In Europe, the autumn chill is being felt. On the 1st of November in France was La Toussaint, All Saints day. It is observed in France by families visiting the graves of their ancestors and decorating them with flowers. Symbolically the chrysanthemum is the flower associated with mourning as it grows at this time of year. Afterwards families gather together to enjoy a large feast in honour of the departed.
In England, on the 5th of November, Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, is remembered with lots of bonfires and fireworks and his effigy is burnt on the bonfire. I remember standing around the blazing fires, eating hot dogs and burnt baked potatoes while trying to stay warm.
Here our weather is warming up nicely and there are plenty of visitors in town. Definitely the weather is good for outdoors activities and picnics. For this week I suggest the following cheese to pack in your picnic basket. We have the three small 125g boxes, petit camembert, petit brie, and petit brie with blue cheese. These are mild cheeses made with pasteurised milk. In individual boxes we also have authentic Camembert le Bocage, made by the dairy St Hilaire de Briouze, which has a great depth of flavour. There are also small boxes of Epoisses from Burgundy, a cheese washed in brandy which has a decidedly pungent nose, but slightly milder flavour. We have mini goats cheese logs which make a good contrast in flavour to the cow’s milk cheese.
For a picnic, these cheeses can be accompanied by some saucisson sec, small salami style dried sausages. These can be paired with thin sliced serrano ham from Spain and some small jars of terrines. You can bake some of our deep-frozen baguettes made in France and really feel that you are having an authentic French picnic.
We have a good stock of French table wines to pair with your picnics, try a bottle of Cotes du Rhone Rouge or a White Rhone blend by Chapoutier, or a Pinot Noir from the Vars and a Rose from the Narbonne region by Gerard Bertrand or try a Bordeaux Sauvignon blanc, or a Petite Sirene rouge from Bordeaux.
For my recipe this week, I needed to make a dish to pair with some viognier wine. Creamy sauces such as a mayonnaise pair well, as does seafood. I decided to make a dish which originates in the Piedmontese region, Vitello tonnato. This recipe is a cooked and thinly sliced joint of veal topped with a creamy tuna, anchovy and caper sauce.It is regularly served as an anti-pasto dish in Italy. Luckily this recipe is adaptable as I could not get hold of a joint of veal, so I compromised with a joint of pork. The pork meat is not quite as subtle flavoured as the veal, however the strength of the flavour in the sauce pairs well with pork. I also used the white of the empty hard boiled egg as a sauce boat for the mayonnaise on top of the meat and decorated with some herbs and flowers from my garden, plus I served some crisp croutons on the side. This dish can be served as a chilled starter or as a main course.
The broth in which the joint is cooked makes an excellent soup stock for another meal. I recommend pairing this dish with the Viognier wine “Boheme” Veyzier grown on the edge of the Condrieu region in the Rhone valley, available at our French Market shop in Cape Town. I find it so interesting with tasting wine before I taste my food, then tasting the wine whilst eating. The flavour of the wine changes considerably when you taste it with other flavours, as in this dish. See recipe here.
We hope you have a good weekend and look forward to seeing you in our shop again soon.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team.