LA BELLE FRANCE:
FOOD AND WINE IN THE DORDOGNE
With a Recipe For
Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
In September, Mary and I spent two delightful
weeks in the Dordogne region of Southwest France. The Dordogne is not
nearly as well know as other vacation spots in France such as Provence and
the Loire Valley. But this has its advantages. For one, the Dordogne (also
known as the Perigord) is less crowded with tourists. This means you can
get around and make restaurant reservations more easily. In addition, the
charm of the small towns and countryside is less spoiled by commercialism.
Going after Labor Day also guarantees fewer
tourists and better weather. Mornings and evenings were cool and often
foggy. But the fog broke by mid morning and days were sunny and warm,
revealing lush rolling hills and flowers everywhere.
This was our third European house rental in the
last seven years, each time with the same two other couples: John and
Ginny Morris and Susan Dundon and Ron Cole. (Howard and Mary Hurtig joined
us in Provence.) In 1993 we were in Ansuis, Provence, then in Panzano,
Tuscany in 1997. Our house in the Dordogne was just outside the village of
St.Leon-sur-Vezere. If you have never rented a house in France, I urge you
to consider it. The house becomes a base of operations from which you can
take numerous day trips. It eliminates the packing and unpacking required
when you go from one hotel to another. It provides you with plenty of
space to lounge and relax. And it gives you the opportunity to cook, which
is my main reason for doing it.
Here's a rough approximation of our daily routine.
Over breakfast of coffee, toast and fruit we discussed our plans for the
day, which included what we wanted for dinner. Couples generally went
their separate ways during the day, though sometimes we'd travel together
to
a market town or an historical site. Lunch was
usually at a restaurant, which could be anything from a simple sidewalk
cafe to a Michelin two-star restaurant. Often our best meals were at
restaurants listed in the Michelin guide as best buys. My favorite was
Belle Etoile in the La Roque-Gageac (phone, 05 53 29 51 44).
At night we'd all gather at the house for dinner.
Cooking dinner and an occasional lunch was one of the highlights of these
vacations and something my housemates were perfectly willing to let me do
most of the time. Before we rented houses, most of the eating Mary and I
did was in restaurants, which gets tiring, now matter how good the food.
When we visited the colorful outdoor markets in
France I could only imagine what I might do with all that glorious
produce, those fabulous cheeses, and wonderful breads I saw. Now I could
use these great raw materials in my own cooking.
For food lovers, meandering through the French
outdoor markets is one of the joys of travel. Food producers, from little
old ladies selling only garlic and onions to fishmongers hawking all
manner of seafood from their elaborately displayed trucks, go from town to
town like a traveling circus. There are markets - sometimes as many as a
dozen - every day, with the most and best ones on Saturday. Our favorite
was in the lovely town of Sarlat-la-Caneda. (Even though it was published
in 1987, "The Food Lover's Guide to France" by Patricia Wells is
still pretty accurate about where markets are located and on which days.
Wells book also lists food stores, restaurants, and other establishments,
like the goose farm of Dany and Guy Dubois, which Mary and I visited in
1992.)
I've read about and heard foodies talk about how
wonderful the food is in Italy. When she was restaurant critic of the New
York Times, Ruth Reichl wrote that it was impossible to get a bad meal in
Italy. Well, I've had plenty of ordinary meals in Italy and few, if any,
that equaled the best of France. Most disappointing, however, were the
quality of the Italian outdoor markets, particularly when compared to
those in France (though the overall quality of food in France isn't as
high as it once was).
One good example was porcini mushrooms, called
cepes in France. In the French markets, the cepes were infinitely superior
to the porcini in Italy at the same time of year. I used cepes in several
different dishes. They were great in omelets and in a wild mushroom soup.
Ron, who along with Ginny acted as sous chef (Ginny and I reversed roles
on a few occasions), also grilled them for hors d'oeuvres and as a side
dish with the main course.
Since the Dordogne is also known for foie gras, I
also cooked that one evening. Foie gras, literally fat liver, comes from
geese or ducks, though ducks are becoming more dominant because they re
easier to raise. Ducks are force fed with corn that grows abundantly in
the Dordogne. (Sometimes while driving through the region you think you've
been magically transported to Iowa.) Livers for foie gras can reach the
size of small chickens.
Though most of us only eat foie gras in
restaurants, it's surprisingly easy to prepare at home. Each liver has two
halves or lobes, much like a chicken breast has two sides. Cut slices
about 1/4-inch thick from one of the lobes. Season with salt and pepper
and put into a very hot cast iron skillet for about 30 seconds on each
side. Then remove the liver to a plate and deglaze the pan with a wine,
spirit or liqueur. For one version I used Monbazillac, Sauternes-like wine
from the region, which I combined with oven-roasted pears. I used Armagnac,
the brandy from nearby Gascony, with prunes (which are also used a lot in
the Dordogne) for another version. In both I added a bit of chicken stock
to increase the volume of the sauce.
Walnuts and walnut oil are also used extensively
in the Dordogne, and you can visit a number of walnut oil mills. Walnut
oil is a delicious alternative to olive oil, particularly for salads.
Cooking will break down walnut oil's delicate flavor and aroma, which can
also be
affected by improper storage. So keep walnut oil
at home well sealed and away from heat and light. And try to use up an
opened bottle within six months.
The Dordogne is not known for its wines, nor is
the entire Southwest of France, for that matter. Most of the wines we
drank were perfectly fine, but only a handful were more than that. One
large appellation (or growing region as defined by the French government)
is Bergerac, a large town in the western part of the region. Because it is
close to Bordeaux, the wines of Bergerac use similar grapes, primarily
merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and cabernet franc. Thus, Bergerac wines have
a taste profile similar to the wines of Bordeaux, though they are less
expensive.
In Bergerac, Mary and I took part in a vertical
tasting of the wines of Daniel Hecquet, a small producer in Bergerac.
Hecquet, his family, and the others at the tasting (mostly friends in a
local gourmet group) couldn't have been more hospitable. My favorite of
the Bergerac Rouge wines in the tasting ( which were made up of 70 percent
merlot, 10 percent cabernet sauvignon, 20 percent cabernet franc) was, not
surprisingly, the 1989, a legendary vintage in this part of France. Among
the more recent vintages, I liked the 1994 best. You won't be able to buy
any of Hecquet's Bergerac Rouge wines in the United States but you can get
his Cuvee Vielle Vignes, a rich and fruity red wine from old vines (which
is what vielle vignes means).
Hecquet's wine is imported by Robert Kacher
Selections in Washington, DC (202-832-9083). Bobby Kacher is a master at
finding small French producers of fine wines and reasonable prices. Look
for his name on the label of any French wine and you'll be guaranteed
quality.
Hecquet also makes a delightful semi-sweet white
wine called Haut Montravel made from 100 percent semillion. It's a much
lower priced alternative to Sauternes as an aperitif and with foie gras.
Even better is Monbazillac, made from semillion, sauvignon blanc, and
muscadelle grapes. Unlike Hecquet's Haut Montravel, Monbazillac is
available in the United States.
We also visited the Chateau de Haute-Serre winery
in Cahors to the south. The warmer weather and rocky soil in Cahors
produces a dark, intense wine made from the malbec grape, which is a minor
blending grape in Bordeaux. Chateau de Haute-Serre's wines were delicious.
The flagship wine is simply called Chateau de Haute-Serre. Cuvee Geron
Dadine, made from the most select grapes, is more intense.
Chicken
with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Ron's favorite dish of our two weeks was a French
classic, chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. Here is the recipe, adapted
from "The Food Lover's Guide to France." I made it with chicken
legs but you can use a cut up chicken.
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 6 large chicken legs
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 40 large cloves garlic
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 12 slices from a baguette
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons Cognac or other brandy
- 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1)Put the oil and butter in a Dutch oven or large
deep skillet over medium heat while you season the chicken with salt and
pepper. When the fat is hot but not smoking, add half the chicken legs and
increase the heat to high. Brown the chicken on all sides, about 10
minutes.
Remove the chicken to a platter and repeat with
the remaining legs, lowering the heat if needed to prevent burning.
2)Lower the heat to medium and put in the unpeeled
garlic. Cook until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and
increase the heat to medium-high. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a
wooden spoon to bring up any browned bits. Add the stock and chicken to
the pan, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until
the chicken shows no more pink, about 12 more minutes. (cut into the
thickest part of the thigh with the tip of a paring knife if you re not
sure.) Stir gently once or twice to cook the chicken evenly.
3)While the chicken cooks, toast the baguette
slices and peel and halve the 2 garlic cloves. Rub the toast on both sides
with the cut sides of the garlic.
4)Put the Cognac in a small saucepan over medium
heat for 30 seconds. Carefully ignite with a match and add to the chicken.
Shake the pan a few times to stir the contents and cook a few minutes.
5) Remove the chicken to a platter or individual
soup plates. Reduce the liquid in the pan slightly over high heat. Taste
for salt and pepper and pour the garlic and pan juices over the chicken.
Sprinkle with the parsley. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or noodles.
Once removed from its skin, the garlic can be spread on bread or stirred
into the pan juices.
Serves 6
Sources for Walnut Oil:
- The California Press, Yountville, Calif., (707)
944-0303
- Dean & Deluca, New York, NY, (800) 999-0306
- Zingerman's, Ann Arbor, Mich., (888) 636-8162
A Source for Foie Gras:
- D'Artagnan, Newark, NJ (800) 327-8246
