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It was only the 4th August when we heard the news. We were at Maison Carrier, a favourite restaurant in the French Alps. Several small legs of lamb turned on a spit over the open fire, scenting the air. Up in the chimney local hams and sausages were hanging in the wood smoke; on the famous dessert table – that’s a misnomer actually as this is like a giant Victorian cake stand, with several layers from which diners are invited to help themselves – were the Floating Islands, flans, fruit tarts, crème caramel, rum babas, chocolate cake, mousse, and bowls of raspberries from the garden, with their accompanying custards, fresh cream and coulis which we would struggle to do justice to later. Serge, the manager/sommelier, came to tell us that he had just heard on national TV that picking had started in the Languedoc.
He poured us a glass of local Savoie white. We gazed at the Mont Blanc, spectacular in the twilight, pondering the ramifications of this unprecedented early start to the wine harvest. For a start, would the pickers be on hand? The growers down in the south must have been dragging them off the beaches, we concluded.
After the exceptionally hot and dry April, which brought forward the flowering of the vines, it was likely the picking would start early. Across the wine regions of France normal holiday plans were abandoned. Traditionally, wine growers and their families take their break in August. Returning refreshed, they finish cleaning the harvest houses, where the teams of pickers sleep and eat. The kitchens may not always look glamorous but they are the engine rooms of the harvest.
People from all walks of life take their annual holiday to pick grapes. They do it because they love the convivial atmosphere and great food. Professors work alongside train-drivers, ski instructors with bands of itinerant gypsies; students come from all over the world to earn some money and get an unforgettable taste of French culture. Far-flung members of the vineyard-owning families are sure to come home to be part of this, despite the inevitable backache and blisters.
Holding it all together, creating the ambiance, are the cooks. Very few of them are professionals; usually they are the mothers, wives, girlfriends or sisters of the growers, helped by friends and employees who normally work in the vines. They are truly the unsung heroes of the harvest.
These resourceful people stick to a budget, using whatever is plentiful in their own garden, local shops and markets to make favourite old dishes much appreciated by pickers who return year after year to the same domaines. Most of them keep notes of menus, recipes, quantities and cost, from harvest to harvest, then hand them on to the next generation as it takes over. These dog-eared notebooks are filled with details of who was there and what the weather was like. There are photographs stuck in, mentions of birthdays – they will bake a cake for a celebrating picker - and little reminders, “use the big black casserole for this” or “use salsify if not enough mushrooms” which all bring past vintages richly to life.
The cook’s day starts at 6.am, and does not finish until late. No sooner have they roused the team from their beds, given them their café-au-lait, breads and, often, home made jams, than they are packing vans for the second breakfast taken in the fields. Then it is time to prepare a hearty three-course lunch. This is where the traditional repertoire of sustaining French regional dishes comes into its own. Slow cooked daubes, boeuf bourgignon, veal blanquettes, lamb navarins, wild boar, and rabbit in mustard sauce - all must be served promptly to pickers who have to be refueled and back in the vines for the afternoon.
Their work is frequently interrupted – perhaps an inexperienced picker gashing a finger with secateurs needs plasters. They are called on to minister to those suffering from sunstroke, or gastric problems, to sort out language difficulties for foreign students, not to mention acting as agony-aunts for the lovesick.
They will have hardly sat down after clearing the kitchen, when the trucks bring muddied and exhausted pickers back for cold drinks and biscuits, and a wash before the dinner the cooks now start work on. And it is they who keep up the morale of the wine-makers busy in the vat-house, cosseting the cellar workers with cakes as late-night snacks. When finally they fall into bed they are likely to be kept awake by the sounds of exuberant partying.
There are wineries throughout France that make the harvest into a real celebration. In Bordeaux, driving down a country road near Libourne, you might see the flames of a bonfire, and as they die down, a team of women manipulating a great grill to cook duck breasts for the 150 pickers gathering in the refectory of La Fleur Petrus across the road from the great Petrus – the Moueix family’s properties are all picked by this crack team and they eat well, and party hard. The themed fancy dress nights are legendary. At nearby Ch. Haut Sarpe there’s the delicious smell of entrecotes, produce of their own farm, grilling over vine shoots. They even have their own night-club in one of the farm buildings – no wonder so many young people want to work here. In Alsace you might find impromptu dancing in the vines as someone plays an accordion; you’ll certainly hear plenty of singing in Burgundy, and whether you are in the Loire, Champagne or the Rhone you’ll find local traditions that make the job fun.
If you want to get into the spirit of the French wine harvest, here’s a recipe you might like to make. It is the archetypal wine harvest dish, which is probably simmering on many stoves as I write. Noelle Lafarge of Domaine Lafarge in Volnay gave me this recipe.
Pot-au-feu
For 6-8 people
1 beef marrow bone (if possible)
1.5 kg piece of beef (use one of the cheaper braising cuts)
black peppercorns
2 or 3 turnips, peeled and diced
6 medium carrots, peeled and diced,
6 leeks, chopped roughly
1 stick of celery, chopped roughly
1 large onion stuck with 2 cloves
2 cloves of garlic 1 bay leaf
a good bunch of parsley and thyme
salt
If you are able to get a marrowbone, have it cut up into manageable lengths, then tie them up in cheese-cloth to prevent the marrow escaping. This sounds a bore but when the time comes to serve the meat the marrow can be scraped out and spread on rustic bread or toast – it is rich and delicious.
If no marrow bones are available, add some beef bones for flavour, removing them at the end. Put the piece of beef and the bones in a flame-proof casserole with cold water just to cover – not too much or you will end up with a watery, tasteless broth.
Start the cooking, gradually bringing the water to a gentle boil. This is the moment to do a lot of skimming as a rather grey scum rises to the top. When it turns white you can stop.
Cover the pot and let it simmer very slowly (this means just a bubble rising to the surface every few minutes) for at least 3 hours (depending on what cut you have used). Slow means slow or the meat will toughen. About 1 hour before the end of cooking, add a few peppercorns, the prepared vegetables, garlic and herbs, salt to taste.
Cabbage is usually part of the equation, but I think it best to cook it separately in some of the broth near the end or the whole thing is just too cabbage-y .
Slice the meat and serve surrounded by the vegetables, with some of the broth in a bowl – sometimes the broth is served first as a soup with some rice or pasta cooked in it. It seems obligatory to serve pot-au-feu with some coarse sea salt to sprinkle over the meat, Dijon mustard, and pickled gherkins; down in the south a garlicky mayonnaise (aioli) is considered a great partner to the meat.
Bon appétit!
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