In 2018, we planted a little apple tree in a sunny SE corner of our yard.  These days, it has grown to important size and yields a lot more lovely eating apples than we can possibly eat.  So after having given bags to all our friends and neighbors, and eaten apples everyday for a month, it seemed like a good idea to use the remaining box for chutney.

This recipe is based on Indian chutneys that I have enjoyed and copied. It is more in the savory-spice direction than the hot-spicy, so it makes a great accompaniment to grilled or roasted pork or even with broiled fish.

In general, a Bar-Tabac in France does not serve any food, so bringing your own snacks is welcomed.  Taking advantage of that fact. This sausage is a “chipo sèche” meaning a dry chipolata, from the excellent Basque artisan pork producer and charcutier La Ferme Elizaldia, who have a truck at the Tuesday market here.

Wow, it has been a warm start to the fall here in the Southwest of France.  Record breaking even.  On Saturday, it hit 32 C, and last week it hit 37 C, which broke the record for October high temperature in the area.

As the summer heat tempered in September, we planted a fall crop including two kinds of radishes, scallions and baby turnips.  A stretch rainy days in mid September, followed by consistently warm days has meant that the radishes have really shot up!  Turnips are not far from ready, but scallions have been slow.  Live and learn.

In the Pyrenees, fall means the end of the summer mountain grazing season that began in the spring with the depart of the herds toward higher altitudes, known as the transhumance. The shepherds and their flocks, aided by their herding and guard dogs, have spent the summer in the rich, high mountain pastures, getting fat on summer wildflowers, herbs and grasses. In September, it is time to return to their lowland farms for the colder months.

Both the beginning and the end of this age-old practice is marked with traditional celebrations. Having taken part in the celebration of the transhumance in the Vallée d’Aspe at Lourdios in the spring, we of course, wanted to be on hand as the sheep, cattle, and horses returned this fall, at the celebration of the Fête des Bergers at Aramits, also in the Vallée d’Aspe.

The Fête des Bergers is a three day event, with a parade of the returning flocks,  a market of local artisan producers, a judging and tasting of locally produced mountain cheeses and communal lunches and dinners everyday. There are performances of song and chant in the local Béarnais dialect, and dancers in costume traditional to the region.  Some even danced on stilts, a nod to the days when shepherds used stilts to improve their field of vision on their wide ranging wards.

The most anticipated event is the annual competition to crown  the most skilled shepherd/herding dog team.  Each dog, guided by its owner, must find a herd of sheep located some hundreds of yards distant, then guide them through a series of obstacles before herding them into an enclosure at the finish.  It is mesmerizing to watch the synchronicity between dog and human, communicated only through whistles and shouts. The event spooled out over two days, with qualifying and a final round with the top 12 teams.

O Panier Local is an organic local farmer’s co-op here on Orthez, which opened in September 2022.  The people who run it describe the store as “Associatif, Non-lucratif, Participatif”, meaning it was conceived and founded by a charitable association, it is non-profit and everyone is encouraged to participate in the life of the store. That includes the local farmers and food artisans featured, many of whom are members of the store association, clients and pretty much anyone interested in eating well and local.  O Panier Local is also a social space, that features workshops, classes, meet-the-farmer events, cooking demonstrations and more several times a month.

Next Saturday, the store will celebrate its one year anniversary with a big, all day party. If you happen to be near Orthez, please be sure to stop by!

As I have been working as a volunteer at O Panier Local a few hours a week since spring 2023, I will be helping out with the food at the birthday party, part of the team of volunteers who will prepare a lunchtime meal and buvette.  It will be the first time I have prepared food for the public in more than a year, and I am a little nervous!

Curious about the menu?  Check out this video on the facebook page of O Panier Local…but who it that guy trying to speak French?

The end of September has been unseasonably warm in the southwest of France.  What better reason to enjoy an outside table and a glass of rosé ? This particular pour is from AOC Béarn, where the rosé is mostly made from the tannat grape, as are the full bodied reds.  Explains the juicy color!

Petit déjeuner, Basque-style, one recent morning at a table outside the covered market in Biarritz.  A good strong noisette (we would call that a macchiatto I think), plus a warm slice of tortilla espagnole, the famous egg and potato frittata that is often served as a pintxo in the Pays Basque.

Thanks to Doug McDonnal for this great photo of the Pont-Neuf in Toulouse on a very hot August evening.  On the quai near the bridge, you can see the Grand Roue (Great Wheel) and the Racines X Guingette, a sort of pop-up summer bar and restaurant where people gather to savor the cool breezes off the river.

On this particular evening, it hit 42 degrees C  in Toulouse (you do the math, that equals really really hot!), but we sat outside at a Kashmiri restaurant on the St.-Cyprian side of the river. I can  confirm that eating spicy food (and drinking Indian beer) makes you feel cooler.

About a week ago, we planted one of our vegetable plots (we call them potager 1 and potager 2) with a few veggies that have a short time to harvest, hoping for a mild fall and a last harvest before winter.  We planted two kinds of radishes, turnips, scallions and mixed in a few wildflowers for good measure and bio-diversity.  This week, the sprouts are up and looking good, despite a very warm stretch of weather, with highs in the low 90’s!  We thinned the radish rows today, and washed the excess sprouts for use in salads and smoothies.  Clearly, our garden is 100% organic, as some little pest has gotten to a few of the leaves.

Paula Wolfert called this dish “one of the great combinations of Moroccan cookery”, and its hard to argue with her.  Its a very satisfying dish indeed, especially when made with the legs of older, free-range farm chickens, full of flavor.  And be sure to use lemons you have preserved yourself (see my recipe for preserved lemons here). This is also the perfect dish to cook in an earthenware tagine dish.  The very slow cooking, combined with the tagine’s ability to circulate the steaming juices, yields chicken that is completely tender and almost silken in its wonderful moist texture.

Credit where due, this recipe is based on the one Wolfert gives in her book “Couscous and other good food from Morrocco”.