Provençal Portraits: The Wood-Burning Heart of Pernes-les-Fontaines

As I enter the boulangerie of Jean-François Gimenes he is in the process of rolling out a pâte feuiletté, a puff pastry, folding it seven times. The next day he will cut it into long loaves, and put it into his wood-fired oven on a long paddle to bake.

He has been here since 2:00 in the morning. He fired up his oven just after 3:00. His day will end at 12:30 p.m. when he sweeps up the last bit of flour.

“That’s the way it is, I have to get everything done,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.

Meganne and Jean-François Gimenes in front of the
wood-burning oven

Jean-François Gimenes was born in Pernes-les-Fontaines  back when it was still a small town.

After years of working in a variety of fields, he woke up one morning and had the crazy idea to do something completely different. He packed up his knapsack, toured all of France, and returned to the south with a passion for baking bread, but à l’ancienne, in the old style of baking in a wood-fired oven, a time-honoured tradition, specifically with levain, or sourdough.

After some years in Carpentras, the bakery in his home town came for sale, he snapped it up, and has been baking up a storm for the last ten years.

It is the oldest shop in Pernes still in existence, he says proudly. He used to stop by this very bakery as a boy to buy bread baked in the very same ancient oven.

And it remains the heart of the community, a meeting place. Pernes is now a city, but maintains the spirit of a village.

“That’s what I love about it, this spirit. And in the context of this bakery it’s got a friendly atmosphere and it’s close to everyone, it’s in the centre of Pernes, that’s something I really love.”

The entrance to his tiny shop is modest, nondescript, nearly unchanged since its founding in 1890.

As I open the door the next day, a chilly Saturday morning, his daughter Meganne at the till, I am welcomed by a burst of warm air and a crowd of convivial people chatting. Many of them are friends, who wait in line patiently for their bread, most of the loaves set to the side, as locals know to reserve their loaf in advance. Otherwise, the shelves are normally bare by noon.

Meanwhile, Jean-François deftly manoeuvres his long paddle in the vast, hot oven, pulling out crusty loaves, rearranging others, trying not to poke customers filing into the shop.

That magnificent ancient oven is the centrepiece of the bakery. For him the wood oven evokes everything that his ancestors used to do.

“I’m doing the same thing. I’m reproducing what the past generations did.

“It’s the love of the craft. I have no desire to work with an electric oven or with yeast, not at all. It’s the choice I made and I love it. It’s hard work, but I like that.

Jean- François loads the wood into the lower portion of the oven. The wood heats the stone slab above where the loaves will be placed. After two hours, it’s ready.

The wood stove is what gives his bread its unique texture, which I adore: the crust much thicker and chewier than industrial bread made with yeast. I’m also interested to learn that the shape of a bread affects its taste. For example a baguette and a miche (a round ball) could be made with the same dough, but the baguette will cook quicker, at higher heat, the larger loaves will cook slower, over the dying embers. The flavour with be completely different.

“That changes the taste and it’s something that you can only achieve with a wood-fired oven,” he says.

I tear off a piece of that feuiletté loaf which he was rolling out the day before and the crust shatters into a magnificent shower of flaky, light layers.

It’s just one of at least a dozen types of bread and specialty bread Jean-François bakes each day. He is best known for his humourously-named Pernoise, a slim loaf which he bakes every day, and the heftier Pernois, which he only bakes on Saturdays.

But the work has begun much earlier. As he uses only sourdough, the mixture starts fermenting two days in advance and is then baked on the third.

Creativity is essential to his craft. He loves experimenting with different types of flour, mixing and matching until it’s just right. For example, petite épautre de Sault, an ancient grain of the region (similar to spelt) will form the basis of an enormous square loaf that customers will buy by the slice, which could be a six- or 12-cm slice, or more! He also uses rye, whole wheat, buckwheat and various other organic flours.

“I’ve always loved to create different varieties, to work with new types of flour. After that, well, it’s humour. It’ something I love, to experiment.”

And evidently, lots of ideas emerge if you work all alone in the middle of the night!

He accepts the solitary nature of his work. “I like working all alone, it’s a choice. I do my research, I am the only one responsible for the quality, and I pull my very own bread out of the oven.

Jean-François once contemplated packing up and moving to Canada. But his roots are here and he’s committed to the community.

And the citizens of Pernes-les-Fontaines – and visitors - are all the happier to be able to order their loaf of Pernoise on a weekday and Pernois on a Saturday.

 
Boulangerie Gimenes Jean-François
51 Rue de la République
84210 Pernes-les-Fontaines
04 90 60 00 74


*This article first appeared in Le Sun Languedoc & Provence

Provence Profiles: Nougat Silvain – A Family Tradition

They call themselves paysans nougatiers, nougat peasant-farmers. That’s because the Silvain family cultivate the almonds and honey, the two ingredients that go into nougat. Their almond trees grow in the sunny meadows and hills at the foot of Mont Ventoux.

“Nougat in Provence, it’s a part of our heritage. In the families of country people, nougat is made in the home,” says Pierre Silvain, through translation by his daughter Geraldine.

“Our grandmother always made it for the whole family for Christmas.”

They put the emphasis on paysan, to indicate that they are close to the earth, they care about the land.

“We are farmers first. We have been farming for six generations. We couldn’t be nougat makers without being farmers.”

“The work of a farmer, it’s our history, it’s our culture, it’s our roots. It’s a passion linked directly to the earth,” Silvain continues.

Philippe and Pierre Silvain

There are two kinds of nougat, black and white. The black is more traditional, served as part of the treis desserts, the 13 desserts of Christmas Eve.

The honey is caramelized briefly at high heat, and then lots of almonds are added. For white nougat, the caramelization process takes three hours, over low heat, to which egg whites are added to yield a more fluffy texture. They produce 32 tonnes of nougat every year.

Their shop, in the small plane-tree-lined town of Saint-Didier near Pernes-les-Fontaines, is popular among locals and a real destination for visitors.

Their heavy shelves of award-winning nougat are augmented by pots of honey, fruits confits, jams, as well as almonds in their raw state, or coated with salt, goat cheese, chocolate, or even algae.

And it’s definitely a family enterprise. Pierre has been working alongside his brother Philippe, as well as their spouses and children, each with his or her own specialization, for more than two decades.

“It’s a history of our family,” he says, proudly.

Nougat Silvain
4 Chemin Neuf, 84210 Saint-Didier

*This article first appeared in Le Sun Languedoc & Provence

Driving and Parking in Aix

Now that we are back in Aix, but this time on the outskirts of town, we have a new challenge: actually driving IN Aix. While it’s only a 25 minute walk to the centre of town, it is not that fun to hike back home with a basket (panier) full to the brim with market produce, and especially up that last steep hill. Or arriving at someone’s house for dinner sweating buckets. So we are forced to drive in town more often than we ever did before. Which then leads to major issues of dealing with traffic, especially around the ring road (periferique). And parking. We are now behaving more like locals (riverains), actually driving ON the Cours Mirabeau, instead of just dodging traffic as pedestrians; double parking on a narrow road and leaving the blinkers on while running into a shop for one little thing; parking with two wheels on the curb.

Being Winnipeggers, we are also constantly looking for free parking, which is almost non-existent in Aix. However, we have learned that:  parking on the street is free from noon to 2 pm (after all, traffic cops need to take lunch, too); street parking is free on a Sunday, which means there is never an available spot; if you pull into a big indoor parking lot and then finish your business within 30 minutes (not likely, but we always hope), it’s free.
This blog posting features photos of driving and parking in Aix (and elsewhere in Provence).

Parking on the Cours Mirabeau

A tight squeeze

Normally a pedestrian street . . ..

His trunk up front was full of wine when he parked here in Marseille



Troglomobile parked in front of the troglodite dwellings

A unique place to park your butt

Boats parked in the harbour in Cassis

The port of Marseille

RECIPE OF THE WEEK: GRAVLAX
Gravlax has nothing to do with parking or driving, but I wanted to include it in the blog as it’s one of my signature dishes, perfect as an hors d’oeuvre for a small dinner party or the main event at a big cocktail party.

Gravlax is very popular in France around Christmas and New Year’s, when people pull out all the stops, but I like to make it in mid-summer when huge bunches of fresh dill and vividly-coloured wild salmon are readily available. While you can make gravlax using just one fillet, I prefer using two whole sides. It takes just as long to make a large amount and when it’s ready, I like to chop it into pieces and freeze it. Also it is easier to slice when it is still a bit icy. Bear in mind you will need two to three days from start to finish.

Start with two large sides of salmon, filleted but with skin on. Line a large rimmed baking sheet generously with sheets of plastic wrap. Lay the salmon on top, skin side down. In a bowl, mix 1/3 cup of salt (I like kosher salt or fine sea salt) with ¼ cup of sugar. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the salmon flesh, pressing so it adheres. Lay two very large handfuls of dill (big branches removed) on top of both fillets. Drizzle two tablespoons of vodka or brandy on top. Lay one fillet on top of the other, skin side out. Wrap the salmon tightly in the plastic. Lay another baking sheet on top and weight it down with something heavy (I like to use two or three bricks wrapped in tin foil).

Place the tray in the fridge for 24 – 36 hours, turning the salmon once a day. When it is ready, the salmon will have given off a lot of liquid and the flesh will be firm to the touch. At this point it is ready to serve, or you can cut it into smaller portions and freeze it for down the road.
To serve, scrape off the dill and carefully wipe off the salt and sugar. Slice it very thinly on the diagonal with a very sharp knife. This is easer to do when the fish is still a bit icy. Lay the slices decoratively on a serving platter and garnish with tiny dill sprigs.

I like to serve the gravlax with cocktail rye or crackers and honey mustard sauce to drizzle on top. To make the sauce, just mix some liquid honey into Dijon mustard until it’s to your liking. Enjoy!

A la prochaine,
Andrea

Passionate People in Aix

 

Fromagerie Savelli

Monsieur Savelli

AS WE ENTERED THE FROMAGERIE, the thick smell of cheese nearly knocked us over. We became even more delirious as we scanned the mountains of goat cheese, the deeply-veined Roquefort and a Cantal so well-aged it looked positively prehistoric. “Shut the door behind you!” ordered Monsieur Savelli sternly. We were so overwhelmed by the heady aromas we didn’t notice how careless we had been, leaving the door ajar, disturbing his perfectly calibrated temperature-controlled shop. The aromas were evidently arousing, too, because two couples in line were kissing ardently. As I twirled around the little shop, trying to make a decision, M. Savelli brushed past the large branch of lemon verbena sticking out of my basket. “Oh, that smells good!” he exclaimed. I smiled. I guess I was forgiven.

I am constantly impressed by the professionalism, care and deep passion displayed by vendors in the marketplace and in the shops. If I specify, for example, M. Savelli will personally select a banon cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves that will be ripe enough to eat with a spoon in two days. Out in the market, vendors have it down to perfection. "The Bird People," as we affectionately call them, sell all manner of fowl and will lovingly twist the head off of a pigeon (no longer living) before your very eyes, clean it out carefully, trim the giblets, then place them back inside, all of this to demonstrate its freshness. When there is a long line-up, as there usually is, this process can take a long time. But everyone waits patiently.


The Bird People

Dulce in the Place Richelme market



Dulce's offerings in the market

Dulce is one of my favourite vegetable ladies who sells mostly produce from her own garden. One day, when I arrived at the market very late after French class, she cheerfully climbed into her truck to get me some zucchini which she had already loaded up. Another day she chased after me through the marketplace, leaving a long line-up of customers behind, to give me the bag of cherries I had accidentally left behind.

Céline and Hocine are a handsome couple who practice sustainable and responsible farming, and the quality of their produce, whether it’s ancient heirloom tomatoes, baby eggplant or arugula, is always top. Once when Hocine was wrapping up a little carton (barquette) of local strawberries for me he advised me that we should eat them that day.  As he handed over the bag, he added "...for lunch."


Céline and Hocine in the market

Cavistes François Barré and Vincent Stagetti co-own Félibrige, one of the best wine cellars in Aix. They can describe in detail every bottle on the shelf and frequently direct me to a less expensive bottle than the one I was looking at, a quality I admire. One time, though, when I arrived at the shop carrying an empty wine sack from a ubiquitous wine chain-store rival to carry home my purchase, Vincent nearly refused to serve me, he was so insulted. He held his nose and reluctantly placed the bottles in the bag. Next time, he presented me with a beautiful woven wine bag so I would never be tempted to do something so egregious again.


Even the pharmacist, who dresses and behaves like a brain surgeon, will spend 15 minutes explaining the benefits of one multivitamin over another. And frankly, for 33 euros a bottle, she had a lot of explaining to do!

This cheesemonger makes fresh cheese called brousse the ancient way



His little crottins are excellent grated on salad

Laurent, my poissonier

RECENTLY, we tried to pack in as many activities as possible which we hadn’t already done and that we couldn’t do in Winnipeg. We:
- Hiked along the magnificent calanques near Cassis and swam in the ocean in one of the prettiest inlets, Port Pic, where I shared the waters with three jellyfish (méduses).
- Frolicked through fields of lavender, more impressive than any postcard we’ve seen, where we watched in amazement the hoards of tourists risking their lives by parking dangerously ON the highway and sauntering across the road to take pictures while speeding cars dodged them. I guess the claims of the soporific quality of the smell of lavender are really true.
- Babysat an adorable kitten, Pépite, for five days - okay, not a specifically French thing to do, but definitely a new experience for me, an inveterate cat-hater (I am now a convert).
- Visited the charming and tiny Sunday market in the town of Jouques with Adeline and Cédric.
- Attended a day-long music party at the bastide of Christophe and Cécile where everyone took a turn either singing or playing an instrument (even us).
- Jim had the memorable experience of singing for inmates at a prison with his Corsican singing atélier.
- Attended one of the most brilliant dance productions of my life– a stunning and sexy work set to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, presented by Ballet Preljocaj and held in their own performing venue, the controversial Pavillon Noir.
- Helped friends Nan and Martin file a French police report at the Hôtel de Police after they were victims of a hit and run (un accident avec délit de fuite), unfortunately on their brand spanking new rented car! That entailed a long wait in the foyer where we enjoyed watching all of the police officers kiss each other as they arrived and left. Martin wondered if we should kiss the interrogator when it was our turn. Once in his office, however, we noticed Miss June on his desk calendar leering at him suggestively over her shoulder wearing a red bikini. So it didn’t seem he needed a kiss from us.

Hiking the Calanques near Cassis



Lavender fields near Valensole



Frolicking Jim



Christoph who leads the Corsican singing workshop





Cécile on her 50th birthday with her 3 year old son, Basil



Paule, our amazing French teacher at ELan'com

Fanny, our glamorous femme de ménage




















Hiking with Marie

Cédric and Adeline with Jim near Le Beaucet

Pépite

RECIPE OF THE WEEK: CURED SARDINES
Martin enjoys fresh sardines as much as, if not more, than I do. So I finally had a victim for my cured sardines, which I had only ever made when Jim was away. But on this occasion, even Jim and Nan had a taste and enjoyed them with apéritifs.  And you can bet Pépite looked on with interest as I prepared them.

Curing sardines is fast and easy. Laurent, my poissonier, supplies super-fresh ones, which is what you need to start. Hold the sardines one by one under cold running water, gently rubbing off the scales. Carefully twist off the head of each sardine, pulling out the guts with it. Alternatively, cut off the head with a knife, then clean out the guts under running water with your fingers. To fillet a sardine, lay it on a cutting board and carefully start cutting along the back side as close to the bone as possible, working from tail to head, releasing one fillet. Then gently lift off the bone, taking the tail with it, leaving the second fillet. Continue until they are all filleted.  

Cured sardines

Choose a shallow dish that will hold all of the sardines in one layer. Sprinkle a thin layer of coarse sea salt on the bottom of the dish. Lay the fillets side by side in the pan, skin side down, top with some minced fennel fronds (or dill), then more coarse salt to cover. Wrap the dish with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for anywhere from two to eight hours. In this way the dish is very flexible. You know they are ready to eat when they feel firm.

Before serving, rinse the fillets well under cold running water, then pat dry.


To serve, cut rather thin slices of baguette on the diagonal, around the size of a fillet. Toast the bread or grill on a barbecue. Brush the toast with olive oil. Top the toasts with tiny bits of tomato (optional), then a fillet of sardine, some more minced fennel fronds (optional) and a good grinding of pepper. (If you were in Brittany, you would use butter instead of oil.)

If you make more than you need you can keep the sardines in the fridge for several days covered with a thin layer of oil. You can also freeze them this way, too.

One of life's simple pleasures: sheets drying amidst the lavender

BONUS RECIPE OF THE WEEK: CHORIZO WITH HONEY
This hors d’oeuvre is Cédric’s specialty and it’s a cinch to make. Slice some slim cured chorizo sausages into bite-size pieces. Sauté the slices gently in a pan until they are warm. Generously spoon over some honey and continue to stir over low heat until the whole mixture is warm. Serve right away in a small bowl with toothpicks.

A la prochaine,
Andrea

Anchovies for Breakfast

Baguette in the basket (panier), flowering rosemary stolen from nearby



"Nuages" bread from Farinoman Fou



A popular bakery in Paris

Those were the days – when girls were girls and men were men and baguettes were baguettes. Nowadays, in French bakeries, you find all manner of breads, including the slim ficelle, the baguépi, the restaurant, the banette (referring to the type of flour), then fancier concoctions like à l’ancienne, rustique, fantaisie, you name it. Also, it goes without saying, croissants, pain au raisin and pain au chocolat. Upon arrival in Provence, one of my goals was to learn about and try out various new breads. But it’s important to ask the right question. One morning, in a bakery in Calvi, Corsica, I perused the vast range of loaves on display. I ordered one, and then, ignoring all my training as an interviewer, asked her if the bread next to it was the same as the one I had asked for. She curtly replied “Non!”, plunked my bread down on the counter, then moved on to the next customer. I left the bakery none the wiser.

Anchovy Pizza (okay, really a Pissaladière)





Most bakeries will also offer savoury treats, like a version of pizza prepared on their own bread dough. Being more attached to savoury (salé) than sweet (sucré), there are times when I arrive hungry at a bakery in the morning and find a slice of anchovy pizza too much to resist.

Scallops with apple rémoulade and apple ice cream



Carrot popsicle served with frozen crème caramel mixed with foie gras



Another creative touch at Pierre Reboul

ICE CREAM TO START
One of the many restaurant trends we’ve observed is ice cream or sorbet served as part of a first course. At A Vista in Bastia, Corsica, we were served a tomato mozzarella salad deconstructed and re-imagined. It included fried mozzarella sticks with a melted mozzarella “dipping sauce”, a ball of mozzarella covered with herbs, plus a peeled and hollowed out tomato “gobelet” filled with tomato and basil sorbet. At U Fanale in Calvi, Jim enjoyed scallops, both raw and smoked, served with apple ice cream. At Le Formal in Aix-en-Provence, we marvelled at our foie gras “sandwich” served with fig and ginger ice cream. And at Pierre Reboul, a bastion of molecular gastronomy, one of our (many) starters was a carrot popsicle served with frozen crème caramel mixed with foie gras. Another appetizer included both celery sorbet and arugula sorbet served with smoked and raw fish.



CAKE AS AN APÉRITIF
Cake, pronounced “kek”, is a popular hors d’oeuvre in Provence. I’m talking about a savoury version. It can be served in slices or in cubes with toothpicks. A typical version is made with olives. Here is a variation of a cake that our friend Marie made for a dinner party recently. This version involves olives, zucchini, goat cheese and almonds. But feel free to vary the ingredients according to your taste or what’s on hand.

Yummy, even without a proper loaf pan

RECIPE OF THE WEEK: CAKE WITH OLIVES, ZUCCHINI AND GOAT CHEESE
The challenge in making a savoury cake is to keep it moist. Here, the key is the addition of yogurt. The zucchini and goat cheese help, too. The olives add a bit of zing and the almonds give a crunch. The cake keeps well for a couple of days wrapped in plastic and it’s also delicious for breakfast.

Slice a medium zucchini into thin rounds and sauté it in a bit of olive oil until it is tender and just starting to brown. Cut about 150 grams of goat cheese into pieces. Grate 50 grams of emmental cheese (or gruyère). Pit and chop 12 black olives. Chop a handful of salted almonds, not too fine.

In a medium bowl, mix three eggs, 150 grams of flour, one packet of baking powder (about a tablespoon), salt and pepper. Stir in a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, 120 ml of plain yogurt, 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil, a teaspoon or so of fresh thyme (or herbes de provence). Then stir in the olives, the two cheeses, almonds and the zucchini. Add some chopped parsley or green onion if you wish.

Turn the mixture into a greased loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for around 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

OTHER RESTAURANT TRENDS
- Tartare – usually of beef, but also salmon or scallops or other fish. (Tartare means it is raw.) I’m still surprised by the number of restaurants that offer beef tartare. What is particularly funny is to stroll past a simple café, where everyone orders the plat du jour for lunch, and if it’s beef tartare, to see hordes of people eating mountains of raw beef. But Jim ordered it the other day at “Entre Midi et Deux”, a simple hole-in-the-wall restaurant on the Rue d’Italie in Aix, and it was truly delicious.
- Carpaccio – same – raw stuff, but sliced paper-thin.
- Wok – of chicken, lamb, vegetables, you name it – obviously indicates a Chinese preparation.
- Crumble, pronounced “crom-bull” – both savoury and sweet versions.
- Verrine – well, this trend is maybe getting a bit passé now, but basically it is a small something served in a glass (think tapas).
- Tapas.
- Cocottes - individual ceramic pots with lids filled with something delicious.
- Food that comes with instructions. For example, you may be served a plate with three items on it and the server insists you take a bit of each on your fork and eat them together. Or, you get a plate with three things on it and the server explains in which order to eat them.





A recent hike on the Calanques (rocky inlets) near Cassis



The Port-Miou calanque



The chilly water at the Calanque Port Pin

A la prochaine,
Andrea