Veg that will make you feel like you’re on a French holiday (without actually going anywhere)
FREE TO READ: transport yourself to France with this trio of recipes inspired by the French summer harvest. And it all begins with a basket of tomatoes, lavender, olive oil, apricots, honey & cherries
I was in France the other week.
Near Toulouse. All vineyards and lavender and tumble-down houses with blue shutters. I was in a stunning farmhouse, Manoir Mouret, to teach a food and photography trip with my brilliant photography friend and collaborator, Kirstie Young . We recorded a live tutorial our top tips which you might enjoy:
And Kirstie wrote about it too.
But that’s not my point.
My point is that the food we cooked with the guests was entirely inspired by the landscape around us. We looked at what was growing around us and created recipes based on what we had. It was our way of really getting under the skin (or should that be soil) of the area.
And, goodness, it worked a treat. Learning about the growers and producers in the area and eating their harvests made us all feel so much more connected to the place than lolling about by the pool would have done (though there was time for that too).
It reminded me how a meal can create a sense of place.
Sure, the baking heat, the table under the lime trees, the condensation on a glass of Gaillac rosé before dinner all added to the atmosphere, but the ingredients we cooked with set the tone too. From the farmhouse potager I picked lavender, rosemary, redcurrants, walnuts. The market in Andillac was piled high with tomatoes, apricots and cherries. A trip to producers 10 minutes away brought honey and exquisite olive oil. This was everything I needed to create meals for our guests that were entirely inspired by the location.
And you can recreate this basket at home.
No, the produce won’t be warm from the French sun. And you won’t have the memory of stumbling over your schoolroom French to buy it from a gruff market vendor. But with a little careful sourcing (my preferred shortcut is Natoora, who you may remember from this chat), you can use food to transport yourself to a perfect holiday in France, even on a Tuesday evening at the kitchen table. Here are some ideas (PDF recipe card at the end)
Tomato salad with lavender, rosemary, redcurrants and walnut dressing
I found all these ingredients in the potager of Manoir Mouret. And though they aren’t a well-trodden flavour combination, I have faith in the old adage that ‘what grows together, goes together’ so I gave it a whirl. As ever, nature has an excellent sense of taste.
Serves 2
1 small sprig rosemary, needles picked
1 small sprig tarragon, leaves picked
½ tsp lavender flowers
6 walnuts, dried and shelled
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A squeeze of lemon juice
A dab of runny honey
A few redcurrants
1 beefy tomato
6-8 radishes
Pile the herbs, lavender and walnuts onto a board and chop them together in a rubble. Scoop into a bowl and mix in the oil, lemon juice, honey and a big pinch of salt.
Slice the tomatoes onto a plate and nestle the radishes alongside. Daub the herbing rubble over the tomatoes and scatter a few redcurrants over the top to finish.
Chocolate pots with cherries, olive oil and salty oat crumble
Swap the cherries out for whatever berries or stone fruit are in season or omit entirely. The real star here is the olive oil (in this case a local producer we Mouret who we visited) which lights up with the chocolate and salt for support. I first saw this combination in Lisbon recently and was happy to find an excuse to try it on this trip.
Serves 4
2 egg yolks
25g caster sugar
100ml double cream
80ml whole milk
100g dark chocolate, chopped
3 tbsp best quality extra virgin olive oil
12-16 cherries, stoned
For the crumble:
30g salted butter
1 tbsp jumbo oats
1 tbsp coarse oatmeal
2 tbsp chopped hazelnuts
¼ tsp flaky salt, plus extra to serve
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in bowl until pale and thick. This takes a few minutes but is key to a light, mousse-y texture so don’t rush it.
Combine the cream and milk in a pan. Bring to the boil, just briefly, then pour the cream/milk over the yolk/sugar mixture, whisking as you go. Return the whole lot to the same pan and cook over a low heat, stirring all the while, until it reaches 75C. Remove from the heat, pour into a large bowl and cool to around 50C.
Meanwhile, melt the chocolate over a double boiler, bain marie or in the microwave. Stir the melted chocolate into the lukewarm custard. If it seizes or looks lumpy, give it some gentle encouragement with a whisk.
Pour into wide, shallow bowls and put them in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours, but ideally overnight.
For the crumble, melt the butter in frying pan over a medium heat. Add the oats, oatmeal, hazelnuts and salt to the pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes until browned. Check the seasoning – it should taste quite salty.
Remove the chocolate pots from the fridge. Arrange a few cherries and a spoonful of the oats on top. Drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle a pinch of flaky salt on top and serve.
Lavender poached apricots
A beautiful and quintessentially French combination introduced to me by Tor, part of the Mouret team and a sensational cook. Honey, lavender and apricots are, I think, the Holy Trinity of French summers.
Serves 8
16 apricots, halved and stoned
2-3 sprigs lavender
3 tbsp runny honey
Approx 300ml water (or sweet white wine)
Pre-heat the oven to 175C.
Place the apricots in a dish in a single layer. Lay the lavender sprigs on top and drizzle over the honey. Pour in enough water (or wine) to just cover the fruit.
Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes or until the fruit is just soft.
wow those apricots
Gorgeous vibrant colours and words which make you feel like you’re actually there!