its local traditions and diving into historic recipes, we learn about the French art of eating well.

It’s less about perfecting a dish and much more about a joyful and playful approach to cooking, learning about food and produce with all our senses.

I invite you to four days of themed excursions, foraging or shopping at the farmers market, cooking and feasting together

You’ll stay at one of the castle tower rooms in an all-inclusive experience limited to small groups with a maximum of six people.

The retreats take place in June, July, August, and September with the last one in the beginning of October

It’s possible to also book as a private group outside scheduled dates OR to book mini versions over weekends that give you a bit of the French approach to eating well. Mini retreats take place in June and in August.

Gallery of Images from The Creative Retreat at Selina's Castle

Contact Selina

Email: hello@lespoissonchats.com

Website: www.lespoissonchats.com

Instagram: @lespoissonchats

Listen to Selina Now

Follow The Storied Recipe in Your Favorite Player

Apple PodcastsSpotify

Selina's Storied Recipe: French Fish Soup

French Fish Soup with Aioli and Fresh Vegetables

The Storied Recipe Needs Your Help!

Please leave a 5-star review for the podcast right here!

This link will give all review options available on your device. Simply choose any option, click, and leave a review. Thank you!

The Storied Recipe Print Shop

Where every print tells a story.

High end prints for your kitchen walls: Download and print immediately.

The Storied Recipe Newsletter

The Storied Recipe is a community that believes food is a universal love language. Join for episode & recipe updates every Friday mornings. (And occasional free gifts!)

More Episodes with Food Professionals

  • 188 From French Wine Country: The Henriot Family Revives History in Champlitte
  • playful, joyful image of Anna and Marco, owners and operators of MellowMove Surf Camp
    176 Riding Waves and Whipping Up Kaiserschmarrn with Anna and Marco at Mellowmove Surf Camp
  • 175 Food, Feminism, Fury (and Family!): Geraldine DeRuiter's Tale of the Nesselrode Pie
  • 174 Onsite Interview: Exploring 500 Years of History at Auerbachs Keller in Leipzig, Germany

More Seafood Recipes

  • French Fish Soup with Aioli and Fresh Vegetables
  • Jumping Shrimp Vietnamese Crêpes (Bánh Xèo Tôm Nhảy)
  • Plokkfiskur
    Plokkfiskur: Icelandic Fish Stew with Potatoes
  • Coconut Shrimp Party Jollof Rice from Cameroon in black beige and white bolga baskets from ghana
    How to Make Party Jollof Rice from Cameroon (Coconut Shrimp)
  • light filled photo of shorshe mach: chunks of fish float in golden mustard curry sauce
    Shorshe Mach (Mustard Fish Curry)
  • delicate white dish holds fish cooked in tomato sauce, topped with gently caramelized onons, dill and parsley
    Ukrainian Red Fish in Tomato Sauce
  • creamy tomato clam chowder - best mashup of Long Island and New England clam chowders
    Gluten Free Clam Chowder {Creamy Tomato Connecticut Chowder}
  • succulent shrimp topping a plate of Indonesian chicken mie goreng featuring asian greens
    Mie Goreng (Authentic Fried Indonesian Noodles)

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn

Before You Go... Try One of These?

More Recent Episodes of The Storied Recipe Podcast

  • becky hadeed zests an orange onto the top of a chocolate carrot cake shared by a podcast guest in her own kitchen
    186 Towards a Better Listener Experience: Join Me for a Call in 2025
  • 185 Global Harvest Festivals: The Rare and Elusive Jubilee Phenomenon with Chase Matthews
  • 184 Global Harvest Festivals: The Ancient 8 Day Festival of Sukkot with Susan Barocas
  • Headshot of my podcast guest, Nick Campbell
    183 Palacinke & Cheesemaking: Nick’s Quest to Honor Baba Saveta’s Legacy

Reader Interactions

Would love to hear from you! Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

dark and moody photo of Becky Hadeed kneading arepas dough

Welcome, Friend!

I’m Becky Hadeed, a mother to 4, curious home cook, lover of extraordinary light, and host of The Storied Recipe Podcast. I consider it a great honor that my guests entrust me with their stories and allow me photograph and share their most treasured family recipes.

More About Me ->

Most Popular Recipes

  • two slices of chewy golden nian gao on pink plate
    Baked Nian Gao: Glutinous Rice Cake (with Sticky Rice Flour)
  • hand holds flaky spiraled roti paratha (aka roti canai in malaysia) above lush green foliage.
    How to Make Flaky Roti Paratha (Malaysian Roti Canai)
  • pollo frito puerto rican fried chicken with no flour in basket lined with red checked napkin
    Pollo Frito: Puerto Rican Fried Chicken (Without Flour)
  • delicate white dish holds fish cooked in tomato sauce, topped with gently caramelized onons, dill and parsley
    Ukrainian Red Fish in Tomato Sauce

Follow in Your Favorite Player

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle Podcasts

Listen to the Latest

Featured Episodes

  • 058 "I Wanted Something Different" with Juan Salazar of La Coop Coffee
  • 022 "I am Piotr's Granddaughter" with Lydia Cottrell
  • 019 "We Were Not Leprosy" with Suwanee Lennon
  • 077 Arabic Feasts with My Husband, John Hadeed
dark and moody photo of Becky Hadeed kneading arepas dough

Welcome, Friend!

I’m Becky Hadeed, a mother to 4, curious home cook, lover of extraordinary light, and host of The Storied Recipe Podcast. I consider it a great honor that my guests entrust me with their stories and allow me photograph and share their most treasured family recipes.

More About Me ->

Most Popular Recipes

  • two slices of chewy golden nian gao on pink plate
    Baked Nian Gao: Glutinous Rice Cake (with Sticky Rice Flour)
  • hand holds flaky spiraled roti paratha (aka roti canai in malaysia) above lush green foliage.
    How to Make Flaky Roti Paratha (Malaysian Roti Canai)
  • pollo frito puerto rican fried chicken with no flour in basket lined with red checked napkin
    Pollo Frito: Puerto Rican Fried Chicken (Without Flour)
  • delicate white dish holds fish cooked in tomato sauce, topped with gently caramelized onons, dill and parsley
    Ukrainian Red Fish in Tomato Sauce

Follow in Your Favorite Player

Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle Podcasts

Listen to the Latest

Featured Episodes

  • 058 "I Wanted Something Different" with Juan Salazar of La Coop Coffee
  • 022 "I am Piotr's Granddaughter" with Lydia Cottrell
  • 019 "We Were Not Leprosy" with Suwanee Lennon
  • 077 Arabic Feasts with My Husband, John Hadeed
  • Episodes
  • Recipes
  • Prints Shop
  • About
  • Contact

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • About Becky
  • How to Listen to The Storied Recipe Podcast
  • Reviews of The Storied Recipe
  • Privacy Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for weekly updates (and occasional gifts!)

Contact

  • Contact
  • Service
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2025 Brunch Pro on the Feast Plugin