The Food of La Varenne

Thursday, September 15, 2006: We are assembled in the kitchen at La Varenne for our final master class with Anne Willan. We watch transfixed as Chef Randall simmers half-cut apples in butter and sugar until they are the color of mahogany for Tart Tartin, the French upside down apple cake. With elegant, precise motions, Ann demonstrates the preparation of the classic French pastry dough to top, or “bottom” the Tart Tartin – pate brise.

We divide into teams to prepare the lunch menu and several of us take on the individual spinach soufflés. We chopped spinach and onion extremely fine and whip egg whites into snowy, stiff peaks in enormous copper bowls using whisks with handles as long as flag polls. We fold the eggs whites into the spinach mixture, creating a billowy light-emerald froth. We watch the individual soufflés puff high in the oven, developing that distinctive stovepipe shape.

Over lunch, Anne mentions that the soufflés taste “just the way they’re supposed to.” It is high praise, indeed, for a group of aspiring gourmands. As we linger over lunch, she tells us stories of the classic French chefs – La Varenne, who created the great French cookbook, the famous Escoffier, who named his signature dishes after celebrities and Julia Child’s misadventures on live TV.

In the evening, we meet in the salon at 7:00 for our final toast and are each given a diploma – the Certificat Culinaire. Shortly thereafter we depart for nearby Joigny for dinner at the three-star restaurant La Cote St. Jacques. The meal is a supreme theatrical production, with exquisite crystal, one-of-a-kind china, more service staff than I can count, and about a dozen different food masterpieces from the tiny to the decadent. The standouts include a dark black pudding – sliced in medallions over mashed potatoes and apples – that is as delicate as a mousse, escargot with woody chanterelle mushrooms, tiny gnocchi and parsley cream, and a Burgundy chicken, cooked in a crock wrapped in pastry dough to seal in the moisture and flavor. Once cooked, the chicken is dressed with petite zucchini, potatoes and carrots cut the size of small pearls and a light champagne cream sauce. It is exquisite in its simplicity.

It has been an extraordinary week in Burgundy, learning from a culinary legend, eating fine food and cooking and dining with a memorable cast of characters. It is hard to leave the French countryside, but Florence beckons.

© 2006 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

The Soul of Chablis

Wednesday, September 13, 2006: Forget anything you think you know about the generic term “Chablis.” The real story is an age-old tale of a product that springs from the Earth.

We are standing with our guide in a Grand Cru Chardonnay vineyard on the side of a hill that faces the small village of Chablis in France. There are only 2,600 residents in Chablis, but they are caretakers of an ancient tradition. The vineyards surround the village. While one might find a grand chateau at the center of a vineyard in Bordeaux, here the village and the farmers are at the heart of wine making in Burgundy.

The carefully-trimmed Grand Cru Chardonnay grape vines run sharply up the slope in a slight diagonal pattern. I see a patchwork of shades of luminous green in the mid-morning sun as my eyes follow the layers of hills and valleys. Chablis Grand Cru is a strictly controlled appellation and the grapes produced in this small area are considered some of the best in the world. There are only seven Grand Cru areas that produce grapes of this caliber.

The Grand Cru grapes cling close to the hill, where they extract their essence. Here in Chablis, the vines are grown in dense plots on rocky, challenging terrain. There is chalky, white gravel and fossils in the soil as it was once an ocean bed. Our shoes are dusted with white pigment. The vines are clipped low regularly, and the grapes hang close to the soil. The vintners intentionally stress the vines, forcing all the energy of the plant into the grape.

The wine is a product of its environment. The grapes absorb the essence of the earth, the sun and the weather. The flavor of minerals in the soil and the sweetness of the sun are concentrated in the small gem-like grapes. There is minimal aging in barrels. Most of the work of flavor development happens on the vine during the growing season. No two vintages are alike, as the character of any harvest is wholly dependent on the weather of the growing season.

Back in town at the winery, we taste 2005 Chardonnay Chablis from the tank and use a long glass tube called a “wine thief” to extract wine directly from the barrel. There are wonderful flavors of citrus, sunshine, honey and mysterious mineral sensations signaling the origin of this classic French wine.

© 2006 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Croissants and Baguettes

Tuesday, September 12, 2006: It is quite warm for mid-September in Burgundy, but we are squeezed into a small, ramshackle and stifling hot room which houses the 17th century brick oven at Chateau du Fey. The oven fire was started this morning and is now well over 400 degrees.

Monsieur C is a spry and amusing young French gentleman, who is both a Master Boulanger and a Master Artisan Patissier. He is wearing a bright white baker’s coat and an enthusiastic smile. He begins our session by demonstrating the art of folding croissant dough and shaping it into the traditional spiral pattern. We learn that some boulangeries use margarine for croissants, which is thought by some to offer a lighter density. Croissants made with butter are rolled straight, and those made with margarine are formed into moon-shaped crescents.

His nimble fingers work quickly to roll the cushiony dough. It is a speed gained from experience. He typically starts work at 2:00 a.m. and prepares five hundred croissants a day in a nine-door oven on his premise in a nearby village. As Monsieur C works, orange embers glow inside the brick oven, and we feel a blast of oppressive heat each time he lifts the latch on the metal door.

Monsieur C explains that bread actually requires the simplest of ingredients. One needs only four items – flour, yeast, salt and water. Yet the results can be deliciously complex. He specializes in special dark breads and country loaves. We are invited to roll croissants and pains au chocolat, and to shape and slice hatch marks in baguettes. He sends batch after batch into the oven arranged on a craggy wooden baking paddle with a long handle that keeps him a safe distance from the heat. He teaches us to knock on the bread and listen for the correct sound to assess if the loaf is fully baked.

We return to the main house at the conclusion of the demonstration. The students of La Varenne bring a wicker basket layered with hearty multi-grain loaves, baguettes, croissants and pains au chocolat to the entry hall of the chateau where we sample the results.

I tear a piece off the end of a puffy croissant. The crust is a lustrous gold, and the inner spirals are sunny yellow. There is just a seductive hint of smoky wood flavor that melds with the overwhelming taste of warm melted butter as the tender flakes dissolve in my mouth. And, I suspect that I can taste a bit of Monsieur C’s joie de vivre, as well.

© 2006 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Cooking at La Varenne, Burgundy

Monday Afternoon, September 11, 2006: By 4:00 p.m we are assembled in the kitchen of La Varenne to begin a master class with Anne Willan. We are each covered with a white La Varenne smock apron. For me, this is akin to working with culinary royalty and it is mesmerizing to watch Anne and her colleague chef Randall demonstrate a variety of French dishes from the Burgundy valley. As they work with different tools and demonstrate preparation of each dish, they are a bit like the maestro conducting a symphony.

Anne and Randall walk us through an historic Michelin map developed by Monsieur Curnonsky, known as the “Prince des Gastronomes.” The diagram depicts the location all of the star restaurants and classic dishes found across the country of France in black type. The cluster of type in Burgundy is dark black. Why is Burgundy so famous for food? Anne says it is the ingredients, all of which have strict requirements for production. Chef Randall points out that Burgundy is known for the Holy Trinity of bread, wine and cheese, which really does explain why French food can be a religious experience.

After demonstrating several techniques, Anne withdraws and we are assembled into teams to prepare the evening meal. My partner from Canada and I agree to prepare the main dish. We walk to the garden with Chef Randall and pluck long, sun-drenched green and purple sage leaves from the herb garden. Shortly, I am pounding escallops of veal with a huge, scarred kitchen mallet that looks like it belonged to the Norse gods. Above the entryway to the kitchen, there is a color photograph of Anne, a French chef from the La Varenne professional school and Julia Child clustered around the same counter where we are working. They appear to be smiling down on us.

The final dishes are assembled for presentation and inspection. Ann provides pointers on proper use of plates and color – yellow plates are good for fish, incidentally, and decorative plates can detract – and how to arrange the food to be pleasing to the eye. The class is given a round of bubbly aperitifs and we adjourn to the dining room to enjoy our meal. The tender escallops of veal make for a rustic dish, and the taste of sage infuses the meat. The staff pours a smooth vintage of red Bordeaux with wonderfully intense flavors of mineral and earth, perfect for our French country dinner.

© 2006 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Market Day In Sens

Monday Morning, September 11, 2006: Following a breakfast of pains au chocolate and baguettes with butter and honey gathered on the estate of Chateau du Fey, we set out for the nearby town of Sens, passing plowed fields, neatly manicured gardens and shuttered cottages with lace curtains. Sens sits on the river L’yonne and was once a major ecclesiastical center. The primary structure is La Cathedrale Saint Etienne de Sens, a soaring house of worship with bright red doors and formidable hinges, ornate stained glass and flocks of pigeons. Construction began around the year 1130. While there is hardly a soul within the cathedral, there is great activity across the plaza.

Our first stop is the covered market where local fruits, vegetables, meat and fish are sold on Monday and Friday. We are told that market day is, in fact, a social event in the village and women even dress up to meet and chat with friends as they select fresh produce for the week. We step into the domed marketplace and people are everywhere, carefully examining fresh produce, many engaged in lively and intense conversations. It is clear to see that agriculture, food and produce is a communal event in the Burgundy valley.

The produce is perfection – ropes of garlic roasted the color of caramel, white and red radishes neatly stacked, earthy mushrooms, tiny lentils and piles and piles of curly bright green lettuce. There are neat stalls labeled with numbers and proprietor names, and I am fascinated by the selection of meats and poultry offered by the butchers. There is rabbit, duck, chickens from the Burgundy valley, sausage, terrines of many varieties and chicken aspic, a traditional French dish which is a rectangular loaf of golden gelatin surrounding fleshy chunks of chicken.

Lunch at a nearby bistro is reminiscent of my classes at the French Culinary Institute. It is classic traditional French country food served in the authentic setting and emphasizing local ingredients. There is a composed salad of marinated vegetables, tender duck confit with mushrooms and a magnificent Frasier Cake adorned with a ring of strawberries and raspberries and topped with pretty pink marzipan.

© 2006 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Dinner at Chateau du Fey

Sunday, September 10, 2006: I have arrived in the Burgundy Valley of France. Our minibus crawls up the driveway, and we are greeted at the door of Chateau du Fey by Anne Willan, noted cookbook author, food historian and founder of the prestigious professional school, Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne.

I’ve seen Anne on television numerous times, and I look forward to a week of learning from someone of her distinction. We only have a few minutes to drop our bags, and we are led off on an historic tour of the 17th century chateau. This is a working estate, and all the trees and plants are chosen to be edible. There is a chef on staff, several country dogs, and a number of students from La Varenne who are there to gain “the French experience.” We learn about the history of the estate, and stroll past age-old trees and hunting grounds where wild boars still wander. Along the way, we examine what is reported to be one of the deepest wells in the country, view a brick oven bakery and the ancient wine press that was once used by the estate.
Even the gardens are rich in history. In the herb garden, I take note of a pot of greenery labeled, “Julia Child’s Mint.” Anne takes us through the sprawling vegetable garden where we pluck raspberries and sample fresh peaches from the trees. She tells us the fruits taste better when they are “warmed by the sun.”

After completing the tour we are led to the subterranean stone wine cellar where we are given a talk on French cheeses by a local fromager. He teaches us about the origin of classic French cheeses, the different styles of cheese, and I learn that Roquefort is actually a combination of bread mold and cheese, and is described by the French as “parsley cheese” because the green flecks in the cheese resemble the herb. He serves us Roquefort that is buttery and sharply salty and seems to last forever on the tongue.

Back in the Chateau, the staff lays out a buffet magnifique on the rustic table in the entry hall, created with produce from the region or the garden of the estate. There is a vegetable tarte and a mushroom tarte, fresh pork from the local area, and cherry tomatoes from the garden adorned with sweet tarragon. We drink the local red wine from the Burgundy region, which is soft and full and converse over candlelight in the dining room as darkness falls outside. Finally, Anne leads us back to the parlor where we sample what she calls “sticky drinks” to conclude the evening.

© 2006 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved