Anne Willan - The Country Cooking of France

This book is a celebration of many happy years spent in France, and my warm thanks go to those who have helped me capture its joy on these pages: writer and researcher Laura Calder, whose skill with words and ideas helped fire my imagination; test kitchen director Randall Price, whose instinct for transferring authentic flavors to the plate is unerring; and my husband, Mark Cherniavsky, who collects the books for us to read, masterminds our voy-ages of discovery around France, and helps shape the results. I also salute the wise guidance of my agent, Lisa Ekus.

Molly Stevens reviewed the first draft of the book, and Sharon Silva edited the final one. I am grateful for their expertise as well as that of indexer Alexandra Nickerson. I would also like to recognize the skills and hard work of research associates Cori Doherty, Vivian Pei, Patricia Sinaiko, and Anna Watson, and the dedication of La Varenne trainees who helped in the office and test kitchen: Meredith Breen, Louisa Cooper, Michelle DiMaio-Pellegri, Clarice Dionot, Sydney Francis, Sue Lim, Caroline Markunas, Michelle Rodarte, and Natalya Sokolova. It has been an equal pleasure to work with the Chronicle Books team led by editor Bill LeBlond, associate editor Amy Treadwell, managing editors Doug Ogan and Evan Hulka, production coordinator Tera Killip, art director and designer Sara Schneider, and photographer France Ruffenach, whose images per-fectly convey the magic of the French countryside.

Traveling through my country to document both its beauty and its food was an amazing gift. Thank you to all the passionate food artisans and growers I met along the way, who shared their craft. Their dedication to keeping and cultivating their knowledge is what makes Frances cuisine so rich in tradition and taste.

The recipe photography in this book would never have happened without a spirited collaboration between many people. Thank you to the talented George Dolese, whose knowledge and approach to food are of the highest standards; Sara Slavin for her impeccable sensibility and creativity; and Cedric Glasier and Elisabet der Neder-landen for their irreplaceable contributions.

The entire photography team thanks Cary Nowell and Yasmine McGrane for sharing their lovely homes with us, and Sue Fisher King, San Francisco, CA, and Culinaire, One Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA, for graciously sharing their props. Special thanks from George Dolese to the following purveyors for providing many of the ingredients used in preparing the recipes for photography: Val Cipollone with Jenny & Francoise wine importers, Christopher Barry with Ports Seafood, Cowgirl Creamery, and pastry chef Amy Hatwig merci tous!

Thank you to author Anne Willan for writing such a substantial and authoratative manuscript, rich with visual possibility; Bill LeBlond, Amy Treadwell, and Tera Killip at Chronicle Books for their support of me and the images in this book; and finally, to Sara Schneider I couldnt ask for a more loving and creative person to partner with on projects of all scales.

MERCI BEAUCOUP!

I often ask myself Why France? Just why is the country cooking of France so compelling, and why does it exert such fascination and evoke so much respect? I was raised in the countryside (in Yorkshire, not in France) and grew up with fresh farm produce and the habit of snapping up the best in the nearby outdoor market. None of that prepared me for the riches of rural France, the sights, the smells, the relish with which everyone enjoys the diversity of ingredients that change with the seasons.

One key is terroir. When shopping for produce in French markets, everywhere youll come across produits du terroir; almost any magazine article about a chef is bound to talk about the taste, or got du terroir; and French cookbooks are full of what are called recettes du terroir. No English equivalent exists, but the French word has spread internationallyparticularly in wine circlesover the past thirty years. What exactly does terroir mean?

In bald terms, terroir refers to the soil, climate, and topography of a microregion, and pinpoints what makes an ingredient grown in one place taste different from the same ingredient grown in another. The principle underlies the whole system of appellation contrle, or AOC, which recognizes a particular food as being unique to a specific area. For example, potatoes from the Ile de R, off the west coast of France, have AOC status because the sandy soils and proximity to the salty sea give them unique flavor.

But terroir isnt merely rainfall, mineral content, and angles of exposure to sunlight. No matter where were from, terroir is our cultural and historical link to the land, the expression of the land itself and of the people who live there. To the Frenchand to meit is an emotionally charged term, for it is food that tells a story. Hence, a recette du terroir is a recipe that uses the ingredients and methods of a particular region. On the face of it, Boeuf Bourguignon and Daube de Boeuf Provenale are simply versions of wine-and-beef stewone has baby onions, mushrooms, and smoky bacon, while the second is aromatic with olives, herbs, and zest of orange. Such distinctions may seem irrelevant to an outsider, but to locals who live in these provinces, they define what is, and is not, du pays.

Ah, thats another word loaded with meaning. Most French families feel they belong to a pays, a specific region that may be large, like Brittany, but is often quite small. Novelist Colette wrote wistfully of the Puisaye where she was raised, a meager landscape of one-story dwellings and thin soil. One of Frances biggest TV series in recent years was a reality show in which celebrities were parachuted onto a nineteenth-century farm to see how they copedquite well, as it turned out.

France is a jigsaw of pays that can change character within a few kilometers. Three bodies of water border the landthe Channel, the Atlantic, and the Mediterraneaneach supplying different fish. Two great mountain ranges provide green summer pastures and fine cheese, with cool dry winds that are ideal for aging hams and sausages. And thats without counting the hump of the Massif Central that epitomizes la France profonde, the brooding heartland. As a final blessing, rivers lace France and were the highways that made the country prosperous in olden times. Hardly any region seriously lacks water, and many have alluvial plains full of fruits and vegetables.

The abstractions of terroir and pays would mean nothing without the intercession of country folk, the stewards of rural life. In the English-speaking world, nobody wants to be called a peasant, though the word derives from pays, the French word for country and countryside. In France, paysan is not a pejorative term; respect for artisan producers and tough outdoor work on land and at sea is long-standing. Country cooking is essentially comfort food, it nurtures, soothes, and reassures those around the table. In France it is often called cuisine de femme, the instinctive womans cooking that is close to Mother Earth. Historically, women have been very active in French agriculture. Restaurants and