cooking – Page 2 – The Vigneron's Wife

to market to market… part 1

May 19, 2011March 6, 2013The vigneron's wife

One of the great things about living where we do, is the access to good produce. The Mediterranean climate allows for almost anything to be grown, and more and more I’m trying to buy locally from people I get to know at the local village markets.

The Olonzac market, one of the biggest in our area, is held every Tuesday morning until about 1pm. You can find almost anything: fruit, vegies, pastries, breads, meats, fish, flowers, fresh coffee, cheeses, olives, local honey, wine, ready-made asian dishes from the guy with his own personal dvd collection on loop in his van (Lilas’ favourite)… those hard to find ingredients for ‘exotic’ cuisine such as lemongrass, coriander and chilies and then there’s your zippers, hats, bras, oversized undies, slippers, kitchen utensils, Indian dresses, incense, second-hand books, army surplus clothing, jewellery… it’s endless.

market selection — the usual and some exotic surprises at the market

This market is growing in size each year and in full Summer has traffic jams of people, carts and pushers down the bottleneck streets – you should try pushing a pusher through this mass…

There’s Pierre with his bread. You can spot him from a mile off, with his old van and black wool beret. He’s like a character from a film – and his organic bread is of the old, sourdough rustic style. He takes his time, nearly always a big smile on his face and an open pot of honey on his table to spread on his breakfast ‘pain’. And there’s always his thermos of hot coffee and tin mug ready for dipping. Pierre’s bread is the sort that you can keep for a week – not at all your light, airy baguette, but a full, wholesome loaf that is just divine toasted with butter and Vegemite.

Pierre and his pains — Pierre and les pains

Just up from Pierre is Laetitia, the young girl who a lot of the year has only her free-range eggs to sell. She has a tiny stand but always many people jostling around her. Throughout the year she sells apples, onions, potatoes, and in full summer has mountains of cheap tomatoes, nectarines, grapes, peaches and a queue leading back for miles. You have to be quick – her tomatoes can sell out by 9.30am.

free-range eggs chez Laetitia — Laetitia’s free-range eggs

Towards the roundabout on your left are the people selling THAT saucisson (salami)… ‘Mont Charvin’. The one that costs an arm and a leg, full of beautiful chunks of bright green pistachios. It’s a small investment buying even just one of their products, but once you’ve tasted the difference, you can’t buy supermarket salami again. In general I buy a lot less saucisson now, but boy do we enjoy the ’50 centimes slices’ when they’re around. By chance, I got to meet Jacques, the maker of this wonderful product the other day. I was thrilled to be able to tell him how much we loved his ‘salted meats’ and hear his story of how he and his brother-in-law, once butchers in Paris, settled down south and built a company from scratch offering a range of products made in the Savoie region of France, using no additives or preservatives.

the selection of 'salaisons' chez Mont Charvin — Jacques slicing a sample from the selection of ‘salaisons’ -salted meats

But before I stop by the saucisson stand, I head quickly for Valerie’s before she runs out of vegetables…

(to be continued, part 2)

A night with La Clape

May 13, 2011August 25, 2011The vigneron's wife

It’s that time of year already… everyone’s thinking of summer. Trips to the beach, trips abroad, no school, hairy legs to shave, and umpteen outdoor bbq’s with friends, food and wine.

The lead-up to the harvest, after the big risk period for frost has passed (phew, it’s around now and looks like we’re ok), is a relatively easy-going time in the vines. They’re growing with hopefully enough rain and a lot of sun, and have a few organic treatments here and there etc. Sounds like an ideal summer!

But this is the time Benji begins to stress.

In his head he’s organising the entire lead-up to the harvest and beyond and no-one knows what the weather will do, and how the fruits will develop. There is the cellar to organise, extra work to take on filling in for those taking summer breaks, and prevention of disease in the grapes. Any rainfall during this hot time can be dire.

As I said, this stress is cyclical. And sometimes it’s hard not to take it personally!! Ever had an argument about the ‘correct’ way to boil an egg? (although we ARE in France…).

So getting away last Friday night to the beautiful ‘La Clape’ area was a perfect way to switch off for 24 hours.

La Clape (yes, fair share of commentary) is a lovely seaside wine region (15 00 hectares of vines within the Coteaux du Languedoc apellation) not far from Narbonne. From the town you take a spectacular, windy drive through the rugged hills of Le Massif de la Clape and there’s always a huge gasp of pleasure and surprise when the Mediterranean greets you on the other side. It’s been years since we did this, but it’s still as beautiful and ‘sauvage’ as ever.

We were headed for a gite not far from the beach in St Pierre La Mer, Chateau d’Angles (so lovely, thank you!) and arrived just in time to join our friends for the ‘aperos’. Vanessa’s hot homemade pesto, cheese and tomato pastries were fantastic and went down beautifully with the local white.

Then it was down to business, the men got tending the bbq (sound familiar?) and us ladies fed the kids who’d been on the go ever since we arrived.

Yum! There’s nothing quite like a fresh seafood platter. We ate a blend of raw and bbq’d delights collected from the nearby ‘poissonnerie’. I must admit the seafood platter was half the reason I’d been so keen to come!! Absolutely delicious – you can’t beat the mix of garlic, freshly squeezed lemon juice, aioli, and burning wood with clams, ‘bulots’ (whelks), prawns, ‘couteaux’ (razor clams) – I could eat like this everyday.

Top it off with a crisp, frsh white or rose and it’s heaven! We followed the local white with a Muscat Sec and then a bottle of Benji’s delicious Viognier. I wasn’t sure about the mouth of the muscat at first. Dry muscat is a strange one sometimes, the nose is so inviting and floral and sweet and then the mouth seems dry and short. But this opened up beautifully. Benji’s white, as always was floral, crisp and fresh. These whites were great mates for the seafood.

Dinner ended being a casual, straight off the barbie affair. No set seating, just constant ‘aller-retours’ with everyone taking turns bringing new dishes to the table. I like this way of eating at the beach. No fuss, just enjoying each other’s company and each new wonderful flavour. As the light dimmed we got out the camper lanterns and popped the kids to bed. Ready for another white!

And a quick plug!… we had an abundance of ininvited mosquitos joining us and the good old Aussie products of Rid and Aerogard came out in force. Must say that the Frenchies were quite impressed with how well the stuff worked!

Like happy campers (and a happy winemaker), we all headed for bed in the fresh of the night.

A day of collecting to follow…

JamieOliver.com

May 3, 2011August 25, 2011The vigneron's wife

Ispiring times at the moment. On the Easter weekend we were invited to lunch at Liz, Joe and Ryan’s at Domaine O’Vineyards to meet up with Danny McCubbin, the editor of jamieoliver.com. Danny and his photography assistant Anthony (both Aussies!) were travelling around the South of France and stopped by to taste some of the wines and produce from our region.

They’d been filming a luncheon the day before at the ‘La Barbacane’, a Michelin-starred restaurant in the Hotel de la Cite,
a grand hotel situated within the walls of La Cite, the medieval city located inside Carcassonne, and were now out to see what gets served at a local ‘vigneron’s’ table amidst the vineyards.

I’ve got to admit that I was quite nervous about the whole thing (and I’m not even the winemaker! – can’t imagine how Benji must have been feeling), but once we’d met up with Danny and Anthony, I felt much better! They are great guys – so sincere and laid-back yet incredibly inspiring when you listened to what they get up to for the site and in their personal time. It’s inspiring to meet people like this who are so motivated to help and educate others. I know I was shaking at the knees beforehand, but inside I had been thinking that anyone working for Jamie Oliver would have to be cool as well as full of energy, and I was right.

It was a delightful afternoon, full of delicious nibbles and dishes prepared by Liz (would LOVE the recipe for your spicy sauce Liz!)…

And all of it washed down with wines by a few of us local producers: Domaine O, Domaine de Chamans and Benji’s…

Over the course of our marathon lunch some particular highlights in the wines for me were: Hegarty Chamans Blanc Minervois 2008, Trah Lah Lah 2008 and Benji’s Minervois 2010 and his St Chinian Organic 2009.

Thanks to everyone involved in the afternoon – we had a wonderful time.

a bientot!

still time left for Winter food!

February 22, 2011August 25, 2011The vigneron's wife

Here I am, sat at the computer, trusty old ugg boots on my cold feet (can’t knock the Aussie out of this girl – thanks Mum for retrieving them out of the bin in Oz) and a roaring fire in the potbelly to my left. Nearly all the vines in the area have now been pruned, the days still mostly crisp amd summer seems an eternity ago! It’s hard to imagine the abundant green leaves and plump fruits of the summer vines now that they’re bald and trimmed… BUT the days are longer and the blossom’s bright petals around the landscape signal Spring approaching. Before too long the leaves will be sprouting all over again! So now is the time to make the most of what’s left of the cold and enjoy some winter meals!

I have a trusty mother-in-law who provides me with ideas for new dishes (is she worried her only son won’t be eating well enough?!), and the first time I cooked this was last Autumn (ahh, the beautiful Minervois Autumn! – for a glimpse, see below).

This recipe is perfect for the Autumn/ Winter chill! It’s a braised cabbage dish, that you leave simmering slowly on the stove for a few hours. I bought the baby cabbages at our local Tuesday market from Valerie, an organic producer whose beautiful garden we visited a few months ago. It’s a luxury having access to such amazing produce. Her stall is one of my regular stops on Tuesday market day as her produce is so fresh and delicious – and after seeing her garden I’m in awe of how much hard work goes into filling her baskets of food each week. And no matter how frosty the market mornings get at this time of year, Valerie always has a huge smile and happy to share recipes. Merci Valerie! p.s. her home-made jams are worth trying too – especially the Muscat Jelly which is an incredibly good partner to aged ‘fromage de brebis’ (ewe’s milk cheese)

Here’s how I make the VERY SIMPLE braised cabbage:

+ Cut cabbage up into quarters (or halves if small) and steam for about 15 mins. Remove. ( this step is quite important if you suffer unwanted gaseous situations!)

+ In a heavy frypan or cast iron cooking pot, fry a couple of thinly sliced onions until golden in sunflower oil.

+ Add about 250g of chunky ‘lardons’ pieces (bacon) and fry together until browned.

+ Place cabbage pieces on top and cover with lid and cook on very low heat for about 2 hours.

Serve this on its own for a simple lunch dish, or with pan-fried crumbed veal. If you want something lighter than cabbage, use ‘endives’ instead. I think we call these ‘witlof’ in Australia? No need to parboil!

Whether you’re eating this on its own or with an accompanying meat, this tastes delightful when paired with a crisp, dry white. We often serve this with Benjamin’s Picpoul de Pinet 2009… which we actually enjoyed with friends last night!

oops it's gone — ...knew I should have taken the photo earlier

lunch in the sun

February 22, 2011August 25, 2011The vigneron's wife

Hooray, the sun’s out!

It’s only February but as the blossom arrives, the mimosa is in full bloom and the sun creeps back into view, it’s time to enjoy some cheeky aperitifs outside with friends!

Sunday was one of those days… we gathered at our friends’ winery, Chateau de Gourgazaud, each of us bringing a plate or two, a bottle or two and enjoyed the afternoon outside sharing each other’s company and produce! After gobbling down their required ‘feed’, the kids ran out of view, ducking back only for dessert, while we adults slowly peeled off layers of jackets and scarves and toasted the Spring days ahead and many more good vintages the come!

As the lovely ladies were nattering and preparing platters in the kitchen (I even donned my apron) and the men already outside hovering, glasses in hand around the bbq (mmn, some things never change), we enjoyed a fresh and vibrant Gourgazaud Chardonnay-Viognier 2009 with our nibbles. Great way to start the meal… The zesty white was a great match for the crispy courgette wedges dipped in garlic mayo (see recipe below) and the mouth-watering foie gras cooked mi-cuit’ style (it’s a semi-cooked pate, made from specially-fattened livers of geese. Don’t ask…).

Out came B’s Chateau Maris Old Vine Syrah 2008. Nothing like a smooth, full and fruity La Liviniere red with bbq’d meats! It’s not an old bottle, but already has the qualities of a delicious drop that’s all too-easily drunk! Me: ‘How would you describe this red then?’ B: ‘Bloody amazing!’. This one was quickly guzzled down as a magnum of Gourgazaud’s Reserve 1996 arrived. Round and lovely to get the chance to taste a wine with quite a few more years behind it. It’s not often that we can leave them alone for that long, so much appreciated guys!

We’re looking forward to the next gathering!…

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