Chateau La Baronne

When we first moved to our new house in Moux our focus was fully on the refurbishment needed to make the house habitable to the standard we wanted - not an easy or quick job.  When we finally got our heads above the parapet we started to explore our new surroundings - and our new surroundings, our village, contain a wine estate of undoubted quality.

Chateau La Baronne is owned by the Ligneres family, a family of doctors, pharmacists and winemakers. We all know that wine is made with care and love and chemistry so perhaps they know a thing or too, but there are no pharmaceuticals involved because La Baronne is a certified bio-dynamic wine estate which means not only totally organic but also in tune with the phases of the moon. That means bottling, harvesting and pruning on a fruit day or flower day as best befits the activity.

The wines are not the cheapest you will find in the region but they are cheap compared to their equals in the rest of France and the wider world - what is undoubted is that they are delicious and extremely well made.

The grapes, both white and red, are classic Languedoc varieties.  Rousanne, Grenache Blanc, Bouboulenc and Vermentino blends for the whites and Grenache Noir, Carignan, Mourvedre and Syrah for the reds.

The family favourite is the Carignan and they are 'constantly striving to heighten the expression, finesse and elegance of this emblematic variety of the region' (a quotation from the estate website).  The top wine of the estate is Piece de Roche - a 100% Carignan made from vines planted in 1892.  These were some of the first new vines planted on American rootstock after the phylloxera crisis at the end of the 19th century wiped out the vineyards of Europe.

I find it amazing that I can drink wine made from grapes grown on vines planted so long ago. They don't actually know how long these vines will keep on producing grapes of high quality because there aren't any vines older than this in France - it will be an ongoing adventure and one I hope to keep pace with.

In one of the barns at the estate is this beautiful old 'camion'.  It was used to deliver barrels of wine to clients in the early part of the 20th century.  It replaced the old horse and cart and represented the future back in the 1920's.  Now it just gathers dust, but it has lost none of it's charm and I adore that they have kept hold of it even though it now has no practical use.  It is part of their history, part of their heritage.

The estate isn't set up for visitors but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be welcomed and given the chance to taste these fabulous wines.  I would suggest a call in advance to make sure they know you are coming (English spoken).

http://www.chateaulabaronne.com/index.php

Bacon

Home curing, home smoking, making your own sausages - it's all the rage at the moment.  You can't turn on the TV, open a blog or a cook book without coming across an article about doing it yourself.  I am no exception.

Since moving to France I have made jam, compote and granola for the 42rvh breakfast table, made tomato sauce and pickled vegetables and cured my own olives - all from the excess of local production at the end of each growing season.  I have also successfully cured salmon using wild fennel picked from the countryside where I walk my dog.

But I have never tried curing meat - until now, and it is a lot easier than you probably think it is.  It came about due to various circumstances falling into place - a fabulous book on 'doing it yourself' which my lovely wife, Debrah, bought for my last birthday, an offer on pork belly at a local supermarket which resulted in 2kg of pork for only €12 and a bit of time on my hands in the off-season.

I cut the belly into 4 manageable pieces of half a kilo each.  We roasted one that evening for dinner, I froze one for later, I minced one to use in meatballs and I decided to have a go at making bacon with the last one.

The beauty of curing a relatively small piece of meat is that you can do the whole thing quite easily in a domestic fridge with little or no mess and no difficulty and the only other ingredients you need are salt, sugar and herbs.  I used a standard domestic freezer bag with a resealable top into which the meat would fit quite snugly.  I added my salt, sugar and chopped herb mix, sealed the top and rubbed the mixture all over the pork in the bag.  I then put it in a shallow bowl and popped it in the fridge.

Over the course of a week I turned it over every day and what started as a dry cure mix became a wet cure as the salt did it's job of drawing the moisture out of the meat.

After a week the curing is done.  Take the meat out of the bag and wash it thoroughly, then pat dry.  Make a hole in one corner with a skewer and with kitchen string make a loop to hang the meat, then hang it in a cool, airy place for a couple of days to firm up before wrapping it in greaseproof paper to store in the fridge for up to a month.

I was thrilled with the outcome.  Next, I need to make a smoker!


Notes;
For 500g of meat I used 110g of sea salt, 70g of brown sugar and 5 sprigs of rosemary.
Profesional curers use nitrates in the mix which helps to keep the pink colour in the meat but it is not essential.  It is available online from good suppliers.
Slice as thinly as possible and fry as bacon or cut into cubes and use as lardons.

Colonial Influences

A recent trip to Marrakech got me thinking about the influence of French food culture on it's former colonies and vice versa.

I was in fact surprised how little French influence there appeared to be on Moroccan food.  There are French restaurants of course, but then there are French restaurants everywhere.  However, everyday fare appeared to be predominantly Arabic.

I took a food market tour with a local guide (similar to the market tour and cooking day that I offer in Carcassonne, minus the cooking bit).  It was a fascinating three hours that covered all aspects of the local food culture and how it has been influenced by religion and outside invasion.  I would have to conclude that the Moors left a far greater legacy than the French.

My guide took me deep into the souks to places I wouldn't have ventured on my own.  We visited spice stores, pastry shops, olive and nut sellers, a local meat and fish market and a communal bread oven before finishing in the main square.

The etiquette of the making and drinking of mint tea was explained (heavily sugared and known as Moroccan whisky because of it's addictiveness - Moroccans have very bad teeth as a result).  I sampled harira (a staple soup), prickly pear from a street vendor, a snail stew also from a street vendor, a beef tangia (eaten by hand using bread as a spoon) as well as the olives and pastry and nuts.  The meat market had live chickens and rabbits which are slaughtered to order by the butchers - you can't get fresher than that.!

The tour finished in the crazy main square, Jemaa el Fna, an incredible nightly circus of market stalls selling everything from orange juice to sheep's head stew, from carpets to slippers to fake watches and bags, whilst snake charmers and henna painters vie for passing tourist business and touts try to persuade you into every small bar and cafe.  Wonderful, fascinating and slightly intimidating.

I know that in Vietnam (formerly Indochine) the baguette has become as much of a staple of the daily life there as it is in France - but I didn't see one single baguette during my week in Morocco.

The most famous dish of North Africa is of course the tagine (not to be confused with tangia) and it is interesting that North African food culture has made greater inroads into French cuisine than the other way around.  Tagine and couscous are very much everyday foods in France.  There is now a large Arabic population living in France - coming from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria (a million French citizens moved back to mainland France from Algeria after independence there) so it is hardly surprising that they have brought with them their food.

I adore tagine.  It's subtle flavouring of spices is in marked contrast to British colonial food from Asia and the Caribbean.  A chicken tagine made with green olives and preserved lemon is a thing of beauty and incredibly simple to make.  This is the recipe I usually follow (courtesy of Winter on the Farm by Matthew Evans)

serves 4
4 chicken legs
2 large onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
12 green olives
1 quince, peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 rind preserved lemon
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 160C
Heat the oil in a large casserole over a medium heat.  Brown the chicken on both sides and remove.
In the same dish cook the onion for 6-8 minutes until lightly caramelised then stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute.
Reduce the heat to low, add the cinnamon, cumin and coriander and cook stirring for one minute.
Add 250ml water to the dish, scrape up any bits from the bottom of the dish and add the chicken.
Add the olives and quince, cover and bake in the oven for about 90 minutes until the quince and chicken are tender.
Add the lemon, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook for a further 10 minutes with the lid off.
Serve immediately with rice or couscous.

The quince gives this tagine a wonderful sweet fragrant flavour but I know that it not always available for everyone.  You could use dried apricots instead but I find their flavour a little too strong and overpowering for the subtlety of the rest of the dish.  Fennel is a good addition as an extra vegetable and a good sprinkling of chopped coriander over the finished dish will not go amiss.

Restaurant 111

Update:  a couple of months after this review the hotel and restaurant were closed down by the French authorities because of unpaid taxes and bills.  Bailiffs turned up, made everyone leave and padlocked the front door shut.  Tablecloths and glasses were left on the tables and remain there to this day.  It is sad but actually not surprising considering the obvious costs of running the place and the obvious lack of customers.  Shame.


When you leave Carcassonne on the Narbonne road across the new bridge, with its views of the Cité and the River Aude on the right hand side, and just before you reach the roundabout that leads onto the dual carriageway, there is a new hotel that hosts a one star Michelin restaurant. The 111.

 I say new but it has in fact been open for a couple of years now and has been a source of interest for a few years more than that.

 A very grand building stood on the site for as long as I can remember, which means 2006 when I arrived here. It was empty and for sale and had a beautiful double semi spiral staircase leading up to a grand front door. It had been a hotel once but now sat on a busy road opposite some ugly franco-suburban sprawl (zone industriel) that included a Geant supermarket, a Jardiland garden centre, a FLY, some car showrooms and numerous other sales outlets of indeterminate quality and value.

 We would drive past and admire its classical lines and structure and imagine, if we had any money, what we could have achieved there. In our wildest thoughts we did not imagine what was actually done!

 It was eventually bought and developed - the classical features were bulldozed and smashed and a brand new, gleaming structure arose from the rubble. It is modern and white and if I say it has more in keeping with a pharmacy or a clinic then perhaps you will be able to form a mental picture of it.

 A very good friend asked if we had been there.

 The restaurant won a Michelin star under it's chef, Michel del Burgo.

 We should try it, we thought, and so we did - we persuaded a very good friend to accompany us on a sunny Tuesday in early May - and, despite all the above, we were all very impressed and enjoyed a most wonderful lunch. We discovered a very stylish terrace at the back of the hotel with huge sturdy umbrellas to shade the sun (and resist the wind!) and cool ambient music and attentive staff - "Ibiza come to Carcassonne" as Mrs W so aptly described it.

 The food was immaculate and faultless. I needn't say more than that - it was delicious, very well prepared and presented. We all had the fixed price lunch menu of the day at €29 which consisted of an amuse-bouche of asparagus ice (sublime) and a smoked eel muffin (surprisingly subtle), a pre starter of chilled watermelon soup with fresh raspberries and grated almond, an entree of steak tartare with mushroom, truffle and quails egg ( I could eat that every day), a main of baby lamb cutlets with the most divine mirepoix of chopped vegetables including lemon zest and chilli and a very comforting strawberry, cream and almond pastry dessert.

 It was washed back with a couple of bottles very good local red wine that wasn't overcharged.

 I wonder how they make any money. There were five waiting staff including the maitre'd and the sommelier for three lunch tables, not to mention a one star Michelin chef and his kitchen crew. But as long as they are bringing out that quality of food at that price we should continue to support them.

Lunch for two with one bottle of wine at less than €100 at this quality is outstanding.

http://www.hotel111.com/restaurant-michel-del-burgo

Les Meulières

It was one of those mornings when you draw back the curtains and can tell by the look of the sky at 7.00 am that it is going to be a beautiful day. One of the many reasons for now living in the South of France is to take advantage of days like these when they come along and one of the many reasons for working for myself is that I have the flexibility to do so.

We have been meaning to try this restaurant for some time. It is in the pretty Minervois village of La Liviniere, home to the best wines in the Minervois - a very pleasant forty minute drive from Carcassonne through poppy laden fields and verges. The vines are still the vivid bright green of early growth and everything in the countryside is still verdant and bushy, giving the landscape a soft edge. In the far distance the last remaining snow glinted on the very top Pyrennean peaks.

Les Meulières is in Place Occitane on the edge of the circulade. The inside of the restaurant contains only a few tables but is tastefully decorated and furnished. Outside in the centre of the Place is a large covered area capable of seating up to 50 people in shady comfort. The waiters and waitresses tirelessly trek back and forth over the 20 metres between restaurant and terrace with plates and glasses, bottles and carafes.

For a Tuesday in mid-May it was very busy with all the outside tables occupied and a good number of local French people taking lunch too - always encouraging both for the future of the restaurant and the quality of the food.

One reason may be the stunningly good value of the fixed price menu du midi at €15, for which you get three courses, a quarter litre of wine and a coffee all included. On the day we visited there was a choice of gambas with mayonnaise or a goats cheese salad to start, pan fried perch fillet or confit de canard for main course and creme caramel, faisselle and honey or isles flottantes for dessert.

All was beautifully presented and generous.

Debrah's goats cheese salad came with endive and radish in the mix and a sticky balsamic dressing added a hint of sweetness. I had ten large prawns and a good dollop of homemade garlic mayonnaise.

The perfectly cooked pan fried fillets of perch were served with a cream sauce, melting buttery potatoes, sauteed carrots and strips of roasted red pepper - an unusual, but colourful, addition that didn't really sit with the dish - our only noted fault of the entire meal.

Creme brulee was as it should be - lightly crisp on top not burned to an impregnable barrier and creamy vanilla inside. We couldn't agree whether they were bought in or freshly made, but they were so perfect that it didn't really matter.

The staff were very friendly and efficient - they apologised for a minor delay of 5 minutes when we arrived and thanked us profusely when we left. It was hard to find fault at all - so we didn't.

There is a good looking carte and local wine list and fixed price options from €23 to €45, so there will be something to suit all tastes and pockets - but as I haven't sampled those menus I can't recommend them as yet. Somehow I feel that you won't get a better deal than the fixed price lunch.

We will certainly be returning to sample it again.

Les Meulières, 2 Place Occitane, 34210 La Livinière, Minervois +33 468 75 40 16

Domaine Vella Frontera

The tiny village of Maury in the heart of the Roussillon is most famous for it's sweet red wines made from the grenache noir grape - delicious with all things chocolate. The village sits under the brooding presence of the old Cathar castle of Queribus, perched high on the mountains that flank either side of the valley.

The valley is a hot and unforgiving place. The vines are short to protect themselves against the unrelenting winds - dry off the mountains which is good for the vines and humid off the Mediterranean which is not so good - and the black schist terrain makes for a dramatic landscape set against the bright green new vine growth at this time of year.

In the centre of the town, right on the main road, is a small house and garage where Corin and Jayne Fairchild make their wine under the Domaine Vella Frontera label.

They have only been at it for 5 years, with 2007 their first vintage which wasn't released until 2009. Last year most of their Syrah and some of their Grenache was wiped out by a hailstorm in late Spring resulting in only 10,000l of wine instead of their capacity of 24,000l - who'd be a winemaker with that much element of chance involved?

Clearly a huge amount of passion is required and Corin and Jayne haven't let that setback, or any of the other multitude of difficulties involved in getting good wine into a bottle and then sold, hold them back from their mission.

When I visited today I was able to taste 3 wines, but sadly not the white and rose which had just been bottled and needed a bit of time to recover from the shock of it all.

2008 Le Fetard Rouge is a blend aimed at the French market - 40% grenache noir, 40% carignan, 20% syrah.
slightly floral, raspberry and cherry nose - ideal for easy drinking, maybe slightly chilled, with a bbq or on it's own - good balance and good fruit. €7.50 ex cellar

2007 Le Fetard Rouge is a single varietal grenache noir aimed at the British market
punchy, smoky, black fruits with good depth - a food wine. €7.50 ex cellar

2008 Vella Frontera 100% Syrah - from a single vineyard and spends 18 months in oak - dry rich spicy black fruits with a hint of chocolate - will definitely keep well for a while - probably good with duck. €9.50 ex cellar

Sadly I wasn't able to taste Le Fleuron, made from 100% 110 year old vine carignan, because the whole production has been bought by one restaurant - which if you ask me is a bit selfish because there is nothing I like better than well made old vine carignan.

Corin & Jayne Fairchild, Domaine Vella Frontera, 91 Av Jean Jaures, 66460 Maury
www.vellafrontera.com

So true

Le vin ne résoudra pas vos problèmes.

L'eau non plus !



Merci Chateau de L'Ille, Peyriac de Mer